|
Alaska, northernmost and
westernmost state of the United States, and the largest state of the
Union. It occupies the extreme northwestern region of the North American
continent and is separated from Asia by the 51-mile wide Bering Strait.
Alaska has belonged to the United States since 1867, when it was bought
from Russia by Secretary of State William H. Seward. The United States
paid Russia $7.2 million for the rights of the Russian American Company in
Alaska.
By 1900 Alaska had become a
land of golden opportunity as one gold discovery followed another and
prospectors arrived by the tens of thousands. Although the gold rush was
over within a few years, many people settled in Alaska, and fishing
developed as an important industry. Alaska’s strategic importance became
significant during World War II (1939-1945) with the Japanese attack on
Dutch Harbor and occupation of Atta and Kiska and with the American desire
to send military aid, particularly aircraft, through Alaska to Russia.
During the 1940s and 1950s, the large influx of immigrants helped to give
renewed impetus to its movement for statehood. On January 3, 1959, Alaska
was admitted to the Union as the 49th state.
Alaska is a rugged, wild, beautiful land
of majestic mountains and deep, high-walled fjords; of slow-moving
glaciers and still-active volcanoes; of dense, coniferous forests and
desolate, treeless islands; of hot springs and icy streams. It is a land
of contrasts, with extremes of wind and sun, snow and rain, heat and cold.
Alaska occupies the
northwestern portion of North America. It includes the Aleutian Islands, a
chain of about 150 islands that arcs westward across the Pacific Ocean for
about 1100 miles.
Alaska has a total area of
615,230 square miles, including 17,501 square miles of inland water and
27,355 square miles of coastal water over which the state has
jurisdiction. Alaska has more area of lakes and rivers than any other
state, equaling more than the entire size of Massachusetts and Vermont
combined. The state’s extreme dimensions are about 1390 miles from north
to south and about about 2210 miles from east to west. The mean elevation
is about about 1900 feet. A large area, north of an imaginary line from
the Seward Peninsula through Fort Yukon to the Canadian border, lies
within the Arctic Circle. Alaska’s Little Diomede Island in the Bering
Strait is 2.5 miles east of Big Diomede Island, or Ratmanov Island, which
belongs to Russia. Fairbanks, in the center of the state, is 3280 miles by
air from New York City, 3520 miles from Tokyo, and 4230 miles from London.
This key position, at the northern end of the Pacific Ocean and close to
Asia, is a major factor in Alaska’s continued economic importance. |
