What is the population of Alaska doing. Alaska population: size, density, nationality

Alaska (English Alaska [əˈlæskə], translated from the Aleutian language - "whale place", "whale abundance" (ala'skh'a) is the largest state in the United States, on the northwestern outskirts of North America. Includes the peninsula of the same name , Aleutian Islands, a narrow strip of the Pacific coast together with the islands of the Alexander Archipelago along western Canada and the mainland.

Year established: 1959 (49th in order)
State Slogan: North to the Future
Formal name: State of alaska
Most Big city state: Anchorage
State capital: Juneau
Population: more than 700 thousand people (48th place in the country).
Area: 1,718 thousand sq. Km. (1st place in the country. The largest state in the USA).
More big cities in state: Fairbanks College

The state is located in the extreme north-west of the continent, separated from the Chukotka Peninsula (Russia) by the Bering Strait, in the east it borders on Canada, in the west in a small section of the Bering Strait - with Russia. Consists of the mainland and a large number of islands: the Alexander archipelago, the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilov Islands, the Kodiak Island, the St. Lawrence Island. It is washed by the Arctic and Pacific oceans. On the Pacific coast - the Alaska Ridge; the inner part is a plateau with a height of 1200 m in the east to 600 m in the west; passes into the lowlands. In the north is the Brooks Ridge, behind which is the Arctic Lowland.

Mount McKinley (Denali) (6194 m) - the highest in North America... There is active volcanoes... The Malespin glaciers are in the mountains.

In 1912, a volcanic eruption created the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and the new volcano Novarupta. The northern part of the state is covered by tundra. Forests are located to the south. The state includes the Small Diomede Island (Kruzenstern Island) in the Bering Strait, located at a distance of 4 km from the Great Diomede Island (Ratmanov Island), which belongs to Russia.

On the Pacific coast, the climate is temperate, maritime, relatively mild; in other areas - arctic and subarctic continental, with severe winters.

Around highest mountain USA McKinley located famous National park Denali.

Since 1867, Alaska was under the jurisdiction of the US Department of War and was called the "District of Alaska", in 1884-1912 "district", then "territory" (1912-1959), since 1959 - the state of the United States.

Five years later, gold was discovered. The region developed slowly until the onset of the Klondike gold rush in 1896. During the years of the gold rush in Alaska, about one thousand tons of gold were mined, which in April 2005 prices corresponded to $ 13-14 billion.

Alaska was declared a state in 1959.Since 1968, various mineral resources, especially in the Prudhoe Bay area, southeast of Point Barrow. In 1977, an oil pipeline was laid from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill caused serious environmental pollution.

In the extreme northwest of North America, the Alaska Peninsula is located, which makes up most of the territory of the northernmost and largest US state in terms of area. Alaska is separated from the rest of the United States by Canada. It also has a maritime border with Russia, which runs along a small section of the Bering Strait. Alaska's area is 1,717,854 km2, which means that no other state can compare with it in this indicator. Such open spaces open up unprecedented opportunities for economic development, because geological structure The territory is diverse, which means that the minerals that lie under it are also diverse.

Alaska population

Despite being the largest in the United States in terms of land area, it has a population of just 710,000, making it one of the least densely populated American states. In terms of population density, Alaska ranks fiftieth with an indicator of 0.49 people per km2. For example, the average population density in Russia is 8.57 people per km2.

Such a small number of inhabitants and low population density are due to the harsh climate of the region and remoteness from the main transport routes... In addition, many Americans prefer to live in large cities with diverse social and recreational infrastructure. However, the population of Alaska has grown steadily since the start of the oil boom, which was later replaced by the tourist boom. It should be noted that economic growth contributes to the growth in the number of residents.

Ethnic composition

The first Europeans to reach the shores of Alaska were Russian explorers who were part of the expedition led by Afanasy Fedorovich Shestakov. However, the Russians did not stay in this harsh land for long, and soon Alaska was sold to the Americans.

Today Alaska is the state with the largest indigenous population. The indigenous peoples of Alaska are the Atalascans, Tsimshians, Tlingits, Haida, Eskimos and Aleuts. Since the time of the first Russian colonization, a small number of descendants of the first Russian settlers have lived on the peninsula, who still profess Orthodoxy. In the state of Alaska today you can meet people with clearly Slavic faces. But none of them speaks Russian anymore.

The rest of the population is represented by Germans, whose number reaches 20%, Irish, British and Norwegians, as well as the smallest ethnic group on the peninsula - the French, whose number does not exceed three percent of the total population.

However, despite the significant ethnic diversity, the overwhelming number of residents own English language on the high level, instead of speaking English, only one percent of the population. The indigenous population of Alaska has a number of benefits and preferences that apply to profits from oil production and the right to extract biological resources.

Southeast Alaska

There is no official division of Alaska into regions, but geographers and ecologists tend to distinguish several large geographic regions, each of which has both climatic and geological features. However, the geography of Alaska can be considered by the example of several large geographic regions. Each of these regions deserves a separate mention. The area of Alaska is so large that the geographical and climatic conditions can differ significantly at different ends.

The southeastern geographic region of the state is characterized by the closest proximity to the main territory of the United States. In addition, southeastern Alaska is the northern end of the so-called Inner Passage, which is a waterway of a complex trajectory, consisting of numerous channels, lakes, and canals.

