- published: 24 Oct 2007
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- author: David Grossman
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- Alaska
- Alaska Interior
- Alaska North Slope
- Alaska Panhandle
- Alaska Railroad
- Alaska Route 2
- Alaska Territory
- Alaska Time Zone
- Aleutian Islands
- Alien abduction
- Anchorage, Alaska
- ANCSA
- Area code 907
- Balto
- Balto (character)
- Balto (film)
- Balto II Wolf Quest
- Barrow, Alaska
- Bering Sea
- Bethel, Alaska
- Blizzard
- Blood plasma
- Bush Alaska
- Central Park
- City (Alaska)
- Climate of Alaska
- Council, Alaska
- Crime in Alaska
- Culture of Alaska
- Daylight saving time
- Demonym
- Dillingham, Alaska
- Diomede, Alaska
- Diphtheria
- Discovery Saloon
- Dog sled
- Economy of Alaska
- Education in Alaska
- Elim, Alaska
- Erik Lindblom
- F.G. Roth
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Far North Alaska
- Finnmark
- Fridtjof Nansen
- Fritz
- Gambell, Alaska
- Gavin Hood
- General aviation
- Geography of Alaska
- Ghost town
- Gold
- Gold pan
- Gold rush
- Golovin, Alaska
- Government of Alaska
- Gunnar Kaasen
- Health in Alaska
- History of Alaska
- Homer, Alaska
- Iditarod Trail
- Inside Passage
- Inuit
- Inupiat language
- Inupiat people
- Jafet Lindeberg
- Jason (ship)
- John Brynteson
- John Wayne
- Juneau, Alaska
- Karasjok
- Kenai Peninsula
- Kenai, Alaska
- Ketchikan, Alaska
- Kevin Bacon
- KICY (AM)
- KICY-FM
- King Island (Alaska)
- KNOM
- Kodiak, Alaska
- Kotzebue, Alaska
- Kougarok River
- Koyuk, Alaska
- KUAC (FM)
- Kvænangen
- Lend-lease
- Leonhard Seppala
- Marlene Dietrich
- Mary's Igloo, Alaska
- Median income
- Milla Jovovich
- Music of Alaska
- Nenana, Alaska
- Nome Airport
- Nome City Field
- Nome Gold Rush
- Nome mining district
- Nome Nugget
- Nome, Alaska
- North to Alaska
- Norton Sound
- Norwegian-American
- Outline of Alaska
- Owned and operated
- Palmer, Alaska
- Per capita income
- Petersburg, Alaska
- Placer mining
- Politics of Alaska
- Poverty line
- Race (U.S. census)
- Rex Beach
- Samuel Balto
- Savoonga, Alaska
- Scott Cordelle Bone
- Seward Peninsula
- Seward, Alaska
- Shaktoolik, Alaska
- Shishmaref, Alaska
- Simon Wells
- Sitka, Alaska
- Skagway, Alaska
- Sled dog
- Soldotna, Alaska
- Southcentral Alaska
- Southwest Alaska
- St. Michael, Alaska
- Steamship
- Stebbins, Alaska
- Steven Spielberg
- Subarctic climate
- Sweden
- Tanana Valley
- Teller, Alaska
- Template Alaska
- Template Balto
- Template talk Alaska
- Template talk Balto
- The Cruelest Miles
- The Fourth Kind
- The Simpsons Movie
- Time zone
- Tin City, Alaska
- Togo (dog)
- U.S. state
- Unalakleet, Alaska
- Unalaska, Alaska
- United States
- UTC-8
- UTC-9
- Valdez, Alaska
- Wales, Alaska
- Wasilla, Alaska
- Wildlife of Alaska
- Wrangell, Alaska
- Wyatt Earp
-
Alaska
Alaska (
i/əˈlæskə/) is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Alaska is the 4th least populous and the least densely populated of the 50 United States. Approximately half of Alaska's 722,718 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area.
Alaska was purchased from Russia on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million ($120 million in today's[when?] dollars) at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized (or incorporated) territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.
The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or, more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed". It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
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Alaska Interior
The Alaska Interior covers most of the U.S. state's territory. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Ray Mountains.
The largest city in the interior is Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, in the Tanana Valley. Other towns include North Pole, just southeast of Fairbanks, Eagle, Tok, Glennallen, Delta Junction, Nenana, Anderson, Healy and Cantwell.
Interior Alaska experiences extreme seasonal temperature variability. Winter temperatures in Fairbanks average −12 °F (−24 °C) and summer temperatures average +62 °F (+17 °C). Temperatures there have been recorded as low as −65 °F (−54 °C) in mid-winter, and as high as +99 °F (+37 °C) in summer. Both the highest and lowest temperature records for the state were set in the Interior, with 100 °F (38 °C) in Fort Yukon and −80 °F (−64 °C) in Prospect Creek. Temperatures within a given winter are highly variable as well; extended cold snaps of forty below zero can be followed by unseasonable warmth with temperatures above freezing due to chinook wind effects.
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Alaska North Slope
The Alaska North Slope is the region of the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern slope of the Brooks Range along the coast of two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea being on the western side of Point Barrow, and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern.
The region contains the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, with the bulk of Alaska's known petroleum until the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field was discovered in 1968, as well as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which itself has been the subject of controversy surrounding the possibility of petroleum drilling within its boundaries. The petroleum extracted from the region is transferred south by means of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System to Valdez on the Pacific Ocean.
Within the North Slope, only a surface "active layer" of the tundra thaws each season; most of the soil is permanently frozen year-round. On top of this permafrost, water flows to sea via shallow, braided streams or settles into pools and ponds. Along the bottom of the Landsat 7 image on the right the rugged terrain of the Brooks Range mountains is snow-covered in places (blue areas) and exposed (pink areas) in others.
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Alaska Panhandle
Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United States' largest national forest. In many places, the international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains (see Alaska boundary dispute). The region is noted for its mild rainy climate and beautiful scenery.
Southeast Alaska is the northern terminus of the Inside Passage, a protected waterway of convoluted passages between islands and fjords, beginning in Puget Sound in Washington state. This was an important travel corridor for native canoeists, as well as gold-rush steam ships, and in modern times is an important route for ferries and cruise ships. Southeast Alaska has a land area of 35,138 miles (56,549 km), comprising six entire boroughs and three census areas, in addition to the part of Yakutat Borough lying east of 141° West longitude. Although it has only 6.14 percent of Alaska's land area, it is larger than the state of Maine, and almost as large as the state of Indiana. The Southeast Alaskan coast is roughly as long as the west coast of Canada. The 2000 census population of Southeast was 72,954 inhabitants, about 42 percent of whom were concentrated in the city of Juneau.
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Alaska Territory
The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 24, 1912, until January 3, 1959, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alaska. The territory was previously the District of Alaska, created on May 17, 1884.
The passing of the 1899 Criminal Code, a tax on liquor among other things, heightened the cry for Alaskan representation in Congress, and the debate finally ended on August 24, 1912, when the Alaska Territory became an organized, incorporated territory of the United States.
The Second Organic Act of 1912, renamed the District of Alaska as the Territory of Alaska. By 1916, its population was about 58,000. James Wickersham, a Delegate to Congress, introduced Alaska's first statehood bill, but it failed due to lack of interest from Alaskans. Even President Warren G. Harding's visit in 1923 could not create widespread interest in statehood. Under the conditions of the Second Organic Act, Alaska had been split into four divisions. The most populous of the divisions, whose capital was Juneau, wondered if it could become a separate state from the other three. Government control was a primary concern, with the territory having 52 federal agencies governing it.
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Aleutian Islands
The Aleutian Islands (English pronunciation: /əˈl(j)uːʃən/; possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island") are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller ones , forming part of the Aleutian Arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying an area of 6,821 sq mi (17,666 km²) and extending about 1,200 mi (1,900 km) westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula, thus marking a line between the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Crossing longitude 180°, they are the westernmost part of the United States (and by one definition the easternmost; see Extreme points of the United States). Nearly all the archipelago is part of Alaska and usually considered as being in the "Alaskan Bush", but at the extreme western end the small, geologically related, and remote Commander Islands are in Russia. The islands, with their 57 volcanoes, are in the northern part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Alaska Marine Highway passes through the islands.
Physiographically, they are a distinct section of the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System physiographic division.
