Among the 2013 election cycle's quirkier outcomes, five
Colorado counties, fed up with the direction of the prevailing state legislature, voted to begin the process of
seceding from the state of Colorado and forming a new state all their own -- North Colorado. There are possibly insurmountable obstacles to this effort, not the least of which being that both Colorado's state legislature and the
US Congress would constitutionally be required to approve the move, and it is highly suspect that Congress, at least, would allow the creation of a state with a population less than a tenth that of the smallest existing state (even as a political counterbalance against prospectively
admitting Puerto Rico to the Union).
Of the eleven counties holding votes on the question, the five favoring secession are:
Philips, pop. 4442, area 688 mi
2
Yuma, pop. 10043, area 2369 mi
2
Washington, pop. 4814, area 2522 mi
2
Kit Carson, pop. 8270, area 2162 mi
2
Cheyenne, pop. 1836, area 1781 mi
2
-------------------------------------------------
TOTAL, pop. 29405, area 9522 mi
2
(Wiki thoughtfully provides
a map, with the counties in question being orange-tinted)
Interestingly, sizewise this state would be no
embarrassment, fitting snugly between
Vermont and
New Hampshire. But populationwise, it would fall well below the least populous existing state, nearby
Wyoming, which at least tops half a million people. Some chatter has been directed as well to the possibility of these counties simply switching allegiance to another state. When the whole secession movement began, Wyoming was touted, but none of the counties actually bordering Wyoming voted in favor of secession. And so this sort of talk has turned to
Nebraska and
Kansas, states which do in fact exhibit contiguity to the prospectively disembarking cluster.