This path was actively used by the Indians to move along the territory of the region parallel to the coast in relative safety. Later, this passage was used by gold prospectors during the Gold Rush to develop coastal territories. Today this route is very popular among tourists who choose organized travel on cruise ships and independent travelers who prefer regular ferries carrying passengers, automobile transport and cargo.

Alaska North Slope

The North Slope borough, the second largest administrative unit in the United States, is located on the North Alaskan Slope. This administrative division is large enough to exceed the size of Minnesota and another thirty-eight American states. North Slope has access to the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea.

The population of the district barely exceeds seven thousand people, but since 2000, there has been a steady steady growth, due not only to natural increase, but also to the migration of population from other states of the United States.

The largest city in North Slow is the settlement of Barrow, named after the famous English politician and founder of the Royal Geographical Society. This small town, whose population barely surpassed four thousand in 2005, is the northernmost city in the United States, located 515 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle and 2,100 kilometers from the North Pole. The city is surrounded by dry tundra, and the soil freezes to a depth of four hundred meters.

Aleutian Islands

A very special region in all respects is the Aleutian Islands, which belong to the state of Alaska and serve as a natural southern border. Bering Sea.

The archipelago, consisting of one hundred and ten islands and numerous rocks, stretches in an arc from southwest coast Alaska to the shores of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Aleutian Islands are usually divided into five large groups:

Near islands.
Rats of the island.
Andreyanovskie Islands.
Fox Islands.
Four-mountain islands.

Since the islands are a product of volcanic activity, it is not surprising that there are twenty-five active volcanoes on them. The largest of them are the volcanoes Segula, Kanaga, Goreloy, Bolshoi Sitkin, Tanaga and Vsevidova. But the highest and most famous is the Shishaldin volcano, located on the Unimak island. It is believed that the height of 2857 meters was first conquered by J. Petrson in 1932, however, given the peculiarities of the slope, it is possible that both Russians and indigenous people could climb to the top of the volcano.

Despite the fact that numerous eruptions were recorded on the volcano in XX, it is nevertheless popular among fans of extreme skiing on alpine skiing... The length of the track is 1830 meters. The indigenous population of Alaska calls the volcano Haginak.

The islands are sparsely populated, and many of them are completely uninhabited. The total number of inhabitants is about eight thousand people, and the largest city is Unalaska with a population of 4283 inhabitants.

Inner Alaska

Most of the peninsula belongs to the region, which in the scientific literature is called Inner Alaska. The region is bounded by the Wrangel, Denali, Ray and Alaskan Ridge Mountains.

The largest city in the geographic area is Fairbanks, which serves as the administrative center for the Fairbanks North Star borough. The population of the city exceeds 30 thousand people, which makes it the second largest locality Alaska.

The city occupies a special place on the state map also due to the fact that the University of Alaska is located there - the largest educational institution in the region, founded in 1917.

The city appeared on the map of the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the state was in the midst of the Gold Rush. And the place of its construction was not chosen by chance. The city, which bears the name of US Vice President Charles Warren Fairbanks, is located in central Alaska, in the fertile valley of the Tanaka River, in which, despite the harsh climate, there is an opportunity to engage in agriculture.

Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

Special mention should be made of such a natural phenomenon as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, formed as a result of the eruption of the Katmai volcano. The eruption was so strong that the volcano itself was completely destroyed, and in its place a new one appeared, called Novarupta.

The eruption is considered to be the strongest in the 20th century, since it is estimated at six points on an eight-point scale. The entire valley, in which there were dense forests, a river and numerous springs, was covered with a thick layer of ash, reaching in places two hundred meters thick.

The valley got its name thanks to numerous sources steam that burst out from under the frozen tuff crust. By today, the ash has almost cooled down and the water underneath has stopped evaporating, so steam springs, also called fumaroles, are almost impossible to meet. But despite this, every year thousands of tourists come to sightseeing buses into the valley to witness the aftermath of one of the greatest natural disasters of the twentieth century.

Alaska Economy

Having discussed in detail geographic features state, it is worth talking about it economic situation, which, of course, is closely related to the natural resources of the peninsula.

The state's lands are extremely rich in various natural resources such as oil, gold and natural gas. In terms of proven gold reserves, the state is second only to Nevada. In addition, the state mines up to eight percent of all American silver, and the Red Dog mine has the largest reserves of zinc in the entire United States and supplies more than ten percent of this metal to the international market.

However, the foundation of the entire Alaskan economy is oil production, which forms the basis of the budget and the Welfare Fund for future generations. The peninsula produces about twenty percent of all oil in the United States. The oil pipelines built back in the 70s bring oil from the fields to the large seaport of Valdiz, the population of which is involved not only in the transportation of oil, but also in fishing, which is carried out mainly by the method of deep-sea trawling.

Alaska, where the standard of living is considered to be quite high compared to many states, is considered one of the most socially oriented regions of the United States. A referendum held in 1976 decided to donate 25% of the oil revenues generated by the state government to a special fund from which an annual benefit is paid to all Alaska residents. The maximum amount of such a premium was $ 3269 in 2018, while the minimum payment was made in 2010 and was only $ 1281.

Anchorage. Largest city in the state

In 2014, the city celebrated its centenary. It was founded at a time when the Gold Rush was in full swing on the peninsula and cities in the northernmost state of the country were growing and developing rapidly.