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Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage (officially called the Municipality of Anchorage) is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the 64th-largest city and northernmost major city in the United States. With 291,826 residents in 2010 (and 380,821 residents within its Metropolitan Statistical Area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough), it is Alaska's largest city and constitutes more than 40 percent of the state's total population; amongst the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in the state's largest city.
Anchorage has been named All-America City four times, in 1956, 1965, 1984/1985 and 2002, by the National Civic League. It has also been named by Kiplinger as the most tax friendly city in the United States.
Russian presence in south central Alaska was well established in the 19th century. In 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from a debt-ridden Imperial Russia for $7.2 million (about two cents an acre). The deal was lampooned by political rivals as "Seward's folly", "Seward's icebox" and "Walrussia". By 1888, gold was discovered along Turnagain Arm.
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Area code 907
Area code 907 covers the entire state of Alaska, except for the small southeastern Alaska community of Hyder, Alaska, which uses the 250 area code of neighboring Stewart, British Columbia[1]. Area code 907 was assigned in 1957 along with area code 808 for Hawaii. It is one of only 13 remaining area codes serving an entire state.
Ten-digit dialing is still required in Alaska as many calls within the state are classified as long-distance phone calls. People therefore must often guess if they need to dial 1+907 or not (if they don't know the actual location of the business / person they are calling).
Area code 907 is the largest area code (in physical size) in the U.S., and is second only to Canadian area code 867 in land area among codes in the North American Numbering Plan. Because the Aleutian Islands of Alaska straddle 180 degrees longitude, 907 can be considered to be both the farthest west and the farthest east area code in the NANP. It was also the longest area code to dial on a rotary phone (taking 26 pulses to dial out) until the proliferation of touchtone phones and the opening up of area codes previously unused within the NANP.
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Barrow, Alaska
Barrow (
/ˈbæroʊ/) (Inupiaq Utqiaġvik or Ukpiaġvik ) is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the 9th northernmost city in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the 2010 census. The city was named after Sir John Barrow.
The city derived its name from Point Barrow, which was named by Frederick William Beechey in 1825 after Sir John Barrow of the British Admiralty. The location has been home to Native Inupiat Eskimo people for over 1,000 years under the name Ukpeagvik or "place where snowy owls are hunted".
Barrow is located at 71°17′44″N 156°45′59″W / 71.29556°N 156.76639°W / 71.29556; -156.76639. It is the only U.S. city on the continent of North America with an antipode on uninhabited dry land. The antipode is in Antarctica at 71°17′44″S 23°14′1″E / 71.29556°S 23.23361°E / -71.29556; 23.23361. Barrow is roughly 1,300 miles (2,100 km) south of the North Pole. Only 5.3% of the Earth's surface lies as far from the Equator as Barrow.
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Bering Sea
Coordinates: 58°0′N 178°0′W / 58°N 178°W / 58; -178
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves.
The Bering Sea is separated from the Gulf of Alaska by the Alaska Peninsula. It covers over two million square kilometers, bordered on the east and northeast by Alaska, on the west by Russia's Siberia and Kamchatka Peninsula, on the south by the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands and on the far north by the Bering Strait, which connects the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea. Bristol Bay is the portion of the Bering Sea which separates the Alaska Peninsula from mainland Alaska. The Bering Sea is named for Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in Russian service, who in 1728 was the first European to systematically explore it, sailing from the Pacific Ocean northward to the Arctic Ocean.[citation needed]
The Bering Sea ecosystem includes resources within the jurisdiction of the United States and Russia, as well as international waters in the middle of the sea (known as the "Donut Hole"). The interaction between currents, sea ice, and weather make for a vigorous and productive ecosystem.
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Bethel, Alaska
Bethel (Mamterilleq in Central Alaskan Yup'ik) is a city located near the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, 340 miles (550 km) west of Anchorage. Accessible only by air and river, Bethel is the main port on the Kuskokwim River and is an administrative and transportation hub for the 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Bethel is the largest community in western Alaska and in the Unorganized Borough, as well as the 9th largest in the state, with a population estimated to be 6,080 as of the 2010 Census. Bethel is home to the lone detention center in southwestern Alaska, the Yukon Kuskokwim Correction Center. In 2009, Bethel opted out of status as a "Local Option" community, theoretically opening the door to allowing alcohol sales in the city; residents and city officials maintain that all liquor license requests will be actively opposed.
Annual events in Bethel include a noted dogsled race, the Kuskokwim 300, and Camai, a traditional Yupik dance festival held each spring.
Southwestern Alaska was for thousands of years the traditional place of Yup'ik people and their ancestors. They called their village Mamterillermiut, meaning "Smokehouse People", after their nearby fish smokehouse. It was an Alaska Commercial Company trading post during the late 19th century, and had a population of 41 people in the 1880 U.S. Census.
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Dillingham, Alaska
Dillingham ( /ˈdɪlɪŋhæm/) (Curyuk in Central Alaskan Yup'ik), also known as Curyung and (for the southwestern section) Kanakanak, is a city in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 2,329.
Dillingham is on Nushagak Bay at the confluence of the Nushagak River, an inlet of Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea in the North Pacific, in southwestern Alaska. It is located at Coordinates: 59°2′48″N 158°30′31″W / 59.04667°N 158.50861°W / 59.04667; -158.50861 (59.046751, -158.508665).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.7 square miles (92 km2). 33.6 square miles (87 km2) of it is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km2) of it (5.93%) is water. This may change as the City of Dillingham will likely petition the State of Alaska to increase the size of its boundaries to include most of Nushagak Bay and Wood River, to gain revenue from the Nushagak District and Wood River Special Harvest Area commercial salmon fisheries.
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Diomede, Alaska
Diomede (native name Inalik, meaning "the other one" or "the one over there") is a city in the Nome Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on Little Diomede Island (native name Ignaluk; formerly known as Krusenstern Island which can also refer to other places however). Little Diomede is the smaller of the two Diomede Islands located in the middle of the Bering Strait between the Alaska mainland and the Russian Far East. Its neighboring island Big Diomede, Russia behind the International Date Line is less than 2.4 miles (3.9 km) away. The populated area of Diomede lies on the west side of Little Diomede and is the only settlement on the island. The population was 115 at the 2010 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.84 square miles (7.4 km2), all of it land.
Little Diomede Island is located about 25 miles (40 km) west from the mainland, in the middle of the Bering Strait. It is only 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from the International Date Line and about 2.4 miles (3.9 km) from the Russian island of Big Diomede. The highest point in Little Diomede Island is 919 feet (280 m).
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Elim, Alaska
Elim (Neviarcaurluq in Central Alaskan Yup'ik) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 330.
Elim is located at 64°37′4″N 162°15′24″W / 64.61778°N 162.25667°W / 64.61778; -162.25667 (64.617734, -162.256705).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km2), all of it land.
A number of flora and fauna are found in the Elim area. This is the westernmost location for the range of Black Spruce, Picea mariana.
As of the census of 2000, there were 313 people, 84 households, and 69 families residing in the city. The population density was 128.9 people per square mile (49.7/km²). There were 106 housing units at an average density of 43.7 per square mile (16.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 5.11% White, 92.65% Native American, and 2.24% from two or more races.
There were 84 households out of which 60.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.7% were non-families. 14.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.73 and the average family size was 4.16.
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Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks ( /ˈfɛərbæŋks/) is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.
Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage. It is the principal city of the Fairbanks, Alaska, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and is the northernmost Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States.
According to 2010 census, the population of the city was 31,535, and the Fairbanks metropolitan area's population was 97,581. Fairbanks is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the oldest of Alaska's current colleges.
Captain E. T. Barnette founded Fairbanks in August 1901 while headed to Tanacross (or Tanana Crossing, where the Valdez-Eagle trail crossed the Tanana River), where he intended to set up a trading post. The steamboat on which Barnette was a passenger, the Lavelle Young, ran aground while attempting to negotiate shallow water. Barnette, along with his party and supplies, were deposited along the banks of the Chena River 7 miles (11 km) upstream from its confluence with the Tanana River. The sight of smoke from the steamer's engines caught the attention of prospectors working in the hills to the north, most notably an Italian immigrant named Felice Pedroni (better known as Felix Pedro) and his partner Tom Gilmore. The two met Barnette where he disembarked and convinced him of the potential of the area. Barnette set up his trading post at the site, still intending to eventually make it to Tanacross.
