Sitka

Howland, officially the Republic of Howland (Esperanto: Respubliko Haŭlando), is an island country in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically consists of three main landmasses–those of Admiralty Island, Baranof Island, and Chichagof Island–and numerous smaller nearby islands. Howland is situated in the northern part of the Alexander Archipelago off the coast of southeastern Alaska, approximately halfway between Anchorage and Seattle.

Inhabited by Alaska natives for millennia, the islands were part of Russian America until 1867, when Russia sold its remaining possessions in North America to the United States. In 1947, responding to the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, the United States created the Territory of Sitka comprising the three islands, and resettled displaced Eastern Europeans in the area. The name Howland was quickly adopted as an informal name for the territory, after James Howland, the United States senator who lobbied for the territory's creation. Owing to rich natural resources and a surplus of labor, the territory developed quickly, outpacing that of the Alaska Territory from which it was formed. A successful 1993 independence referendum resulted in the territorial assembly entering into a Compact of Free Association with the United States. Following the approval of a constitution, Howland became an independent state on April 1, 1997.