A hundred years later, Anchorage is home to 291 thousand people, which makes it the northernmost of the US cities with a population of more than one hundred thousand people. The fact that the city is home to more than forty percent of the state's population deserves a separate mention.

The history of the city began with a small campground set up in the immediate vicinity of the mouth of the Ship Creek River. However, rather quickly, a small settlement turned into a strategically important city, which is of great importance, both for the economy and for the security of the United States.

Since the Second World War, during which a large number of military installations appeared in the city, the city's population has grown steadily. The constant stable development of the city is associated not only with its strategic location, but also with active development of minerals in the immediate vicinity of the city.

However, the history of the city also had its own disasters, which include, first of all, the strongest earthquake that happened in 1964 and destroyed a significant part of the city. The epicenter of the earthquake was located just a few hundred kilometers from the city center, which resulted in a vibration amplitude of 9.2 points, which means that this earthquake was the strongest of all recorded in the United States.

However, the tragedy was immediately followed by an unprecedented economic growth caused by the discovery of large oil deposits, which coincided with the rise in prices for this resource on the international commodity market. The city was rebuilt very quickly and its population increased. This period went down in the history of the city and the entire state as an oil boom.

State capital

The state capital, Juneau, does not belong to the major cities of Alaska, as its population is only slightly more than thirty thousand people. The city got its name in honor of a gold digger, when several large gold deposits were discovered in Alaska. However, initially the city had a completely different name.

Like many cities in Alaska, Juneau emerged as camping in 1880. During the first year of its existence, the settlement was called Harrisburg, after Richard Harris, but already in 1881 the miners themselves renamed it Juneau.

Talking about the geography of Alaska, one cannot fail to mention that the city of Juneau is located between the shores of the Gastineau Strait and the slopes of the Coastal Range. The relative protection of the city from the harsh eastern winds makes its climate relatively comfortable for permanent residence, although the whole region is characterized by a pronounced continental climate... The average July temperature is about eighteen degrees Celsius, while in February, the coldest month, it can drop to thirty degrees below zero.

Like the rest of Alaska's industry, Juneau's manufacturing sector is geared towards fishing, transporting and processing resources. However, as with the rest of the state capitals, the mainstay of the urban economy is the public administration sector.

In addition to the raw materials and public sector, the tourism sector is also important for the city's economy. From May to September every year, numerous cruise ships enter the port of Juneau, bringing tourists from big land, and along with them, and money in the city budget. But despite the rise in urban tourism revenues, many city dwellers believe that the tourism boom of the past decade is more likely to harm the city, disrupting the way of life. However, the general population of Alaska, whose living standards are improving thanks to tourism, looks favorably on the growing number of visitors from other American states and even foreign countries. But more travelers come from the United States itself. As in all of Alaska, Juneau's nationalities are very diverse: here are Europeans, Hispanics, and indigenous people.

Population of Alaska: size, density, nationality ..

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1) Peninsula on the northwest of Sev. America; USA (Alaska). The name is explained from aleut, alakh sah or ala sh and whale place, whale abundance. An earlier common explanation from the Aleut. and la aska the big land is mistaken. In Russia, XVIII XIX centuries. often… … Geographical encyclopedia

Alaska- McKinley ... Tourist encyclopedia

Alaska, Alaska, Alashka or Alaska, among the natives of Alaeska, this is the name of the peninsula in the northwestern part of America, stretching in length in the south westward and connected to the mainland between the Bay of Bristol (Kuchak) in the north and Cook, ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

I (Alaska), Gulf of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America, between the Alaska Peninsula and the mainland. The width at the entrance is over 2,200 km. Depth up to 4929 m. In Alaska, there are Kodiak, Alexander and Queen Charlotte Islands. Main ports: Seward, Prince ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

ALASKA, 1) a narrow peninsula in the northwest of North America (USA, Alaska), between the Bristol Bay of the Bering Sea and By the Pacific Ocean... The length is about 700 km, the width is 10 170 km. Mountainous, along the axis stretches the Aleutian ridge (height up to 3108 m) ... Modern encyclopedia

ALASKA, USA, in northwestern North America. 1523 thousand km2. Population 601 thousand people. (1996). Adm. center of Juneau. The indigenous population is Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts. In the 17th and 18th centuries. discovered by Russian explorers who founded a number of settlements, 1st century ... ... Russian history

ALASKA, Gulf of the Pacific Ocean, between the Alaska Peninsula and the North American mainland. The area is 384 thousand km2. Depth up to 4929 m. Kodiak archipelago. Ports of Seward, Prince Rupert (USA) ... Modern encyclopedia

Peninsula in the northwest of the North. America (USA, Alaska), between Bristol Hall. Beringova m. And Tikhim approx. Length 700 km, width 10 170 km. It is mainly occupied by the Aleutian Ridge. Mountain tundra ...

State of the United States, in the northwest of North. America. 1519 thousand km & sup2. population 599 thousand people (1993). Adm. c. Juno. The indigenous population is Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts. In the 17th and 18th centuries. discovered by Russian explorers who founded a number of settlements, 1st in the 1780s ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Alaska- ALASKA, and, well. 1. A type of winter jacket with a hood. 2. What l. a distant, remote place. Will you come with me to Arkhangelsk? Well, yes, I really need your Alaska! .. 3. just plural, juice. A variety of women's winter boots made of suede with a front zip ... Dictionary of Russian argo

- (alaska.de), Germany, 2000, Bioskop Film, 89 min. Drama Sixteen-year-old Sabina does not have a good relationship with her mother; she also cannot find a common language with her friend. After another scandal, the mother sent Sabina to her father, who lives in ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

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Alaska. Guidebook,. Alaska can be roughly divided into 8 regions. The state's largest city, Anchorage, is the center of civilization in the wilderness, and the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage offers a variety of ...