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Gambell, Alaska
Gambell (Central Siberian Yupik: Sivuqaq) is a village on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 681.
Gambell is located on the northwest cape of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, 325 km (202 mi) southwest of Nome. It is 58 km (36 mi) from the Chukchi Peninsula in the Russian Far East.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.4 square miles (79 km2), of which, 10.9 square miles (28 km2) of it is land and 19.5 square miles (51 km2) of it (64.10%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 649 people, 159 households, and 121 families residing in the city. The population density was 59.5 people per square mile (23.0/km²). There were 187 housing units at an average density of 17.2 per square mile (6.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.69% Native American, 3.54% White, 0.46% Asian, and 0.31% from two or more races. 0.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 159 households out of which 51.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 18.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.3% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 0.6% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.08 and the average family size was 4.82.
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Golovin, Alaska
Golovin (Siŋik in Iñupiaq, Cingik in Central Alaskan Yup'ik) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 156.
Golovin is located at 64°32′41″N 163°1′39″W / 64.54472°N 163.0275°W / 64.54472; -163.0275 (64.544612, -163.027459).
Golovin is on a point of land between Golovnin Bay and Golovnin Lagoon on the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska. It is about 105 km (65 mi) east of Nome. The area receives its name from Russian Vice-Admiral Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin, (1776–1831). The town name is misspelled while the bay and lagoon retain the correct spelling.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.7 square miles (9.6 km2), all of it land.
As of the census of 2000, there were 144 people, 45 households, and 30 families residing in the city. The population density was 38.5 people per square mile (14.9/km²). There were 54 housing units at an average density of 14.5 per square mile (5.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 7.64% White, 84.03% Native American, and 8.33% from two or more races. 2.78% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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Homer, Alaska
Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to the 2010 Census, the population is 5,003. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road".
Homer is located at 59°38'35" North, 151°31'33" West (59.643059, -151.525900).
Homer is on the shore of Kachemak Bay on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its most distinguishing feature is the Homer Spit, a narrow 4.5 mile (7 km) long gravel bar that extends into the bay, on which is located the Homer Harbor.
Much of the coastline as well as the Homer Spit sank dramatically during the Good Friday Earthquake in March 1964. After the earthquake, very little vegetation was able to survive on the Homer Spit.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.4 square miles (58 km2), of which, 10.6 square miles (27 km2) is land and 11.9 square miles (31 km2) is water. The total area is 52.83% water.
Tiller digs indicate that early Alutiiq people probably camped in the Homer area although their villages were on the far side of Kachemak Bay.
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Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau ( /ˈdʒuːnoʊ/) is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current home rule municipality.
The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island and Delaware individually and almost as large as the two states combined. Downtown Juneau 58°18′07″N 134°25′11″W / 58.30194°N 134.41972°W / 58.30194; -134.41972 is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2010 census, the City and Borough had a population of 31,275.
Juneau is named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, though the place was for a time called Rockwell and then Harrisburg (after Juneau's co-prospector, Richard Harris). The Tlingit name of the town is Dzántik'i Héeni ("river where the flounders gather"), and Auke Bay just north of Juneau proper is called Aak'w ("little lake") in Tlingit. The Taku River, just south of Juneau, was named after the cold t'aakh wind, which occasionally blows down from the mountains.
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Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the southern coast of Alaska in the United States. The name Kenai is probably derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet, which borders the peninsula to the west.
The peninsula extends approximately 150 miles (240 km) southwest from the Chugach Mountains, south of Anchorage. It is separated from the mainland on the west by Cook Inlet and on the east by Prince William Sound. Most of the peninsula is part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Gerasim Izmailov was the first to explore and map the peninsula in 1789.
The glacier-covered Kenai Mountains (7,000 ft/2,130 m) run along the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. Much of the range is within Kenai Fjords National Park. The northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is flatter and marshy, dotted with numerous small lakes. Several larger lakes extend through the interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake. Rivers include the Kenai River, famous for its salmon population, as well as the Russian River, the Kasilof River, and the Anchor River. Kachemak Bay, a small inlet off the larger Cook Inlet, extends into the peninsula's southwest end, much of which is part of Kachemak Bay State Park
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Kenai, Alaska
Kenai ( /ˈkiːnaɪ/) is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 7,464. In 2009, the population was 7,945.
Kenai is located at 60°33′31″N 151°13′47″W / 60.55861°N 151.22972°W / 60.55861; -151.22972 (60.558738, -151.229616).
Kenai is located on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula near the outlet of the Kenai River to the Cook Inlet of the Pacific Ocean.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.5 square miles (92 km2), of which, 29.9 square miles (77 km2) of it is land and 5.6 square miles (15 km2) of it (15.85%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,942 people, 2,622 households, and 1,788 families residing in the city. The population density was 232.2 people per square mile (89.6/km²). There were 3,003 housing units at an average density of 100.4 per square mile (38.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.76% White, 0.49% Black or African American, 8.74% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 5.00% from two or more races. 3.82% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan ( /ˈkɛtʃɨkæn/) is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in Alaska. With an estimated population of 14,070 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state.
Ketchikan's economy is based upon tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World." The Misty Fjords National Monument is one of the area's major attractions. For most of the latter half of the 20th century, a large portion of Ketchikan's economy and life centered around the Ketchikan Pulp Company pulp mill in nearby Ward Cove.
Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear. It may mean "the river belonging to Kitschk"; other accounts claim it means "Thundering Wings of an Eagle."
Ketchikan's secondary post office box ZIP code, 99928, is the highest ZIP code ever assigned in the United States, although most residents use the ZIP code 99901. Ketchikan also has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles, found at three major locations: the City of Saxman, Totem Bight State Park, and the Totem Heritage Center. Some totem poles are replicas made during the Roosevelt Administration through the CCC, which employed Natives in replicating their heritage through carving totems.
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Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak (Кадьяк, Kadʹyak) is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline. The population was 6,130 as of the 2010 census.
Originally inhabited by Alutiiq natives for over 7000 years, the city was settled in the 18th century by the subjects of the Russian crown and became the capital of Russian Alaska. Harvesting of the area's sea otter pelts led to the near extinction of the animal in the following century and led to wars with and enslavement of the natives for over 150 years. As part of the Alaska Purchase by the United States in 1867, Kodiak became a commercial fishing center which continues to this day. A lesser economic influence includes tourism, mainly by those seeking outdoor adventure trips. Salmon, halibut, the unique Kodiak Bear, elk, Sitka Deer (black tail), and mountain goats invite hunting tourists as well as fishermen to the Kodiak Archipelago. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game maintains an office in the city and a website to help hunters and fishermen obtain the proper permits and learn about the laws specific to the Kodiak area. The city has four public elementary schools, a middle and high school, as well as a branch of the University of Alaska. An antenna farm at the summit of Pillar Mountain above the city historically provided communication with the outside world before fiber optic cable was run. Transportation to and from the island is provided by ferry service on the Alaska Marine Highway as well as local commercial airlines.
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Kotzebue, Alaska
Kotzebue (Qikiqtaġruk in Iñupiaq) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population of the city was 3,201 as of the 2010 census.
Kotzebue gets its name from the Kotzebue Sound, which was named after Otto von Kotzebue, who explored the sound while searching for the Northwest Passage in the service of Russia in 1818.
Kotzebue is located at 66°53′50″N 162°35′8″W / 66.89722°N 162.58556°W / 66.89722; -162.58556 (66.897192, −162.585444).
Kotzebue lies on a gravel spit at the end of the Baldwin Peninsula in the Kotzebue Sound. It is 33 miles (53 km) north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska's western coast.
Kotzebue is approximately thirty miles from Noatak, Kiana, and other nearby smaller towns.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.7 square miles (74 km2), of which 27.0 square miles (70 km2) is land, and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2), or 5.76%, is water.
Kotzebue is a gateway to Kobuk Valley National Park and other natural attractions of northern Alaska.
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Kougarok River
The Kougarok (Koo-gah-rok) River is a river on the Seward Peninsula in Alaska. It is formed by a merger of smaller creeks in the area; the result is about 45 miles long. It flows into the Kuzitrin River, eventually emptying into the Bering Sea.
Originally called the Kugruk, the river's name was changed to avoid confusion with other rivers that had the same name. The river drew gold miners in the early 1900s, though development slowed after the second World War. The Kougarok also contains various wildlife. The Nome-Taylor Highway passes along the river at its end.
