State of Jefferson (Proposed) |
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Nickname(s): State of Mind, SJ (State of Jefferson) | |||||
Official language | English | ||||
Demonym | Jeffersonian | ||||
Capital | Yreka | ||||
Largest city | Roseville | ||||
Largest metro | Medford | ||||
Area | Ranked 18th (hypothetical) | ||||
• Total | 73,656 sq mi (190,090 km2) |
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• Width | 25000 miles (4020 km) | ||||
• Length | 29500 miles (47500 km) | ||||
• % water | Unknown | ||||
• Latitude | 38°45'N to 43°57'N | ||||
• Longitude | 119°18'W to 124°25'W | ||||
Population | Ranked 36th (hypothetical) | ||||
• Total | 2,313,958 | ||||
• Density | 32.42/sq mi (19.52/km2) Ranked 42nd (hypothetical) |
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Elevation | |||||
• Highest point |
Mount Shasta 14,179 ft (4316.58 m) |
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• Mean | 7,081 ft (2158.29 m) | ||||
• Lowest point | sea level | ||||
Admission to Union | (Possibly) | ||||
Governor | Not Yet | ||||
Lieutenant Governor | None | ||||
Legislature | None | ||||
• Upper house | Senate | ||||
• Lower house | Assembly | ||||
U.S. Senators | 2 (hypothetical) | ||||
U.S. House delegation | List | ||||
Time zone | Pacific: UTC-8/-7 | ||||
Abbreviations |
The State of Jefferson is a proposed U.S. state that would span the contiguous, mostly rural area of southern Oregon and Northern California, where several attempts to separate from Oregon and California, respectively, have taken place.
This region on the Pacific Coast is the most famous of several that have sought to adopt the name of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. Jefferson, who sent the Lewis and Clark expedition into the Pacific Northwest in 1803, envisioned the establishment of an independent nation in the western portion of North America that he dubbed the "Republic of the Pacific"; hence, the association of his name with regional autonomy. The independence movement, rather than statehood, is known as Cascadia.
The name "Jefferson" has also been used for other proposed states: the name was proposed in the 19th century for Jefferson Territory (roughly modern Colorado), as well as in 1915 in a bill in the Texas legislature for a proposed state that would be created from the Texas Panhandle region.
If the proposal were ever approved, the new State's capital city would have to be determined by a constitutional convention. Yreka, California, was named the provisional capital in the original 1941 proposal, although Port Orford, Oregon, had also been up for consideration. Some supporters of the more recent revival have also identified Redding, California, as a potential capital, even though Redding is not included in all versions of the proposal and its own city council voted in 2013 to reject participation in the movement.