Alaska is the largest state in the United States, on the northwestern edge of North America. It includes the peninsula of the same name, the Aleutian Islands, a narrow strip of the Pacific coast together with the islands of the Alexander archipelago along western Canada and the continental part.

The state is located in the extreme northwest of the continent, separated from the Chukotka Peninsula (Russia) by the Bering Strait, in the east it borders on Canada. Consists of the mainland and a large number of islands: the Alexander archipelago, the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilov Islands, the Kodiak Island, the St. Lawrence Island. It is washed by the Arctic and Pacific oceans. On the Pacific coast - the Alaska Ridge; the inner part - a plateau with a height of 1200 m in the east to 600 m in the west, turns into a lowland.In the north is the Brooks Ridge, behind which is the Arctic Lowland.

Flag	Coat of arms	Map

Mount McKinley (Denali) (6194 m) is the highest in North America. There are active volcanoes. There are glaciers in the mountains (Malespin).

In 1912, a volcanic eruption created the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The northern part of the state is covered by tundra. Forests are located to the south. The state includes the Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait, located 4 km from the Great Diomede Island (Ratmanov Island), which belongs to Russia.

On the Pacific coast, the climate is temperate, maritime, relatively mild; in other areas - arctic and subarctic continental, with severe winters.

The famous Denali National Park is located in the vicinity of the highest mountain in the USA, McKinley.

The largest city in Alaska is Anchorage.

The capital of Alaska is Juneau.

Unlike most other states in the United States, where the main lower administrative unit of local government is the county, the name of the administrative units in Alaska is baro (borough). More importantly, another difference is that 15 baros and the municipality of Anchorage cover only part of Alaska. The rest of the territory does not have enough population (at least interested) for the formation of local self-government and forms the so-called unorganized baro, which for the purposes of the population census and for the convenience of management was divided into the so-called census areas. There are 11 such zones in Alaska.

Groups of Siberian tribes crossed the isthmus (now the Bering Strait) 16 - 10 thousand years ago. The Eskimos began to settle on the Arctic coast, the Aleuts settled in the Aleutian archipelago.

Discovery of Alaska

In Western tradition, it is believed that the first white person to set foot on the land of Alaska was G.V. Steller. Bernhard Grzimek's book From Cobra to Grizzly Bear says that Steller was the first to notice the mountainous outlines of the Alaskan Islands on the horizon, and he was eager to continue his biological research. However, the captain of the ship V. Bering had other intentions and soon ordered to wean anchor and return. Steller was extremely outraged by this decision and in the end insisted that the ship's commander give him at least ten hours to survey Kayak Island, where the ship still had to dock to replenish fresh water supplies. Steller titled an article about his exploratory feat-foray "A Description of Plants Collected in 6 Hours in America."

However, in fact, the first Europeans who visited Alaska were on August 21, 1732, members of the team of the Saint Gabriel bot under the command of the surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and the navigator I. Fedorov during the expedition of A. F. Shestakov and D. I. Pavlutsky 1729 -1735 In addition, there is fragmentary information about Russian people visiting America in the 17th century.

Russian America and the sale of Alaska

From July 9, 1799 to October 18, 1867, Alaska with the adjacent islands was under the control of the Russian-American Company. However, after serfdom was abolished in Russia in order to pay compensation to the landowners, Alexander II was forced in 1862 to borrow 15 million pounds from the Rothschilds at 5% per annum. However, the Rothschilds had to return something, and then the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich - the Tsar's younger brother - offered to sell "something unnecessary." The most unnecessary thing in Russia turned out to be Alaska.

In addition, the hostilities in the Far East during the Crimean War showed the absolute insecurity of the eastern lands of the Empire, and especially Alaska. In order not to lose in vain, it was decided to sell the territory that could not be protected and developed in the foreseeable future.

On December 16, 1866, a special meeting was held in St. Petersburg, which was attended by Alexander II, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, the finance and naval ministers, as well as the Russian envoy to Washington, Baron Eduard Andreevich Stekl. All participants approved the sale idea. At the suggestion of the Ministry of Finance, a threshold was set for the amount - at least $ 5 million in gold. On December 22, 1866, Alexander II approved the border of the territory. In March 1867, Steckle arrived in Washington and formally addressed Secretary of State William Seward. The signing of the treaty took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. Territory with an area of 1 million 519 thousand square meters. km was sold for $ 7.2 million in gold, that is, at $ 0.0474 per hectare.

Alaska as a US state

When did Alaska become a US state? Since 1867, Alaska has been under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of War and was called the District of Alaska, in 1884 - 1912. district, then territory (1912 - 1959), since 1959 - the state of the United States.

Five years later, gold was discovered. The region developed slowly until the onset of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896. During the years of the gold rush in Alaska, about one thousand tons of gold was mined.