Coordinates: 65°15′23″N 164°33′57″W / 65.25639°N 164.56583°W / 65.25639; -164.56583
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Koyuk, Alaska
Koyuk (Quyuk in Iñupiaq) is a city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 330 at the 2010 census.
Koyuk is located at 64°55′52″N 161°9′31″W / 64.93111°N 161.15861°W / 64.93111; -161.15861 (64.931099, -161.158480). The village is located on the northern bank of the Koyuk River where it drains into Norton Bay.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12 km2), all of it land.
As of the census of 2000, there were 297 people, 80 households, and 59 families residing in the city. The population density was 62.7 people per square mile (24.2/km²). There were 95 housing units at an average density of 20.1 per square mile (7.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 4.71% White, 91.92% Native American, 0.67% Asian, and 2.69% from two or more races.
There were 80 households out of which 53.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were married couples living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.71 and the average family size was 4.31.
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Nenana, Alaska
Nenana ( /nɛˈnænə/) is a Home Rule City in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. Nenana lies at the juncture of the Nenana River and the Tanana River. The population was 402 at the 2000 census. "Nenana" means 'a good place to camp between two rivers.'[citation needed]
Nenana is in the western-most portion of Tanana Athabascan Indian territory. It was first known as Tortella, an interpretation of the Indian word "Toghotthele" (TOG-uh-TEE-lee), which means "mountain that parallels the river." Early explorers such as Allen, Harper and Bates first entered the Tanana Valley in 1875 and 1885. However, the Tanana people were accustomed to contact with Europeans, due to trading journeys to the Village of Tanana, where Russians bartered Western goods for furs.
The discovery of gold in Fairbanks in 1902 brought intense activity to the region. A trading post/roadhouse was constructed by Jim Duke in 1903 to supply river travelers and trade with Indians. St. Mark's Episcopal mission and school was built a short distance upriver in 1905. Native children from other communities, such as Minto, attended school in Nenana. A post office opened in 1908. In 1915, construction of the Alaska Railroad doubled Nenana's population. The community incorporated as a city in 1921.
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Nome mining district
The Nome mining district, also known as the Cape Nome mining district, is a gold mining district in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was discovered in 1898 when Erik Lindblom, Jafet Lindeberg and John Brynteson, the "Three Lucky Swedes" , found placer gold deposits on Anvil Creek and on the Snake River, a few miles from the future site of Nome. Word of the strike caused a major gold rush to Nome in the spring of 1899.
This was one of the first and was the biggest Alaskan gold rush: in North America, only the California and Klondike stampedes were larger. A chaotic and lawless scene ensued, with rampant claim-jumping, crooked judges, and not enough gold found for the 20,000 prospectors, gamblers, shop and saloon-keepers, and prostitutes living in the tent city on the beachfront tundra, at least not at first. Then someone thought to pan the red-and-black streaked beach sands. Within days, gold was found for tens of miles up and down the beach from Nome. More than a million dollars worth of gold was taken from the beach in 1899. Subsequently the second and third beach lines were discovered and mined. Anvil Creek produced the second-largest gold nugget found in Alaska (182 troy ounces), as well as the 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th-largest.
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Nome, Alaska
Nome (Siqnazuaq in Iñupiaq) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the most populous city in Alaska. Nome lies within the region of the Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC).
The city of Nome claims to be home to the world's largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the Canadian city of Quesnel, British Columbia.
In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic raged among Inuit in the Nome area. Fierce territory-wide blizzard conditions prevented delivery of a life-saving serum by airplane from Anchorage. A relay of dog sled teams was organized to deliver the serum. The annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates this historic event.
The origin of the city's name "Nome" is still under debate. The name may have been given by Nome's founder, Jafet Lindeberg: within trekking distance of his childhood home in Kvænangen, Norway, there is a Nome valley (Norwegian: Nomedalen).
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Norton Sound
Norton Sound is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km (150 mi) long and 200 km (125 mi) wide. The Yukon River delta forms a portion of the south shore and water from the Yukon influences this body of water. It is ice-free from June to October.
Norton Sound was explored by Captain James Cook in September 1778. He named the body of water after Sir Fletcher Norton, then Speaker of the British House of Commons.
The Norton Sound area has been home to Yupik and Inupiat for many centuries. It is the boundary between the two peoples; the Inupiat live to the north and the Yup'ik to the south. The town of Nome is along the northern edge of Norton Sound. The villages of Elim, Golovin, Stebbins, White Mountain, Koyuk, Shaktoolik, St. Michael and Unalakleet are on the shores or waterways flowing into Norton Sound. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race runs through coastal villages between Unalakleet and Nome.
The seaplane tender USS Norton Sound was named after the inlet.
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Palmer, Alaska
Palmer is the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the state of Alaska, USA. It is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 5,937.
The first people to live in the Matanuska Valley, where Palmer is located, were the Dena’ina and Ahtna Athabaskans. They moved throughout the area, living a subsistence lifestyle and trading with other native groups. Their trade routes were along the Matanuska River. Russians came to Alaska in 1741 and brought the Russian Orthodox religious tradition to the indigenous peoples of the region. In the mid-1880s, an entrepreneur named George W. Palmer built a trading post on the Matanuska River, near present-day Palmer. The town was later named after this Alaskan pioneer.
In the late 19th century, the U.S. government began to take interest in the Matanuska coal fields located north of Palmer. This interest sparked financiers to consider constructing the Alaska Central Railroad in 1904. The advent of WWI created a need for high quality coal to fuel US battleships and by 1917 the US Navy had constructed rail from the port of Seward to the Chickaloon coal deposits. At the end of WWI,the US Navy distributed land in the coal fields to war veterans and additional land was opened to homesteading. Farmers, miners and homesteaders began to populate the area. The Palmer Post Office was opened July 6, 1917 under the name of Warton. With railroad accessibility, new markets for agriculture began to open up for farmers in the Matanuska Valley.
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Petersburg, Alaska
Petersburg (Tlingit: "Steamboat Canyon") is a city in Petersburg Census Area, Alaska, in the United States. According to 2009 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 2,824 full time residents.
The north end of Mitkof Island was a summer fish camp utilized by Kake Tlingits from Kupreanof Island. Remnants of fish traps and some petroglyphs have been carbon-dated back some 2,000 years. Petersburg was named after Peter Buschmann, a Norwegian immigrant. He built a cannery, sawmill, docks and early structures. Petersburg flourished as a fishing port. (thanks in part to the plentiful number of icebergs from the nearby LeConte Glacier which would provide a source for cooling fish). His colony grew into Petersburg which, by 1910 was incorporated and was populated largely by people of Scandinavian origin thus giving Petersburg the nickname "Little Norway". May 17 (Norwegian Constitution Day) is celebrated annually in Petersburg on the third weekend in May. The cannery, along with three others have operated continuously since their completion. With the establishment of the cannery, Alaskan Natives, including Chief John Lott, began living year-round at the site.
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Savoonga, Alaska
Savoonga is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, one of two on St Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. As of the 2010 census, Savoonga's population was 671.
Savoonga was incorporated in 1969, and in 1971 became the joint owner with Gambell of the entire island.
The local economy consists largely of subsistence hunting for walrus, seals, fish, and bowhead whales; the city calls itself the "Walrus Capital of the World". A dogsled mail service operated here until 1963.
Savoonga is located at 63°41′48″N 170°27′39″W / 63.69667°N 170.46083°W / 63.69667; -170.46083 (63.696732, -170.460907).
Savoonga is on the northern coast of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. It is 63 km (39 mi) southeast of Gambell.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (16 km2), all of it land.
Most people on St. Lawrence Island speak Siberian Yupik, while some of Alaska's people are losing their native languages.
There are daily flights from Nome, weather permitting.
As of the census of 2000, there were 643 people, 145 households, and 113 families residing in the city. The population density was 105.5 people per square mile (40.7/km²). There were 160 housing units at an average density of 26.2 per square mile (10.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.33% Native American, 4.35% White, 0.16% Asian, and 0.16% from other races.
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Seward Peninsula
The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It projects about 320 kilometers (200 mi) into the Bering Sea between Norton Sound, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, and Kotzebue Sound, just below the Arctic Circle. The entire peninsula is about 330 kilometers (210 mi) long and 145 km (90 mi)-225 km (140 mi) wide.
