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ALASKA - USA
On January 3, 1959, Alaska was admitted to the United States as the 49th
state. The population of the state is 626,932, as of 2000. The name "Alaska"
is most likely derived from the Aleut word for "great country" or "mainland."
The natives called it "Alyeska", meaning "the great land."
History
Alaska was probably first settled by peoples who came there across the
Bering Land Bridge, including Inuit and a variety of Native American groups.
Most if not all of the pre-Columbian population of the Americas took this
route, but continued further south and east.
The first written accounts indicate that the first Europeans to reach
Alaska came from Russia and India. Vitus Bering sailed east and saw Mt. St.
Elias. The Russian-American Company hunted otters for their fur. The colony
was never very profitable, because of the costs of transportation.
At the instigation of U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, the United
States Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 on
9 April 1867, and the United States flag was raised on 18 October of that
same year (now called Alaska Day). The purchase was not popular in the
continental United States, where Alaska became known as "Seward's Folly" or
"Seward's Icebox". Alaska celebrates the purchase each year on the last
Monday of March, calling it Seward's Day.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into United
States law on 7 July 1958 which paved the way for Alaska's admission into
the Union.
In 1976, the people of Alaska amended the state's constitution, establishing
the Alaska Permanent Fund. The fund invests a portion of the state's mineral
revenue, including revenue from the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System, 'to
benefit all generations of Alaskans.' In June 2003, the fund's value was
over $24 billion.
Over the years various vessels have been named the USS Alaska, in honor of
the state.
Law and government
The capital of Alaska is Juneau and the current governor of Alaska is Frank
H. Murkowski (Republican). Alaska's two U.S. senators are Lisa Murkowski
(Republican) and Ted Stevens (Republican). Alaska's Representative is Donald
E. Young (Republican).
Geography
Alaska is the only state that is both in North America and not part of the
48 contiguous states. Alaska is the largest state in the United States in
terms of land area, 570,374 square miles (1,477,261 km˛). If you
superimposed a map of Alaska on the Lower 48 states, Alaska would stretch
from Minnesota to Texas, and from Georgia to California.
One scheme for describing the state's geography is by labeling the regions:
Southcentral Alaska is the southern coastal region with towns, cities, and
petroleum industrial plants;
the Alaska Panhandle, also known as Southeast Alaska, is home to towns,
tidewater glaciers and extensive forests;
the Alaska Interior has big rivers, such as the Yukon River and the
Kuskokwim River, as well as Arctic tundra lands and shorelines; and
the Alaskan Bush is the remote, uncrowded part of the state.
Alaska, with its numerous islands, has nearly 34,000 miles (54,700 km) of
tidal shoreline. The island chain extending west from the southern tip of
Alaska is called the Aleutian Islands. Many active volcanoes are found in
the Aleutians. For example, Unimak Island is home to Mt. Shishaldin, a
moderately active volcano that rises to 9,980 ft (3,042 m) above sea level.
The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the
mainland.
Much of Alaska is managed by the federal government as national forests,
national parks, and national wildlife refuges. There are places in Alaska
that are general public lands (BLM land) but they are arguably more
spectacular than many national parks in the Lower 48. Many of Alaska's state
parks would be national parks if they were in other states.
Much of Alaska is managed by corporations called ANCSA, or native,
corporations, of which there are thirteen regional ones and dozens of local
ones.
Boroughs and census areas
Alaska has no counties in the sense used in the rest of the country; however,
the state is divided into 27 census areas and boroughs.
The difference between boroughs and census areas is that boroughs have an
organized area-wide government, while census areas are artificial divisions
defined by the United States Census Bureau.
Economy
The state's 1999 total gross state product was $26 billion, placing it 46th
in the nation. Its per-capita Income for 2000 was $30,064, 15th in the
nation. Alaska's main agriculture output is seafood, although nursery stock,
dairy products, vegetables, and livestock are produced and used internally.
Manufacturing is limited, with most foodstuffs and general goods imported
from elsewhere. Employment is primarily in government and industries such as
natural resource extraction, shipping, and transportation. There is also a
small but growing service and tourism sector. Its industrial outputs are
crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, gold, precious metals, zinc and other
mining, seafood processing, timber and wood products.
Alaska has various transportation options. Some of Alaska is connected by
roads (and sometimes a tunnel) to the highways of Canada and of the rest of
the United States. These places are "on the road system". Along the Pacific
Ocean, many places have freight and passenger service from ocean-going ships.
Most places have air service, ranging from jets on tarmac to floatplanes on
lakes.
Notable Alaskans
The National Statuary Hall of the United States of America is part of the
Capitol in Washington DC. Each state has selected one or two distinguished
citizens and provided statues. Alaska's are of its first two senators:
E.L. "Bob" Bartlett (1904–1968) was the territorial delegate to the US
Congress from 1944 to 1958, and was elected as the first senior US senator
in 1958 and re-elected in 1964. There are streets, buildings, and even the
first state ferry, named for him.
Ernest Gruening (1886–1974) was appointed Governor of the Territory of
Alaska in 1939, and served in that position for fourteen years. He was
elected to the United States Senate in 1958 and re-elected in 1962.
The first woman elected to statewide office was Fran Ulmer, elected as
Lieutenant Governor in 1994.
Fictional Character
The Star Trek Next Generation character, William Riker was born in Valdez,
Alaska.
Singer / Poet
Jewel Kilcher was raised in Homer, Alaska.
Alaska's most populous city is Anchorage, home of 260,284 people, 225,744 of
whom live in the urbanized area. It ranks a distant third in the List of U.S.
cities by area. Sitka ranks as the America's largest city by area, followed
closely by Juneau. Jacksonville, Florida is the largest city by area in the
other 49 states and the fourth largest in the entire country.
Colleges and universities
University of Alaska System
University of Alaska Anchorage
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Alaska Southeast
Alaska Bible College
Alaska Pacific University
Charter College
Sheldon Jackson College.
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