Alaska was declared a state in 1959. Various mineral resources have been exploited there since 1968, especially in the Prudhoe Bay area, southeast of Point Barrow. In 1977, an oil pipeline was laid from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. In 1989, an oil spill from the Exxon Valdez tanker caused serious environmental pollution.

In the north, crude oil production (in the area of the Prudhoe Bay and the Kinai Peninsula; the Alieska oil pipeline 1250 km long to the port of Valdez), natural gas, coal, copper, iron, gold, zinc, fishing, reindeer breeding; logging and hunting, air transport, military air bases.

Oil production has played a huge role since the 1970s. after the discovery of deposits and the laying of the Trans-Alaska pipeline. The Alaska oil field has been compared in importance to the oil fields in Western Siberia and on the Arabian Peninsula.

Population

Although the state is one of the least populated in the country, many new residents moved here in the 1970s, attracted by vacancies in oil industry and in transport, and in the 1980s, population growth was over 36 percent.

Population growth in recent decades:

1990 - 550,000 inhabitants;

2004 - 648 818 inhabitants;

2005 - 663 661 inhabitants;

2006 - 677 456 inhabitants;

2007 - 690 955 inhabitants.

In 2005, the population of Alaska increased over the previous year by 5906 people, or 0.9%. Compared to 2000, the population increased by 36,730 people (5.9%). This number includes natural growth population by 36,590 people (53,132 births minus 16,542 deaths) since the last census, as well as an increase due to migration by 1,181 people. Immigration from outside the United States increased the population of Alaska by 5,800, while internal migration reduced it by 4,619. Alaska has the lowest population density of any state in the United States.

About 75 percent of the population is white, US-born. The state has about 88,000 indigenous people - Indians (Athapaski, Haida, Tlingit, Simshian), Eskimos and Aleuts. There are also a small number of Russian descendants living in the state. Major religious groups include Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists. The share of Orthodox Christians, according to various estimates, 8-10%, is the highest in the country.

For the past 20 years, residents of the state have traditionally voted for Republicans. Former Republican Governor Sarah Palin was a runner-up for US Vice President in the 2008 elections under John McCain. Currently Governor Sean Parnell.

State of alaska

Alaska is considered the last American frontier. It is the largest state in terms of size, although in terms of population (it is more than half a million people), it ranks next to last. It is estimated that there are 2.6 square kilometers of territory per person in the state.

Talking about their state, Alaska residents often use the word "most" in speech: Mount McKinley in the Alaska Ridge is the most high peak North America (6194 meters), the Yukon River with a length of 2879 kilometers is one of the longest waterways in all of North America, the Malaspina Glacier, which is 110 kilometers long, is larger in area than the entire state of Rhode Island (glacier area - 3880 square kilometers). The territory of Alaska is so large (1,530,693 square kilometers) that its acquisition has increased the United States by one-fifth.

Alaska is home to many rare birds and animals: bald and golden eagles, hawks, owls, seals live on the Pribylov Islands, and sea otters, seals and whales live in the sea. Here you can see grizzlies, brown and polar bears, caribou deer, elk, and bison. The world's largest Kodiak bear is found on Kodiak Island. The state of Alaska is widely known among hunters and fishermen, so fans of sport fishing and hunting flock here.

Alaska is a land of the most unexpected contrasts. Here you can see smoking volcanoes and cold tundra, hot springs and glaciers gushing out of the ground, virgin forests and vast open spaces.

The name "Alaska" comes from the Aleutian word alaxsxaq, which literally means "land to which the sea rushes", that is, "continent".

The fact that Alaska was once Russian is now reminded by such Russian place names as Shelikhov Strait, Chirikov Island, Shumagin Islands, Pavlov Volcano, Veniaminov Mountain, Shishaldin Volcano, Bocharov Lake, Makushina Volcano, Baranov Island. The development of Alaska is really connected primarily with Russia. In 1724, Peter I ordered Captain Vitus Bering (1681–1741) to explore the lands and waters east of Siberia. During his second voyage in 1741, Bering ended up in Alaska and declared it Russian territory. On the way back Bering died in Russia, but the rest of the expedition reached Russia, and the stories of travelers about the wealth of this region, about the abundance of furs there inspired Russian merchants to develop this distant land. One such entrepreneur, Alexander Andreevich Baranov (1746-1819), lived in Alaska from 1790 to 1818, being the director of the Russian-American Company, which existed from 1799 to 1818. Baranov's name is immortalized in the title large island Baranova, 140 kilometers south of the city of Juneau. The city of Novoarkhangelsk was built on the island, which is now called Sitka. The city of Sitka was the capital of Alaska from 1867 to 1906, but originally Russian explorers, merchants and other merchants made their trade center a place near the Bay of Three Saints on Kodiak Island.

The possibility of a quick profit from the fur trade led to the fact that fur-bearing animals began to be exterminated in such quantities that many breeds, such as the sea otter, were on the verge of extinction. Such ruthless extermination of animals stopped in 1799, when the Russian Emperor Paul I ordered the founding of the Russian-American Company in order to purposefully settle and develop the territory of Alaska. Alexander Baranov became the director of the company, who led Russian America for 19 years as the governor of the Russian emperor and created 15 Russian settlements on this continent, including Fort Ross in California. The history of the development of Alaska by the Russians is quite dramatic: she also remembers the skirmishes with local population- Eskimos, Aleuts and Indians, and conflicts with American fur traders. So, in 1802, a group of Tlingit Indians destroyed the Russian settlement of Mikhailovsk. In response, the Russian colonists decided to punish the Indians and destroyed the Indian village in 1804, creating the nearby city of Novoarkhangelsk, which later became not only the capital of the Russian colony, but the center of the joint Russian-American company. In 1812, Russian and American merchants entered into an agreement between themselves, which marked the beginning of the development of trade and good relations between Russia and the United States. At one time, Novoarkhangelsk was called "the Paris of the Pacific", the city, which was ruled by Alexander Baranov, looked so impressive. The Russian churches preserved in Sitka remind of the glorious times of the development of Alaska.

