Caribbean Territories V. Alaska Size & Population Comparisons Essay

Furthermore, the United Nations has historically showcased an interest in the eventual decision of the United States with regard to the status of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The United Nations' interest in the territories is based upon a 1960 resolution. This resolution recognized that "all peoples have the right to self-determination, and thus are free to determine their political status" (Miller 298). According to the United Nations, the United States has exerted only minimal effort in the promotion of significant constitutional development in the territories. The United States was advised to take necessary steps to ensure the rights of Virgin Islanders to express their wishes concerning the future political status of their territory. Even with these suggestions, Congress, then and now, have not extended true support to changing the status quo. This only highlights that statehood or even advancement of the Caribbean territories are not a priority of congress.
Caribbean Territories V. Alaska Size & Population Comparisons
With the background outlined and the conditions for statehood address, we can now contrast the case of Puerto Rico and U.S Virgins Statehood versus the 49th admitted State, Alaska. In terms of landmass, Alaska is the largest state with a staggering 570,640.95 sq. mile of land area while Puerto Rico has a landmass of roughly 3,423.78 sq. miles. With its landmass, Puerto Rico would rank 49 out of 51, beating Delaware and Rhode Island. Puerto Rico is significantly smaller than Alaska in terms of land area but has larger population which counterbalances the size differential. With a population of 3,725,789, Puerto Rico houses more U.S Citizens than Alaska with its population of 735,132 Americans (World Factbook). With its population, Puerto Rico would qualify as 29 biggest states in terms of populations, Alaska being one of the smallest. In terms of nominal population values, The U.S. Virgin Islands has a relative land mass of about 134 sq. mile of land and roughly a population of 106,405.
Caribbean Territories V. Hawaii Race and Language?
Hawaii holds the strongest comparison to both the Puerto Rico and U.S Virgin Islands. Both are groups of Islands, have tropical climates, and major resource is tourism. Hawaii has relative landmass of about 6,422.63 sq. miles and population of 1,419,561 (World Factbook). In terms of landmass Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands are beaten by a large margin. However Puerto Rico again out populates the 50th admitted state. It is clear to see that when compared on empirical data at least one of America's Caribbean territories deserves statehood. As the United Nation stated in the case of statehood of the United States Virgin Islands,
"While recognizing that the small size and population of the Territory created peculiar problems, nevertheless considered these factors to be secondary and not of sufficient magnitude to warrant exempting the United States from meeting the requirements of the Resolution on Decolonization (Miller 303)."
This fundamental means, that Congress should not consider factors such as size and population as influences when admitting states.