In terms of land area, it’s about 5 per cent bigger than the entire United Kingdom, but it has significantly less than 1 per cent of the UK’s population. Imagine the UK completely deserted, except for the populations of Cambridge, Canterbury, Carlisle and Chelmsford spread thinly across it. Fewer than eight Manchester United home crowds in a space twice the size of Greece. That’s Wyoming.
Lee Child
Having gone Metric. How many Luxemburgs is that ?
All that space and so few people… Sounds idyllic. (Apart from the slight problem of most of the people being yanks!)
Technically, Wyoming’s inhabitants won’t be Yanks. Didn’t become a state until after the Civil War
Been there, loved it, but there is a serious dearth of decent restaurants.
More than 50% of Wyoming is owned by government. Doesn’t sound quite so idyllic now.
But the Shanghai Delta area has about double the population of the UK…….140 million people…and they speak a different language to Mandarin.. just a thought..
Snag
Yeah but isnt all the government stuff hidden underground in the form of Minuteman silos ?
Or am I thinking of the Dakotas ?
Lads, when are we loading our wagons and heading West?
Steve, I’m reminded of your recent descriptions of certain countries. There’s plenty of wilderness eastwards.
PJF – I’m a big Clint Eastwood fan and was recently forcing the family to watch his award-winning 1976 movie The Outlaw Josey Wales:
Ten Bears: It’s sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men.
Eastwards is a bit depressing atm, as Russia continues to take apart Ukraine’s energy infrastructure I think we’re going to see another major wave of refugees. People can be amazingly resourceful under aerial bombardment as WW2 showed, but I don’t think it’s possible to sustain a ~modern society on diesel gennies and candles, and a cheapo Iranian drone is now capable of delivering more precise destruction than a wing of Lancasters ever could.
‘… but I don’t think it’s possible to sustain a ~modern society on diesel gennies and candles…’
Then the Ukraine will just be like the rest of Europe and the UK.
The Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Europe -: frying pan into the fire? Of course there is always Russia whose economy and availability of cheap energy is to be envied by comparison. Tyrannical Govt? Well Ukies and the rest of us should feel right at home. At least no pretence if ‘free’ and ‘democratic’ society so at least you know where you stand.
I live in what is described a semi-isolated location in Southwest England. It’s not Wyoming but is does for me. Neighbours keep their distance unless invited, local government doesn’t push its luck. Don’t get me wrong, however, if many more hippy, man-bun clad muppets turn up hereabouts then Wyoming beckons.
Eastwards is a bit depressing atm . . .
Keep it east, or it’ll come west.
. . . as Russia continues to take apart Ukraine’s energy infrastructure . . .
Russia takes it apart intermittently rather than continuously, which is interesting.
. . . a cheapo Iranian drone is now capable of delivering more precise destruction than a wing of Lancasters ever could.
Maybe, but we could sustain the Lancaster attacks. That the (foreign, not Russian) drones are being used in cruise missile mode against civilian infrastructure rather than as loitering munitions over the battlefield (where they are desperately needed) is an indicator that there is effective local defence against them, and that Russia cannot effectively make use of air assets over combat areas.
The Russians just moved hundreds of air defence missiles from Belarus to Russian areas near the conflict zone (south). They’re building ground defences in Crimea. They know what’s coming.
Turkey (which just dared Russia to attack its merchant ships carrying Ukrainian grain) is now closing the Bosphorus to uninsured tankers (i.e. those carrying sanctioned Russian oil). Maybe Turkey is reading the tealeaves wrong. Maybe.
. . . if many more hippy, man-bun clad muppets turn up hereabouts then Wyoming beckons.
Wyoming is only about sixty miles from Boulder, Colorado. The spread of the man-bun is wide. Montana to the north just voted that it’s okay to kill live babies. You’re better off making a stand in Dumnonia.
If Russia is humiliated by its incompetent war-making, and NATO has half-disarmed itself by arming the Ukes, who will be happy?
Xi who must be obeyed.
@Ottokring: Wyoming is 12.2056 Waleses.
Lol !
There often seems to be a lot of Brits living in the States, and plenty of them in the most unlikely of locales – not just San Francisco or New York. You’ll hear the accents deep in the forests and in redneck bars in the tiniest and most isolated of towns.
Wyoming attracts a lot of wealthy people because it has no income tax and low sales taxes. Some of the state is drop dead gorgeous. Some is as dry and bleak as you’ll find anywhere. All of it gets damned cold in winter which is about 2/3rds of the year.
“More than 50% of Wyoming is owned by government. Doesn’t sound quite so idyllic now.”
That is quite true. The land area of most western states is substantially owned by the government – goes back to the Louisiana purchase when it was all owned by the feds who then parceled some, but not all, of it out. California is almost half owned by the feds. If you make your living on the land the federal government is a constant presence in your life as many a remote rancher is aware.
50% of all land in the west is government-owned. I’ve always wondered which bit of the constitution covers that. I think they ought to own nothing outside DC and rent all federally-required bases and such from the respective vstates.
The land area of most western states is substantially owned by the government . . .
It sure complicates seceding from the Union. A feature not a bug, I suspect.
Article 1 grants powers to purchase land in States. Article 2 reserves power to enter into treaties with foreign powers, that is the method to obtain additional territory. Such territory becomes territory of and owned by the Federal government, as the sole body granted power to enter into treaties. Once that territory becomes a State it’s too late for Article 1 as the Federal Government already owns the land.
Most of the land West of the Appalachians was government land. The Homestead Act encouraged settlement by transferring title to those who would farm the land. The parts of the West that are still Federal land were the ones that were too dry or rough to farm or patent a mine on. One ancestor received land in Wisconsin as a bounty for being an officer in the War of 1812.
The military also took over large tracts of land by eminent domain during WW2. Used for nuclear bomb testing and other activities.
If you get crowded out, isn’t there really enough land elsewhere, especially with global warming?
All of it gets damned cold in winter which is about 2/3rds of the year.
As the great man himself points out in the article:
My brother has just moved to Stainmore, on the high ground of N Yorks. The locals say you have to spend three winters there before you can know whether you can stick it out or not.
President Jefferson indulged himself in his customary drama-queening with some public agonising about agreeing to the Louisiana Purchase. He said it was unconstitutional; a constitutional amendment would be required. In spite of which he signed up to it. ‘Course he did.
Drove from Vancouver to Dawson City (just over 3,000km) in the summer, truly spectacular and after the first day mostly remote stretches with the odd small town/fuel stop
So, go global warming, amirite?
I thought that “Wales” was the standard unit of land measurement.