For the first time, Russia tried to sell Alaska in 1855. By that time, the military-political rivalry between the United States and Great Britain made the activities of the Russian-American company risky and even unprofitable, and Russia's participation in the Crimean War turned the colony in Alaska into an unprotected and vulnerable place. Negotiations to acquire this territory began in 1867 under President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) at the urging of Secretary of State William Seward. The United States paid Russia 7 million 200 thousand dollars (11 million tsarist rubles) for Alaska. The day of the transition of Alaska to the jurisdiction of the United States, October 18, 1867, is now celebrated as Alaska Day. Skeptics of the time were witty when they came up with epithets for the cold territory in the far northeast, off the coast of the Arctic Ocean, such as "Seward's Glacier", "Polar Bear Sanctuary" or "Land of Frigidia." However, the real nickname for the state is the land of the midnight sun. In addition, the state's motto "North to the Future" is intended to dispel doubts about the usefulness of the deal and inspire skeptics that Alaska is not the last place in the United States.

The management of Alaska was consistently taken over by the US Army, the Treasury Department, and the Navy. There was no civil administration, and until 1884 Alaska lived under the laws of Oregon. A dramatic new era in Alaska's history began with the discovery of gold deposits in the Klondike, northwest Canada, in 1896. Hundreds of gold prospectors rushed in search of a convenient route to the Klondike - one of them was the route through the city of Skagway in southeastern Alaska. Even before the gold boom on the Klondike had subsided a little, there was a new excitement surrounding the discovery of gold in the Nome area of the Seward Peninsula. At this time, a disagreement arose between the United States and Canada over the southern section of the border between the two countries. Under a treaty in 1867, under which the United States acquired Alaska from Russia, the border between the United States and Canada was established along the coastline approximately between the 55th and 60th parallels at a distance of 48 kilometers from the coast. Access to the Klondike was through a bay called the Lynn Canal. Canada demanded this channel for itself. This dispute was resolved in a joint arbitration commission, which included the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. In 1903, it was decided to keep the border along the coastline and leave the Lynn Canal to the United States. In 1912, President William Howard Taft (1857–1930) signed legislation making Alaska a territory.

During World War II in 1942, the Japanese occupied the islands of Kiska and Attu in the Aleutian ridge. In the summer of 1943, these islands were returned to the United States, and in order to consolidate their victory, the Americans began hastily to develop the area. Their first step was the creation of the Trans-Alaskan Highway. At the same time, a military program began to develop to strengthen the area.

For more than 40 years, Alaska has claimed to be a state. This happened only in 1958, when the Senate voted to admit Alaska to the United States as a state, and on January 3, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a law that officially became the 49th state of Alaska.

If you look at a map of North America, then Alaska seems like a huge peninsula. In reality, the Alaska Peninsula is only a part of the state located in the southwest of this tip of the North American mainland. The entire state is named after the peninsula. The length of the Alaska Peninsula from Lake Naknek to the western tip is approximately 800 kilometers. The peninsula is predominantly mountainous, here and on the Aleutian Islands there are almost 50 volcanic peaks. The climate on the peninsula is cool: on average –7 ° C in winter, but in summer the mercury column does not rise above + 10 ° C. The volcanic Aleutian Ridge, which stretches 1900 kilometers southwest of the Alaska Peninsula, consists of fourteen large and more than one hundred small islands. The Aleutian Islands are mostly uninhabited, with the exception of small Aleut settlements, numbering about 6 thousand people, and personnel serving military installations. Winds and fogs are common in the Aleutian Islands, where there are almost no trees.

In the southeast, Alaska is bordered by the Canadian province of British Columbia, and to the east by the Canadian territory of Yukon. The northernmost point of Alaska, which is at the same time the most north point USA - Cape Barrow on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. About a third of Alaska's territory lies beyond the Arctic Circle.

In the east, Alaska is washed by the Bering Sea, which separates Siberia from North America. The smallest distance between Cape Dezhnev in Siberia and the east point The Seward Peninsula in Alaska is only 85 kilometers away. This is the Bering Strait, which contains the Big and Small Diomede Islands, which belong to Russia and the United States, respectively. The international daily demarcation line runs between them.

The Bering Sea is considered one of the most difficult in terms of navigation, in winter very strong winds blow there, there are frequent storms, the mercury column sometimes drops to -45 ° C, which leads to severe icing of ships, and waves can reach a height of 12 meters. Cold currents from the Arctic Ocean collide with warm Pacific currents at sea, resulting in frequent fogs and storms. One-sixth of Alaska, covered by tundra, has a polar climate, that is, a cold winter lasts about 280 days. However, during the short polar summer, the sun shines almost all day, the earth thaws a little, and moss turns green on it and bright northern flowers bloom.