The Seward Peninsula was once part of the Bering land bridge, a roughly thousand mile wide swath of land connecting Siberia with mainland Alaska during the Pleistocene Ice Age. This land bridge aided in the migration of humans, as well as plant and animal species from Asia to North America. Archeological discoveries throughout the Seward Peninsula show proof that Inupiat Eskimos have been living in the region for thousands of years.[dubious – discuss] Excavations at sites such as the Trail Creek Caves and Cape Espenberg in the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve as well as Cape Denbigh to the south have provided insight into the timeline of prehistorical migrations from Asia to the Seward Peninsula.
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Seward, Alaska
Seward is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,016.
It was named after William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. In 1867, he fought for the U.S. purchase of Alaska which he finally negotiated to acquire from Russia.
In 1793 Alexander Baranov of the Shelikhov-Golikov company (precursor of the Russian-American Company) established a fur trade post on Resurrection Bay where Seward is today, and had a three-masted vessel, the Phoenix, built at the post by James Shields, an English shipwright in Russian service.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.5 square miles (56 km2), of which, 14.4 square miles (37 km2) of it is land and 7.1 square miles (18 km2) of it (32.93%) is water.
Adjoining communities include Bear Creek and Lowell Point.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,830 people, 917 households, and 555 families residing in the city. The population density was 196.0 people per square mile (75.7/km²). There were 1,058 housing units at an average density of 73.3 per square mile (28.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.12% White, 2.44% Black or African American, 16.68% Native American, 1.84% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 5.87% from two or more races. 2.40% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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Shaktoolik, Alaska
Shaktoolik (Saqtuliq in Iñupiaq) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 251. Shaktoolik is one of a number of Alaskan communities threatened by erosion and related global warming effects. The community has been relocated twice.
According to the Alaska Dept. of Community and Economic Development, Shaktoolik was the first and southernmost Malemiut settlement on Norton Sound, occupied as early as 1839. Twelve miles northeast, on Cape Denbigh, is "Iyatayet", a site that is 6,000 to 8,000 years old, and listed on the national register of historic places. Shaktoolik was first mapped in 1842-44 by Lt. Lavrenty Zagoskin, Imperial Russian Navy, who called it "Tshaktogmyut." "Shaktoolik" is derived from an Unaliq word, "suktuliq", meaning "scattered things".
Reindeer herds were managed in the Shaktoolik area around 1905. The village was originally located six miles up the Shaktoolik River, and moved to the mouth of the River in 1933. This site was prone to severe storms and winds, however, and the village relocated to its present, more sheltered location in 1967. There are presently only two occupied dwellings at the old townsite. The City was incorporated in 1969.
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Shishmaref, Alaska
Shishmaref (Qiġiqtaq in Iñupiaq) is a village in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States, located on Sarichef Island in the Chukchi Sea, just north of the Bering Strait and five miles from the mainland. It lies within the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. The population was 563 at the 2010 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.3 square miles (19 km2), of which, 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2) of it is land and 4.5 square miles (12 km2) of it (61.62%) is water.
Shishmaref was named in 1821 by explorer Lt. Otto von Kotzebue, of the Imperial Russian Navy, after Capt. Lt. Gleb Shishmaryov who accompanied him on his exploration.
Sarichef Island (on which Shishmaref is located) is part of a dynamic, 100 km-long barrier island chain that records human and environmental history spanning the past 2000 years; the oldest subaerial evidence for the formation of this system is about 1700 14c yr bp (see References, below). Erosion at Shishmaref is unique along the islands because of its fetch exposure and high tidal prism, relatively intense infrastructure development during the 20th century, and multiple shoreline defense structures built beginning in the 1970s.
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Sitka, Alaska
The City and Borough of Sitka, formerly called New Archangelsk (Russian: "Новоaрхангельск" or "Ново-Архангельск"; transliterated: "Novoarkhangelsk" or "New-Arkhangelsk") under Russian Rule, is a unified city-borough located on Baranof Island and the southern half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle), in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 8,881 as of 2010, Sitka is the fourth-largest city by population in Alaska. Urban Sitka (Downtown) 57°03′5.62″N 135°20′19.11″W / 57.0515611°N 135.3386417°W / 57.0515611; -135.3386417, the part that is usually thought of as the "city" of Sitka, is situated on the west side of Baranof Island.
The current name "Sitka" (derived from Sheet’ká, a contraction of the Tlingit name Shee At'iká) means "People on the Outside of Shee", Sheet’-ká X'áat'l (often expressed simply as Shee) being the Tlingit name for Baranof Island.
Sitka's location was originally settled by the Tlingit people over 10,000 years ago. The Russian heritage of Sitka did not begin until Old Sitka was founded in 1799 by Alexandr Baranov, the governor of Russian America. Baranov arrived under the auspices of the Russian-American Company, a "semi-official" colonial trading company chartered by Tsar Paul I.
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Soldotna, Alaska
Soldotna is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 4,163. It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
In 1947, after World War II, the United States government allowed settling of land on parts of the Kenal Peninsula under the Homestead Act. Veterans of the United States armed services were given a 90-day preference over non-veterans in selecting land and filing for property. Also in that year, the Sterling Highway right-of-way was cleared of trees from Cooper Landing to Kenai. The location of present-day Soldotna was selected as the site for the highway's bridge crossing the Kenai River.
The construction of the Sterling Highway provided a link from the Soldotna area to the outside world. More homesteads were taken and visitors came to fish in the area. The Soldotna post office opened in 1949 and other businesses opened in the next few years.
Oil was discovered in the Swanson River region in 1957, bringing some new economic development to the area. In 1960, Soldotna was incorporated as a city with a population of 332.
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St. Michael, Alaska
St. Michael (Taciq in Central Alaskan Yup'ik) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 401.
St. Michael is located at 63°28′16″N 162°03′11″W / 63.471037°N 162.053181°W / 63.471037; -162.053181 on the east side of St. Michael Island at the southeastern end of the Norton Sound.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.1 square miles (73 km2), of which, 21.8 square miles (56 km2) of it is land and 6.3 square miles (16 km2) of it (22.40%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 368 people, 90 households, and 65 families residing in the city. The population density was 16.9 people per square mile (6.5/km²). There were 93 housing units at an average density of 4.3 per square mile (1.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 6.79% White, 92.66% Native American, and 0.54% from two or more races. 0.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 90 households out of which 54.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.09 and the average family size was 4.79.
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Stebbins, Alaska
Stebbins (Tapraq in Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Tapqaq in Iñupiaq) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 556.
Stebbins is located at 63°30′43″N 162°16′29″W / 63.51194°N 162.27472°W / 63.51194; -162.27472 (63.511893, -162.274632), on the north side of St. Michael Island, which is on the south side of the Norton Sound in western Alaska.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.9 square miles (96 km2), of which, 35.2 square miles (91 km2) of it is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2) of it (4.71%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 547 people, 123 households, and 104 families residing in the city. The population density was 15.6 people per square mile (6.0/km²). There were 134 housing units at an average density of 3.8 per square mile (1.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 5.12% White, 0.18% Black or African American, 93.97% Native American, and 0.73% from two or more races.
There were 123 households out of which 64.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.4% were non-families. 12.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 0.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.45 and the average family size was 4.86.
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Sweden
Sweden (i/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] (
listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.
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Tanana Valley
The Tanana Valley is a lowland region in central Alaska in the United States, on the north side of the Alaska Range where the Tanana River emerges from the mountains.
The region experiences great extremes of temperature during the year. During the winter months, the air is prone to stratification due to temperature inversions, leading to thick fogs. During the summer, the surrounding plains are generally boglike, and include much permafrost and many pingoes.
The Tanana Valley is the most populated area of Alaska north of the Alaska Range. Its largest city is Fairbanks. Other communities include:
Coordinates: 64°24′N 147°00′W / 64.4°N 147.0°W / 64.4; -147.0
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Teller, Alaska
Teller (Tala in Iñupiaq) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 268. According to a 2009 estimate, the population had increased by exactly one person.
It is situated on the southern half of the spit called Nook (or "Nooke") in Inupiaq, which separates Port Clarence (see also Port Clarence, Alaska) and Grantley Harbor, at the outlet of the Imuruk Basin.
