What Is The Alaska Of Your Country?
If you’re in the United States (or oftentimes, even if you aren’t), Alaska needs no introduction. It’s called the Last Frontier for a reason.
Alaska was the 49th state to be admitted to the U.S. in 1959. At the time, the population was about 220,000 people according to Wikipedia. As of 2023, Alaska has a population of over seven hundred thousand people.This might sound like a dramatic increase, and it is, but it is still the third-least populous state overall. Its low overall population comes in spite of its expansive geographic area - it’s larger than Iran! And if it were an independent nation, Alaska would be bigger than all but sixteen countries.
Perhaps because of its isolation and outlier status in terms of population density, Alaska’s made quite the impact on popular culture. As a child, one of my favorite animated movies was Balto. I need to watch it again, come to think of it. That film was one reason my sister had always wanted to visit Alaska, a trip my family made in 2016.
It’s not just children’s movies that have put Alaska on the map. There are any number of reality shows that have done the same. There was that cringe-worthy series Ultimate Survival Alaska that ran for three seasons, essentially a poor man’s Amazing Race that was probably staged five ways from Sunday. Then there’s Alaska State Troopers, which I have not seen, but apparently documents the challenges experienced by law enforcement in such a vast territory.
TV thumbnail for Ultimate Survival Alaska.
All of these statistics might make one wonder: Do other countries have their own version of Alaska?
Obviously, not every nation has a polar region. For the sake of this article, “Alaska” can be seen as a metonym for a sparsely populated administrative division of a given country that is also relatively expansive in terms of area. Beyond the literal Alaska, as it turns out, quite a few countries have a figurative Alaska.
Let’s look at Germany, a country I have a few online friends from. By population density, the German state ranked last is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern . It’s situated in the northeastern part of the country, bordering Poland and the Baltic Sea. Its capital is this beautiful-looking city called Schwerin that, according to Wikipedia, has just 96,000 residents. It probably feels somewhat like a small town, though how should I know? I’ve never been there.
Schlossbrücke in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Like many rural areas of the United States, it appears Schwerin is relatively right-wing in terms of its voting patterns. Now, for the most part, the right-wing in Europe is nothing like the Republican Party we have in America. However, the far-right AfD party won a 26% plurality of the vote, and roughly that percentage of seats, in the most recent city council election.
Another interesting fact I learned about Schwerin while writing this article is that it is the city with the highest crime rate in Germany. However, this statistic is somewhat misleading, because it’s the only city in the country where riding public transit without a ticket is counted in the crime statistics.
Of course, calling Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the Alaska of Germany is a relative term. Its population density is 69 people per square kilometer as of the end of 2018, and it has possibly grown since then. For frame of reference, that’s nearly twice the population density of the United States as a whole.
Aerial view of Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan. Image taken from the Niseko Tourism website.
Now let’s talk about Japan. It’s another beautiful country that I had the honor and privilege of visiting about two years ago now. That vacation was mostly a ski trip in the Hakuba Valley region of Nagano Prefecture. Not only is it a gorgeous place, but the food is amazing - the apple juice tasted like real apples!
In all seriousness, Japan’s answer to Alaska is Hokkaido. It’s the northernmost prefecture and is relatively sparsely populated. Again, it’s all relative, as Japan has a much higher population density than the U.S. overall. Hokkaido’s capital is Sapporo, a city known for its beer and its annual snow festival.
This island is not only among the most sparsely populated parts of Japan, but it’s one of the snowiest places in the world, at least among those inhabited by any significant number of people. The city of Sapporo itself received almost five meters of snow in the average year between 1991 and 2020. And that’s just the largest city on the island, the place that likely has relatively hospitable winters compared to other parts of the prefecture.
Many other places on Hokkaido, such as the world-renowned ski area of Niseko, receive considerably more snow. In fact, Hokkaido in general is known for winter sports. Most of the ski resorts in Japan are fairly Westernized, but from what I’ve heard, Niseko is quite popular with Australian tourists. It’s to the point where you’ll hear “G’day mate” more often as a greeting than “Konichiwa”.
So Hokkaido is undoubtedly the Alaska of Japan. However, at 61 people per square kilometer, it’s still denser than the United States’ average, and way denser than Alaska. I’ll go with a third example of “it’s all relative.”
Kayangan Lake, Coron Island, a popular tourist attraction in Palawan. Image taken from Wikipedia.
The third case we’ll look at is Palawan. It’s the westernmost province in the Philippines, itself a very densely populated country. Palawan is the largest province by area, as well as having the third-lowest population density if the provincial capital of Puerto Princesa is excluded.
As you can probably tell from the image, Palawan has a vastly different climate from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hokkaido, or especially Alaska. It is what many consider a tropical paradise, and it contains several popular resort cities like Coron and El Nido. Supposedly it’s one of the world’s best places for scuba diving.I’ll admit scuba diving isn’t really my thing; skiing is more my sport. But lots of people scuba dive in Palawan.
The “tropical Alaska” parallels don’t stop there. Palawan is sometimes referred to as the Philippines’ “last frontier” due to its biodiversity and relative isolation from the rest of the country. It’s relatively difficult to reach from more densely populated islands in the archipelago; most travelers have to fly from Manila or Cebu to Puerto Princesa, then possibly take a 6-hour bus ride to El Nido. Coupled with how far away the Philippines already are from the eastern U.S., my rear end is getting sore just thinking about a trip I haven’t even planned to take.
Overall, one thing I find fascinating is that many of these “miniature Alaskas” their respective countries are popular tourist destinations. I don’t know how many people visit Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for leisure, especially those traveling to Germany from thousands of miles away. But Hokkaido is well-known for ski tourism, and Palawan gets a considerable number of scuba divers and other tourists who love the beach. I’d imagine many of the latter’s visitors are from elsewhere in the Philippines, but still.
I think there’s something to be said about visiting places with relatively sparse populations. Yes, there are many reasons why a majority of the world’s population lives in cities. There are economic pressures leading to population growth, cities have more resources that people need, and it’s even more environmentally friendly to live in a city.
Perhaps, however, the reason so many of these “Alaskas” are tourist destinations is the novelty. If I could travel to an exact replica of Boston in Europe, I would rather just stay at home. It’s the same reason you shouldn’t get McDonald’s as a tourist in Japan; wouldn’t you rather eat something you can’t get so easily at home? People ideally travel for something different from what they’re used to.