The northern part of the state is occupied by the Brooks Ridge, which stretches for 960 kilometers and is a desolate kingdom of snow and ice. Some of the peaks of this ridge reach heights of over two thousand meters. The southern foot of the Brooks Ridge is forested.

South of the Brooks Ridge is the Inner Plateau, a rise along which the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers and their tributaries flow. This area is occupied by forests, swamps and lakes. The hillsides are covered with coniferous forests. The climate of this region is sharply continental. Temperatures on the Inner Plateau range from -48 ° C in winter to + 38 ° C in summer.

The territory in the south of Alaska, closer to the Pacific Ocean, is occupied by mountains. Here the climate is maritime, softened by warm ocean currents, as well as warm air masses moving from Asia.

In the southeast of Alaska, between the 55th and 60th parallels, a narrow coastal strip stretches for 500 kilometers from north to south, bounded in the west by the Pacific Ocean, and in the east by the border with Canada. The coastal mountains in this area rise sharply out of the water. The Alexander Archipelago is located in this part of the state. It is believed that the most memorable way to get to Alaska is by sea travel through more than a thousand islands of this archipelago. The slopes of the Coastal Mountains are covered with dense forests, where spruce, hemlock and cedar are harvested for the local timber industry. The height of some peaks of the Coastal Mountains reaches three thousand meters, and to the north, where coastline turns to the west, there is Mount St. Elijah with a height of 5488 meters. Glaciers sliding down the mountain form entire valleys, the largest of which is the Malaspina Glacier Valley. Another famous glacier, Muir, is located in the Alaska National Glacier Reserve. Glaciers sliding down the mountains deepen river valleys and make these places look like Norwegian fjords.

South of mainland Alaska is Kodiak Island, home to salmon farms and a US Coast Guard base. The city of Kodiak on this island is one of the largest fishing ports in the United States.

Alaska undoubtedly has a huge strategic importance in the plans of the American military. There are numerous facilities run by the Pentagon. According to the law on the admission of Alaska to the United States in the event of a military threat, the entire territory of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands will come under federal control. Between 1954 and 1957, a chain of radar installations was built in Alaska serving all of North America. The city of Anchorage is the northwest headquarters of the Department of Defense. Located in Anchorage military base Elmendorf, home to one of the largest military airfields in the world. It also houses a military base and an army command center at Fort Richardson. Aielson and Fort Wainwright Air Force Bases are located near Fairbanks. The Pentagon traditionally conducts military exercises in Alaska, developing the skills of conducting military operations in conditions close to those of the north, in particular Siberia, the Urals and the Russian Arctic. For this, Fort Greeley near the city of Delta Junction is used. Air defense systems with early warning systems about the approach of an alleged enemy are also deployed in Alaska.

On March 27, 1964, a strong earthquake struck South Alaska, which destroyed Anchorage and the surrounding cities, killing 100 people. And in 1989, off the coast of Alaska, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker crashed, and more than 37 million 850 thousand liters of oil spilled into the waters of Prince William Bay. The accident severely disrupted the coastal environment of the state and caused great damage to wildlife and fisheries.

Alaska's main source of income is fishing. In some years, up to half of all US fish products were produced here. The main types of fish and seafood caught are salmon, halibut, herring, crabs, shrimp and sea molluscs. Basically, the catch is frozen for export to Japan and Western Europe... One third of the catch is processed in canneries, with pink salmon being preferred.

The mining industry is the second most important industry in the state's economy. Alaska is primarily known as a gold-bearing region. In addition to gold, other metals are mined in the state. However, due to the state's remoteness from others industrial centers countries and excessively expensive transportation, the development of the extractive industry is rather slow. The two main mining areas began to develop in 1989 and 1990 in the southeast at Greens Creek (near Juneau) and in the northwest at Red Doge (near Kotzebue). First of all, those minerals are mined here, which are lacking outside the state and which other industries cannot do without: gold, platinum, chromium, mercury, silver, molybdenum, zinc, copper, lead and nickel.

In 1957, commercial oil production began on the Kenai Peninsula, and since 1968 oil production platforms have been operating in Prudho Bay, which is considered the most large deposit oil in North America. To transport oil from north to south, in 1977, a 1,280-kilometer oil pipeline was built, leading to the ice-free port of Valdiz. Alaska also produces natural gas, construction sand, gravel and coal.

The remoteness of Alaska from the rest of the USA, the aura of northern exoticism, its unusual landscape, nature and climate make the state an unusually attractive destination for lovers of tourism and recreation in the bosom of the wild. Tourism is the third largest branch of the state's economy. Most tourists come to Alaska for sea ferries, however, the flow of people arriving by car and by bus on the Trans-Alaska motorway is increasing. This is the only land route connecting Alaska with Canada and the "lower" American states... Most of the motorway runs through Canada. It begins in the town of Dawson Creek in British Columbia and stretches for two thousand kilometers. The road was built during World War II to connect military airfields. Nowadays, the Trans-Alaska Highway has become an unforgettable tourist route. It passes through forests, past lakes, along glacial valleys, winds through the picturesque mountains.

One of the most visited places by tourists is the Denali National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, where hunting is prohibited, but you can stop in tents and fish.