Teller is located at 65°15′26″N 166°21′14″W / 65.25722°N 166.35389°W / 65.25722; -166.35389 (65.257294, -166.353807).
Teller is located on a spit 116 km (72 mi) northwest of Nome on the Seward Peninsula.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.4 km2), of which, 1.9 square miles (4.9 km2) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) of it (9.00%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 268 people, 76 households, and 61 families residing in the city. The population density was 139.9 people per square mile (53.9/km²). There were 87 housing units at an average density of 45.4 per square mile (17.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 7.46% White and 92.54% Native American. 0.37% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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Unalakleet, Alaska
Unalakleet (Uŋalaqłiq in Iñupiaq) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States, in the western part of the state. At the 2000 census the population was 747. Unalakleet is known in the region and around Alaska for its salmon and king crab harvests; the residents rely heavily on caribou, ptarmigan, oogruk (Bearded Seal), and various salmon species. Unalakleet is also known for its aesthetic value, as it resides right next to the Bering Sea, immediately next to a large, clean river (Unalakleet River) and has trees, tundra, and hills behind it.
Unalakleet, an adaptation of the Iñupiaq word "Una-la-thliq"(pronounced "You-na-la-thliq") in Inupiaq, which means "from the southern side". Some Unalakleet residents were mistakenly told it meant "where the east wind blows".[citation needed]
Unalakleet is located at the Norton Sound end of the Unalakleet-Kaltag Portage, an important winter travel route between Norton Sound and the Yukon River. Unalakleet has long been a major trade center between the Athabascans who lived in the interior of Alaska and the Inupiat who lived on the coast. The Russian-American Company built a trading post here at Unalakleet in the 1830s. Reindeer herders from Lapland were brought to Unalakleet to teach sound herding practices in 1898. In 1901, the United States Army Signal Corps built a 605-mile (974 km) telegraph line from St. Michael that passed through Unalakleet.
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Unalaska, Alaska
Unalaska (Aleut: Iluulux̂) is a city in the Aleutians West Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Island and neighboring Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Islands off of mainland Alaska.
The population was 4,376 at the 2010 census, which is 79% of the entire Aleutian West Borough. Almost all of the community's port facilities are on Amaknak Island, better known as Dutch Harbor or just "Dutch". It is the largest fisheries port in the U.S. by volume caught. It includes Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears, U.S. Army, a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Dutch Harbor lies within the city limits of Unalaska and is connected to Unalaska by a bridge. Amaknak Island is home to almost 59 percent of the city's population, although it has less than 3 percent of its land area.
The Aleut or Unangan have lived on Unalaska Island for thousands of years. The Russian fur trade reached Unalaska when Stepan Glotov and his crew arrived on August 1, 1759. The Unangan people, who were the first to inhabit the island of Unalaska, named it "Ounalashka" meaning ‘Near the Peninsula’. The regional native corporation has adopted this moniker, and is known as the Ounalashka Corporation. Dutch Harbor was so named by the Russians because they believed that a Dutch vessel was the first European ship to enter the harbor.
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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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Valdez, Alaska
Valdez ( /vælˈdiːz/) is a city in Valdez-Cordova Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to the 2010 US Census, the population of the city is 3,976. The city is one of the most important ports in Alaska. The port of Valdez was named in 1790 after the Spanish naval officer Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán.
Valdez is a fishing port, both for commercial and sport fishing. Freight moves through Valdez bound for the interior of Alaska. Sightseeing of the marine life and glaciers, together with both deep-sea fishing, and heli skiing support a tourist industry in Valdez. The oil from the Trans-Alaska pipeline is loaded onto ships at the Valdez oil terminal. It is sometimes called the Switzerland of Alaska.
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company is one of the biggest employers in town but it started to move several positions to its headquarters in Anchorage since the town council passed a resolution charging a tax to all the tankers coming into the port to be loaded with oil. This has had an impact in the population size and the economy.
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Wales, Alaska
Wales (Kiŋigin in Iñupiaq) is a town in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 145. It is the westernmost town (or settlement of any sort) on the American mainland.
Wales is located at 65°36′44″N 168°5′21″W / 65.61222°N 168.08917°W / 65.61222; -168.08917 (65.612116, -168.089285).
Wales is located on the westernmost point of the American mainland, Cape Prince of Wales, on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula. It is 111 miles (179 km) northwest of Nome.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), all of it land.
Wales is located within the polar climate zone (Köppen ET).
As of the census of 2000, there were 152 people, 50 households, and 28 families residing in the city. The population density was 53.9 people per square mile (20.8/km²). There were 59 housing units at an average density of 20.9 per square mile (8.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84% (127 people) Native American, 9% (13 people) White, 7% (10 people) from two or more races, 1% (1 person) Black or African American, 1% (1 person) Hispanic or Latino, and one person registered as other .
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Wasilla, Alaska
Wasilla is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the sixth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the state. The city's population was 7,831 at the 2010 census. Wasilla is the largest city in the borough and a part of the Anchorage metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 364,701 in 2008.
Established at the intersection of the Alaska Railroad and Old Carle Wagon Road, the city prospered at the expense of the nearby mining town of Knik. Historically entrepreneurial, the economic base shifted in the 1970s from small-scale agriculture and recreation to support for workers employed in Anchorage or on Alaska's North Slope oilfields and related infrastructure. The George Parks Highway turned the town into a commuter suburb of Anchorage. Several state and federal agencies have offices in Wasilla, including the Alaska Departments of Environmental Conservation, Labor and Divisions of Public Assistance, Social Services.
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Erik Lindblom
Erik O. Lindblom (June 27, 1857–1928) was one of the “Three Lucky Swedes” who discovered gold in the Nome mining district.
Erik Olof Lindblom was born in Dalarna, Sweden, the son of Olof Lindblom and Brita (Olofson) Lindblom. Lindblom's father was a respected land owner and school master in Sweden. Born and reared in an iron and copper region, he had a fundamental knowledge of mining. Lindblom left Sweden at the age of seventeen. He came to the United States during 1886 and engaging mining in Colorado, Idaho and Montana. Lindblom was naturalized as a United States citizen in 1894.
In 1898, Lindblom went to Alaska where he met John Brynteson and Jafet Lindeberg. Late that winter they uncovered the first gold found in the Nome mining district, and founded the extensive mining interests there which would produce a large fortune.
Lindblom invested his proceeds from his mining fortune in banks, transportation, and real estate. He would become president of the Swedish-American Bank of San Francisco and vice-president of the Pioneer Mining and Ditch Company of Nome, Alaska. Lindblom was appointed Swedish Commissioner to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition by King Gustaf V of Sweden and later was knighted by that monarch, being presented with the Royal Order of Vasa of the first degree.
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F.G. Roth
Frederick George Richard Roth (1872 – 1944) was an American sculptor and animalier, well known for portraying living animals. The statue of the sled dog Balto in New York City's Central Park is perhaps his most famous piece.
Roth was born in Brooklyn, New York and briefly worked in his father's business. He traveled to Europe, where he took art classes in several countries, including the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, and the Royal Academy in Berlin. He also studied animals in their natural habitat. When he returned to the United States, he continued his schooling at the New York Academy. By 1900, he was working professionally as a sculptor.
Roth won awards at the Pan-American Exposition (1901) in Buffalo, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904) in St. Louis, and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915) in San Francisco, and at another World's Fair in Buenos Aires. He became the president of the National Sculpture Society. From 1934 to 1936, he worked under the Works Projects Administration as the head sculptor for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1906.
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Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen ( /ˈfrɪd.tʃɒf ˈnænsən/ FRID-choff NAN-sən; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his North Pole expedition of 1893–96. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.
Nansen studied zoology at the Royal Frederick University, and later worked as a curator at the Bergen Museum where his research on the central nervous system of lower marine creatures earned him a doctorate and helped establish modern theories of neurology. After 1896 his main scientific interest switched to oceanography; in the course of his research he made many scientific cruises, mainly in the North Atlantic, and contributed to the development of modern oceanographic equipment. As one of his country's leading citizens, in 1905 Nansen spoke out for the ending of Norway's union with Sweden, and was instrumental in persuading Prince Charles of Denmark to accept the throne of the newly independent Norway. Between 1906 and 1908 he served as the Norwegian representative in London, where he helped negotiate the Integrity Treaty that guaranteed Norway's independent status.
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Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood (born 12 May 1963) is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi (2005). He is the director of the 20th Century Fox film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, released on 1 May 2009.
