Vitus
Bering,
a Dane working for the Russians, and Alexei Chirikov discovered the Alaskan mainland
and the Aleutian Islands in 1741. The tremendous land mass of Alaska—equal
to one-fifth of the continental U.S.—was unexplored in 1867 when Secretary
of State William Seward arranged for its purchase from the Russians for $7,200,000.
The transfer of the territory took place on Oct. 18, 1867. Despite a price of
about two cents an acre, the purchase was widely ridiculed as “Seward's Folly.”
The first official census (1880) reported a total of 33,426 Alaskans, all but
430 being of aboriginal stock. The Gold Rush of 1898 resulted in a mass influx
of more than 30,000 people. Since then, Alaska has contributed billions of dollars'
worth of products to the U.S. economy.
In
1968, a large oil and gas reservoir near Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Coast was found.
The Prudhoe Bay reservoir, with an estimated recoverable 10 billion barrels of
oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of gas, is twice as large as any other oil field
in North America. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was completed in 1977 at a cost of
$7.7 billion. Oil flows through the 800-mile-long pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to
the port of Valdez.
Other
important industries are fisheries, wood and wood products, furs, and tourism.
Denali
National Park and Mendenhall Glacier in North Tongass National Forest are of interest,
as is the large totem pole collection at Sitka National Historical Park. The Katmai
National Park includes the “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes,” an area
of active volcanoes.
The
Alaska Native population includes Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts. About half of
all Alaska Natives are Eskimos. (Eskimo is used for Alaska Natives; Inuit is used
for Eskimos living in Canada.) The two main Eskimo groups, Inupiat and Yupik,
are distinguished by their language and geography. The former live in the north
and northwest parts of Alaska and speak Inupiaq, while the latter live in the
south and southwest and speak Yupik.
About
a third of Alaska Natives are American Indians. The major tribes are the Alaskan
Athabaskan in the central part of the state, and the Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida
in the southeast.
The
Aleuts, native to the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, the lower Alaska and Kenai
Peninsulas, and Prince William Sound, are physically and culturally related to
the Eskimos. About 15% of Alaska Natives are Aleuts.
Coming!
See
more on Alaska: Encyclopedia: Alaska. Encyclopedia: Land and People Encyclopedia:
Economy Encyclopedia: Government Encyclopedia: History Monthly Temperature
Extremes
Accredited
Colleges and Universities
Selected
famous natives and residents:
Clarence L. Andrews author; Aleksandr
Baranov first governor of Russian America; Margaret Elizabeth Bell author;
Benny Benson designed state flag at age 13; Vitus Bering explorer; Charles
E. Bunnell educator; Susan Butcher sled-dog racer; William A. Egan first
state governor; Carl Ben Eielson pioneer pilot; Henry E. Gruennig political
leader; B. Frank Heintzleman territorial governor; Walter J. Hickel governor;
Sheldon Jackson educator and missionary; Joe Juneau prospector; Austin
Lathrop industrialist; Sydney Lawrence painter; Ray Mala actor; Virgil
F. Partch cartoonist; Joe Redington, Sr. sled-dog musher and promoter; Peter
Trinble Rowe first Episcopal bishop; Ivan Popov-Veniaminov (St. Innocent)
Russian Orthodox missionary; Ferdinand Wrangel educator; Samuel Hall Young
founder of first American church.
Capital:
Juneau
State
abbreviation/Postal code: Alaska/AK
Governor:
Frank H. Murkowski, R (to Dec. 2006)
Lieut.
Governor: Loren Leman, R (to Dec. 2006)
Senators:
Lisa Murkowski, R (to Jan. 2011); Ted Stevens, R (to Jan. 2009)
U.S.
Representatives: 1
Historical
biographies of Congressional members
Atty.
General: Scott J. Nordstrand, R (acting, apptd. by gov.)
Organized
as territory: 1912
Entered
Union (rank): Jan. 3, 1959 (49)
Constitution
ratified: April 24, 1956
Motto:
North to the Future
State
symbols:flower
forget-me-not (1949) tree sitka spruce (1962) bird willow ptarmigan (1955)
fish king salmon (1962) song “Alaska's Flag” (1955) gem
jade (1968) marine mammal bowhead whale (1983) fossil woolly mammoth (1986)
mineral gold (1968) sport dog mushing (1972)
Nickname:
The state is commonly called “The Last Frontier” or “Land of the
Midnight Sun”
Origin
of name: Corruption of Aleut word meaning “great land” or “that
which the sea breaks against”
Largest
borough by population and area: Anchorage, 276,435 (2004); Yukon-Koyukuk,
157,121 sq mi.
State
parks: more than 100 (3.5 million acres)
Residents:
Alaskan
2004
resident population est.: 655,435
2000
resident census population (rank): 626,932 (48). Male: 324,112 (51.7%); Female:
302,820 (48.3%). White: 434,534 (69.3%); Black: 21,787 (3.5%); American Indian
and Alaska Native: 98,043 (15.6%); Asian: 25,116 (4.0%); Other race:
9,997 (1.6%); Two or more races: 34,146 (5.4%); Hispanic/Latino: 25,852
(4.1%). 2000 percent population 18 and over: 69.6; 65 and over: 5.7; median
age: 32.4.