A third of Alaska's territory is occupied by forests in which birch, poplar, and aspen grow, but logging in the state is insignificant, especially in comparison with such leaders of the forest industry as the states of Washington and Oregon. The timber is floated along the rivers along the southern and southeastern coasts to deep sea harbors. Hemlock and spruce, as well as red and yellow cedar are subject to industrial felling. The main timber processing plants are located in the cities of Ketchikan and Sitka.

Agriculture in force natural conditions Alaska is slightly developed. 90 percent of agricultural products and foodstuffs are imported from outside. Areas suitable for agriculture are mostly forested and difficult to develop. The growing season in Alaska is unusually short, but the crops are growing well because the polar day is long enough. The most suitable agricultural land is in the Matanuska Valley, 80 kilometers northeast of Anchorage, as well as in the Tanana River Valley near Fairbanks, in the lowlands of the Kenai Peninsula and in several areas of the southeast coast. In Alaska, they grow what goes directly to the table. Fruits, potatoes, carrots, greenhouse vegetables, huge cabbage, berries, as well as milk, eggs are in great demand, because, unlike many other regions of the United States, they are not imported, do not contain preservatives, and most importantly, they are fresh.

Fur production is another important branch of the Alaska economy. For this purpose, minks are actively bred here, they hunt beavers, martens, lynx, coyote, otter and muskrat.

The population of Alaska is over 0.5 million people, of which approximately 85 thousand people are Eskimos, Aleuts and Indians, that is, the indigenous population of the state. Among the representatives of other nationalities, the most common are Russians, Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese and immigrants from Scandinavia.

Although most of the indigenous people gravitate towards their own cultures and are engaged in traditional trades and crafts, many of them move to cities. Local Eskimos settle mainly along the coast of the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean and in the deltas of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. They are engaged in fishing, hunting and fur trade.

The Indians, mainly belonging to the Tlingit tribe, live on the islands in the south of the state. They are engaged in fishing, hunting and traditional crafts such as wood and bone carving, and also work in fish canning factories.

Two-thirds of the state's residents live in cities and towns. Although Alaska's cities look as modern as other cities in the United States, they are separated from each other by great distances. In many cases, communication between them is carried out only by water or air.

Anchorage with a population of 230 thousand people, the most Big City Alaska, was founded in 1914 by Cook Bay as the headquarters of the Alaska Railroad Administration, and was rebuilt after the 1964 earthquake. It is the main commercial, transportation and military center of the state. Anchorage grew rapidly in the 1970s. There is a large international Airport, called the "air crossroads of the world", which serves millions of passengers who fly between the United States, Canada and countries East Asia... The city has everything necessary to be called a large modern center - theaters, musical groups, a history and art museum with a collection of masterpieces of local folk crafts, a natural history museum, and a zoo.

Fairbanks - the second largest city in Alaska with a population of over 30 thousand people - was founded by gold miners in 1902 in the center of the state, on the Chena River, which is a tributary of the Yukon River. Gold is still being mined in this place, but the main importance of Fairbanks is due to its role as a transport hub. This city is the last station of the Alaska railroad. The Trans-Alaskan Highway also ends here. Important defense facilities are located near the city, including a satellite tracking station.

Juneau - the capital of Alaska, a city with a population of about 27 thousand people - is located in the southeast of the state. The city got its name from the gold digger Joe Juneau, who discovered gold in this area in 1880. The settlement founded here became the center of the mining industry, and in 1900 the town became the capital of the territory, although all administrative offices moved here from Sitka only in 1906. In 1976, a survey was conducted of Alaska residents about moving the state capital to Willow, north of Anchorage, as Juneau's economy had fallen into disrepair. However, over time, Juneau gained economic strength, mainly through tourism and the mining industry, so a second vote in 1982 retained the status of the capital for the city.

Juneau can only be reached by plane or water. The main sectors of the city's economy are tourism, mining and fishing. The Greens Creek Mine, one of the largest silver deposits in the United States, is located near Juneau. Juneau is picturesquely located on the Gastineau Canal, which resembles a Norwegian fjord. A canal bridge connects the downtown area with Douglas Island, where residential areas are located. Juneau is a bit like San Francisco - houses in both cities are crowded in winding streets and climb up hills. Juneau Harbor is an ice-free port. North of the city, the Lynn Canal begins, leading to the cities of Haynes and Skagway. A ferry service connects these cities with Seattle, Washington, and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. Juneau's attractions include the Alaska Museum with an excellent collection of traditional northern art. The city is home to the University of Alaska and a large library.

In Sitka, former city Novoarkhangelsk on the island of Baranov, now there are about 10 thousand people. It is a port city, famous for its fish canning factories, and the center of the forest industry. Sitka is one of the largest centers of "Russian America" with a "Russian quarter". There is a national historical park in the city, created on the site of a battle in which Russian troops defeated the Tlingit Indians.

Panhandle Ketchikan - Alaska's map has a southern ledge that resembles a bucket handle - is a port city home to the state's largest wood pulp factories and home to Alaska's largest fishing fleet.

From the book of 100 great geographical discoveries the author Balandin Rudolf Konstantinovich

From the book Essay on Gold the author Maksimov Mikhail Markovich

Alaska (the last classic gold rush) The gold-bearing region of Alaska goes beyond the boundaries of the US state of the same name into Canada and is actually located in the middle and lower reaches of the river. Yukon. Alaska was discovered in 1741 by the Russians, that is, this is the last in time