Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh (UP) has a population of 199 million people, roughly the size of Pakistan and Brazil. It is the most populous province of India. Modern Humans have been in the area since 75-83 thousand years ago, with evidence of domesticated animals and agriculture for about 8000 years. UP was the heartland of the Mughal Empire. The founder Babur was a descendant of Genghis Khan, leading a Muslim Empire, with Persian Culture, of a predominantly Central Asian Turkish ruling class. At its height, the empire covered modern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The Maratha Empire followed, then they fell to the control of the British East India Company before becoming a British Colony. Currently part of the world's largest democracy, UP holds 80/545 seats of the lower house of the people (Lok Sabha) and 31/245 seats of the upper council of states (Rajya Sabha) of Indian Parliament. The lower house are representatives of directly elected member districts. The upper house is elected by members of the state legislatures via proportional representation - the number of seats depending on the size of population.

Guangdong

Guangdong

Guangdong Province (China) has a population of 107 million. As a country, that would make it the 12th largest in the world just behind Japan. 13 million people live in the capital, Guangzhou, which would be the 73rd largest country behind Chad. The area was called Canton by Westerners. As the Mongol Empire came to dominate Asia and Eastern Europe, the Han Chinese pushed South. Since the 16th century, there were extensive trade links with the rest of the world. Initially by land and the Silk Road, then by sea. The opium traded through Guangdong triggered the First Opium War with conflicting views on trade and which 'rule of law' should be applied, and by whom, to foreign nationals. As a major port of export for goods, and emigration, a large proportion of overseas Chinese people speak Cantonese rather than Mandarin.  

Guangzhou

Photo: jo.sau

Iowa

The first American Indians arrived in the area of Iowa around 13,000 years ago. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 ceded control to the United States, after 130 years of French and Spanish colonial rule. The entire population of the Louisiana Purchase was 60,000, half of whom were African slaves. The US encouraged settlement and moving the indigenous people to the west. Following the Civil War, Iowa's rich farmland and the introduction of railroads in the 1850/60s saw population increase dramatically and passing 1 million. There are now 3.1 million people. The Great Depression and World War II shifted the economy from small holdings to larger farms and manufacturing. The counties of the three biggest cities Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport were all won by Clinton in the 2016 Election, but urbanisation has left much of the state very sparsely populated. The Rural areas went Red, and the state backed the Republican party for the second time since 1984 (backing G.W.Bush in his second term).

United States Expansion

1803 - Louisiana Purchase

Ohio

One of the conditions for joining the United States was population. Disease and War wiped out much of the indigenous inhabitants of Ohio. It joined in 1803 with a just over 43,000 people. By 1850, there were about 2 million. By 1900, 4.2 million. By 1970, 10.7 million. Since passing 1 million people, growth per decade has ranged between 13.2% and 30.3% (excluding the WWII slump). Since around 1970, that has slowed to low single digits. Ohio is about the same size as Benin, a country in Africa, with a similar sized population as well (10.9 vs 11.6 million for Ohio). 27% of the state claim German ancestry, 14% Irish and 9% English. As a swing state, Ohio has switched from Red to Blue and back consistently with Reagan-Bush the last time the parties didn't change. Obama won 2,827,709 votes in 2012. Trump won 2,771,984 in 2016, but Clinton's share fell to 2,317,001. The last time Ohio didn't back the winner was Kennedy. 

Ohio Population Growth

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has a population of 12.8 million. Almost the same as Guinea, a country on the west coast of Africa, and the urban area of Rio De Janeiro, in Brazil. It was one of the original 13 states of the United States, formed by a royal land charter King Charles II, the restored King whose father lost his head in the English Civil War. The charter was given to William Penn to repay a debt. Steel, logging, coal, textiles and other manufacturing attracted large streams of immigrants. Today, only 5.6% of the population is foreign born with 75% born in the state. 82% are Non-Hispanic White (v 64% for the US in total) with the growth in population in the state flattening since 1970. The last time the Republican Party won a majority was in 1988. In 2016, Trump received 2,912,941 (Romney '12 2,680,434) and Clinton 2,844,705 (Obama '12 2,990,274) votes.

White Non-Hispanic Population by State (2012)

Michigan

Michigan is home to the big three US auto companies - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Its population is just short of 10 million people, about the same size as Sweden or Seoul, South Korea. When Europeans arrived, the three largest indigenous tribes existed as a loose confederation of tribes called 'The Council of Three Fires' formed in 796 CE. As part of the Great Lakes region, it became a popular immigrant destination after joining the Union as the 26th state in 1837. The birth of the auto-motive industry at the start of the 20th century attracted migrants. By 1920, Detroit was the 4th largest US city. Massive growth continued through to the 1970s, around 20-30% per decade excluding the war years. Growth then slowed and the population decreased over the 10 years 2000-2010. 77% of the population is Non-Hispanic White with the four biggest ancestry groups being German (21%), Irish (11%), English (9%), and Polish (8%).

Election Results by Country (Red Trump - Blue Clinton)

Democratic Primary Results by County (Green Sanders - Yellow Clinton)

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has a population of 5.8 million people, slightly more than Singapore (which is the 113th largest country in the world) and about the same as the cities of Qingdao-Jimo (China), Houston (USA), and Luanda (Angola). It is the 20th largest state by population of the United States. Famous for cheese and known as 'America's Dairyland'. Britain won control of the area after the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Both France & Britain's primary interest was the Fur Trade. The United States gained control after the War of 1812 and it was admitted to the Union in 1848. At the time 63,000 of the population of 305,000 had been born in the state. A big wave of immigration between 1850 and 1900 the largest groups being Germans and Norwegians. 83% of the population are non-Hispanic White with the largest claimed ethnicity being German (43%), Irish (11%) and Polish (9%). The last time the Republican Party won more of the vote than the Democratic Party in Wisconsin was 1984, but the change came from a drop in blue (1,620,985 in '12; 1,382,210 in '16) rather than an increase in Red (1,407,966 in '12; 1,409,467 in '16).

Wisconsin