Hood was born in Johannesburg. He was educated at St. Stithians College (where he was elected Head Prefect in 1980) and the University of the Witwatersrand, where he studied law, and at the film school of the University of California, Los Angeles, in the United States.
He first came to the South African public's attention when he starred in the SABC TV production The Game, a drama series focusing on the game of rugby union.
Hood got his start at directing when he was commissioned to make several short educational dramas for the South African Department of Health. He directed his first commercial short film, The Storekeeper, in 1998.
His first feature film, A Reasonable Man, followed in 1999. The film portrays the accidental killing of a young child who is mistaken for a tokoloshe. He also starred in, co-produced and wrote the script for this movie. Hood then went on to direct the Polish language 2001 feature film In Desert and Wilderness (W pustyni i w puszczy) when the original director fell ill. This was followed by Tsotsi in 2005. Tsotsi won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006. Gavin Hood was also nominated for the 2005 Non-European Film - Prix Screen International at the European Film Awards for his work on the film.[3]
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Gunnar Kaasen
Gunnar Kaasen (1882 – November 27, 1960) was a Norwegian-born musher who delivered a cylinder containing 300,000 units of diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska, in 1925, as the last leg of a dog sled relay that saved the U.S. city from an epidemic.
Gunnar E. Kaasen was born the son of Hans and Anna Kaasen in Burfjorddalen, in Troms county, Norway. He went to the United States to mine for gold in 1903, in the wake of the discovery of gold-bearing sands on Cape Nome in 1898, which triggered one of several gold rushes in the state between 1891 and 1898. Kaasen became an experienced musher and a resident of Nome. While the boom was spent by 1905, the port of Nome sits on Norton Sound, which is usually ice locked and inaccessible by ship between October and June. Dog sledding remained the primary transportation and communication link to the outside world during the winter months.
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Inuit
The Inuit (Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, "People") are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, the United States, and Russia. Inuit is a collective noun; the singular is "Inuk". The Inuit language is grouped under the Eskimo-Aleut family.
In the United States, the term Eskimo is commonly used in reference to these groups, because it includes both of Alaska's Yupik and Inupiat peoples while "Inuit" is not proper or accepted as a term for the Inupiat. No collective term exists for both peoples other than "Eskimo". However, natives in Canada and Greenland view the name as pejorative and "Inuit" has become more common. In Canada, sections 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 named the "Inuit" as a distinctive group of aboriginal Canadians who are not included under either the First Nations or the Métis.
The Inuit live throughout most of the Canadian Arctic and subarctic in the territory of Nunavut; "Nunavik" in the northern third of Quebec; "Nunatsiavut" and "Nunatukavut" in Labrador; and in various parts of the Northwest Territories, particularly around the Arctic Ocean. These areas are known in Inuktitut as the "Inuit Nunangat". In the United States, Inupiat live on the North Slope in Alaska and on Little Diomede Island. In Russia, they live on Big Diomede Island. The Kalaallit and other natives of Greenland are the descendants of migrations from Canada and are citizens of Denmark, although not of the European Union.
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Inupiat people
The Iñupiat (plural) or Iñupiaq (singular) and Iñupiak (dual) (from iñuk 'person' - and -piaq 'real', i.e., 'real people') or formerly Inupik are the people of Alaska's Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs and the Bering Straits region. Barrow, the northernmost city in the United States, is in the Inupiat region. Their language is known as Iñupiaq. There is one Inupiat culture-oriented institute of higher education, Iḷisaġvik College.
Inupiat people continue to rely heavily on subsistence hunting and fishing, including whaling. The capture of a whale benefits each member of a community, as the animal is butchered and its meat and blubber allocated according to a traditional formula. Even city-dwelling relatives thousands of miles away are entitled to a share of each whale killed by the hunters of their ancestral village. Maktak, which is the skin and blubber of Bowhead and other whales, is rich in vitamins A and C and contributes to good health in a population with limited access to fruits and vegetables.
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Jafet Lindeberg
Jafet Lindeberg (September 12, 1873 - November 1962) was a gold prospector and co-founder of the city of Nome, Alaska.
Jafet Lindeberg was born in Kvænangen, Troms county, in Norway. In his youth, he tried prospecting for gold in northern Norway. Lindeberg's father, Isak, was a farmer and fisherman. He had come to the region from the valley of Norrbotten, an ancient iron mining region in Norrbotten County, Sweden.
In the autumn of 1897, the American congress decided to send help to the gold miners in Klondike. The gold rush had escalated. Thousands of people rallied to the area, most of them completely unfamiliar with the harsh climate. The authorities feared a humanitarian disaster, with famine, epidemics and lawless conditions. It was difficult to send supplies.
It was therefore decided that reindeer and able keepers were to be shipped from Norway to Klondike. Reindeer were known as versatile animals, that could be used for food, clothing and transport. On February 4, 1898, Lindeberg left Alta with the ship Manitoba, heading for New York. He had been hired as a reindeer keeper. There were 113 people, 535 reindeer, and 250 tons of reindeer lichen on the ship. Upon arriving, he learned that the crisis was not as big as anticipated, and he was freed from his contract.
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John Brynteson
John Brynteson (August 13, 1871, Ärtemark – 1959) was one the "The Lucky Swedes" who founded and developed the Nome mining district.
Johan Bryntesson was born in the parish of Ärtemark in the County of Älvsborg, in the traditional province of Dalsland, Sweden. He came to the United States at the age of 16 and headed to the upper Peninsula of Michigan where he worked in copper and iron mines for about ten years and became a United States citizen. Citizenship was granted in Michigan in 1896.
In 1898, Brynteson arrived at Unalakleet, Alaska on the eastern coast of Norton Sound, Bering Sea to find coal for the Swedish Mission Covenant. A gold seeking venture which commenced in mid-September, 1898 with Erik Lindblom and Jafet Lindeberg proved quite successful. Brynteson and partners soon knew they had a major discovery. In 1898, Pioneer Mining and Ditch Company was formed by Erik O. Lindblom, John Brynteson, and Jafet Lindeberg. The company was the largest mining company operating in Nome, Alaska, in the years following the discovery of gold.
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John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison (born Marion Robert Morrison; May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. An Academy Award-winner, Wayne was among the top box office draws for three decades, and was named the all-time top money-making star. An enduring American icon, he epitomized rugged masculinity and is famous for his demeanor, including his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height.
Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa but his family relocated to the greater Los Angeles area when he was four years old. He found work at local film studios when he lost his football scholarship to USC as a result of a bodysurfing accident. Initially working for the Fox Film Corporation, he mostly appeared in small bit parts. His acting breakthrough came in 1939 with John Ford's Stagecoach, making him an instant star. Wayne would go on to star in 142 pictures, primarily typecast in Western films.
Among his best known films are The Quiet Man (1952), which follows him as an Irish-American boxer and his love affair with a fiery spinster played by Maureen O'Hara; The Searchers (1956), in which he plays a Civil War veteran who seeks out his abducted niece; Rio Bravo (1959), playing a Sheriff with Dean Martin; True Grit (1969), playing a humorous U.S. Marshal who sets out to avenge a man's death in the role that won Wayne an Academy Award; and The Shootist (1976), his final screen performance in which he plays an aging gunslinger battling cancer.
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Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Hollow Man, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Friday the 13th, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, and X-Men: First Class.
Bacon has won Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, was nominated for an Emmy Award, and was named by The Guardian as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
In 2003, Bacon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Bacon, one of six children, was born and raised in a close-knit family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother, Ruth Hilda (née Holmes; 1916–1991), taught at an elementary school and was a liberal activist, while his father, Edmund Norwood Bacon (May 2, 1910 – October 14, 2005), was a well-respected architect and a prominent Philadelphian who had been Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission for many years. At 16, in 1975, Bacon won a full scholarship to and attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts at Bucknell University, a state-funded five-week arts program where he studied Theatre under Dr. Glory Van Scott, which helped solidify Bacon's passion for the arts.
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Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich (German pronunciation: [maɐˈleːnə ˈdiːtʁɪç]; 27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) was a German-American actress and singer.
Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as "Lola-Lola" in The Blue Angel, directed by Josef von Sternberg, brought her international fame and provided her a contract with Paramount Pictures in the US. Hollywood films such as Shanghai Express and Desire capitalised on her glamour and exotic looks, cementing her stardom and making her one of the highest-paid actresses of the era. Dietrich became a US citizen in 1939, and throughout World War II she was a high-profile frontline entertainer. Although she still made occasional films in the post-war years, Dietrich spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a successful show performer.
In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich the ninth-greatest female star of all time.
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Norwegian-American
Norwegian Americans (Norwegian: norskamerikanere) are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and most live in the Upper Midwest. Norwegian Americans currently comprise the 10th largest American ancestry group.
Norsemen from Greenland and Iceland were the first Europeans to reach North America. Leif Ericson reached North America via Norse settlements in Greenland around the year 1000. Norse settlers from Greenland founded the settlement of L'Anse aux Meadows in Vinland, in what is now Newfoundland, Canada. These settlers failed to establish a permanent settlement.
There was a Norwegian presence in New Amsterdam (New York after 1664) in the early part of 17th century. Hans Hansen Bergen, a native of Bergen, Norway, was one of the earliest settlers of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam having immigrated in 1633. Another of the first Norwegian settlers was Albert Andriessen Bradt who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1637. Pieter Van Brugh, Mayor of Albany, New York was the grandson of Norwegian immigrants. His mother's parents were Roelof Janse (1602–1637), born in Marstrandsön, a small island situated in Båhuslen province in Norway (it was ceded to Sweden in 1658) and Anneke Jans (1605–1663), born on Flekkerøy, an island situated outside the town of Kristiansand, Vest-Agder county, Norway.
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Rex Beach
Rex Ellingwood Beach (September 1, 1877 – December 7, 1949) was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player.
Rex Beach was born in Atwood, Michigan to a prominent family and pursued a career as a lawyer before being drawn to Alaska at the time of the Klondike Gold Rush. After five years of unsuccessful prospecting, he turned to writing.
His first novel, The Spoilers, was based on a true story of corrupt government officials stealing gold mines from prospectors, which he witnessed while he was prospecting in Nome, Alaska.The Spoilers became one of the best selling novels of 1906.
His adventure novels, influenced by Jack London, were immensely popular throughout the early 1900s. Beach was lionized as the "Victor Hugo of the North," but others found his novels formulaic and predictable. Critics described them as cut from the "he-man school" of literature: stories of "strong hairy men doing strong hairy deeds." Alaska historian Stephen Haycox has said many of Beach's works are "mercifully forgotten today."
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Samuel Balto
Samuel Johannesen Balto (May 5, 1861–1921) was a Norwegian - Sami explorer and adventurer. The legendary sled dog Balto was named after Samuel Balto.
Samuel Johannesen Balto was born in Karasjok in Finnmark county, Norway. He had worked as a lumberjack, as well as in reindeer herding and fishing. Balto was recruited by Fridtjof Nansen for Nansen's Trans-Greenland Expedition in 1888. Balto participated in the first recorded crossing of the interior of Greenland, together with Nansen and four other expedition members of the Jason (Ship).
In 1898, Balto emigrated to the United States, and eventually became a gold miner at Nome, Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Samuel Balto stakes three claims at a site called Balto Creek. In 1900, he led a large group of Sami hired as reindeer herdsmen during the Manitoba Expedition in Alaska. Samuel Balto, together with 113 other people from Finnmark were hired by Sheldon Jackson to be involved in the introduction of reindeer in Alaska. Jackson promoted a plan to import reindeer from Russia to introduce reindeer husbandry to the Inupiaq as a solution to their loss of subsistence resources. Emigrants were responsible for transporting goods and mail from Nome to gold mining workers up the Yukon River valley in the central parts of Alaska. Samuel Balto signed a two year contract as a reindeer herder.
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Scott Cordelle Bone
Scott Cardelle Bone (February 15, 1860 – January 26, 1936) was the third Territorial Governor of Alaska, serving from 1921–1925. A Republican, he was appointed by President Warren G. Harding. He is perhaps best known for making the decision to use dog sleds to transport diphtheria antitoxin 674 miles rather than use a plane in the now famous 1925 Serum Run, (also known as the "Great Race of Mercy") from which the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race stems.
Bone was born in Shelby County, Indiana. He led a very productive life, belonged to numerous organizations and held almost as many positions such as: chairman of the Alaska Bureau of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention, member (and at one time president of) the Gridiron Club, member of the National Press Association, director of publicity for the Republican National Committee, life member of the Red Cross, the Yacht and Country Club of Tampa Florida, a life member of the Decorated Order of Sacred Treasure of Japan, and a member of the Elks.
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Simon Wells
Simon Wells (born 1961) is an English-American film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great grandson of famous author, H. G. Wells.
Born in Cambridge, he attended De Montfort University where he studied audio-visual design. Upon graduating he found a job at Richard Williams's studio where he animated commercials and other projects. Wells later supervised the animation on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
Wells later became a member of Amblimation, a studio owned by Steven Spielberg, where he served as director on films such as An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and Balto. Wells was set to direct a sequel to Casper but the project was cancelled.
After the closure of Amblimation Wells joined Dreamworks where he worked as storyboard artist on many animated projects, he also directed The Prince of Egypt which was nominated for an Annie Award.
In 2002 he directed his first live-action film, a film adaptation of his great-grandfather's book The Time Machine.
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Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. He is considered one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio.
Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Three of Spielberg's films—Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993)—achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts Spielberg's wealth at $3.0 billion.
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Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American investor and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. He is best known for his part in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral during which three outlaw Cowboys were killed. The 30-second gunfight defined the rest of his life. Earp's modern-day reputation is that of the Old West's "toughest and deadliest gunman of his day."
Earp spent his early life in Iowa. His first wife Urilla Sutherland Earp died while pregnant less than a year after they married. Within the next two years he was arrested, sued twice, escaped from jail, then was arrested three more times for "keeping and being found in a house of ill-fame". He landed in the cattle boomtown of Wichita, Kansas where he became a deputy marshal for one year and developed a solid reputation as a lawman. In 1876 he followed his brother James to Dodge City, Kansas where he became an assistant marshal. In the winter of 1878 he went to Texas to gamble where he met John Henry "Doc" Holliday whom Earp credited with saving his life.
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My visit to Nome, Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:46
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Video from my August 2007 trip to Nome, Alaska. Music is Jonny Norton's 1960 song "North to Alaska" (thanks to
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Video from my August 2007 trip to Nome, Alaska. Music is Jonny Norton's 1960 song "North to Alaska" (thanks to
Nome AK beach gold
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- Duration: 2:42
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
Beach gold mining at GPAA's Cripple River camp.
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Beach gold mining at GPAA's Cripple River camp.
- published: 26 Jul 2011
- views: 76820
- author: rps042657
Nome, Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:18
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
Images from my recent trip to Nome, Alaska to shoot (and co-star in!) a documentary-style feature film on UFO sightings, alien abductions, "little people", and all things paranormal (seriously). Located on the edge of the Bering Sea on the southwest side of the Seward Peninsula, Nome, with a population of 4500, is probably best known as the end point of the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Nome is also known as a city where people disappear. From the early 1960′s to 2005, 24 people reportedly went missing, 9 of whom were never found. Rumors of a serial killer on the loose to alien abductions began to spread. In 2005, the FBI was called in to investigate. They attributed the disappearances to excessive alcohol consumption and a harsh winter climate. The recent film, The Fourth Kind (supposedly set in Nome but actually filmed in Bulgaria and Canada) which is loosely based on true events, makes the case for alien abduction as the cause for the disappearances. During the Nome Gold Rush of 1899-1909, Nome was the biggest town in Alaska with a population estimated over 20000. What remains from Nome's Gold Rush architecture isn't very grand at all as the city has been battered by devastating fires (1905 & 1934), and severe storms (1913, 1945, & 1974). It still possesses, however, a mysterious charm. Sights include Downtown Nome, the White Alice Communication System on Anvil Mountain (google it!), Cemetery Hill, and the breathtaking coast of the Bering Sea. Video shot ...
http://wn.com/Nome,_Alaska
Images from my recent trip to Nome, Alaska to shoot (and co-star in!) a documentary-style feature film on UFO sightings, alien abductions, "little people", and all things paranormal (seriously). Located on the edge of the Bering Sea on the southwest side of the Seward Peninsula, Nome, with a population of 4500, is probably best known as the end point of the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Nome is also known as a city where people disappear. From the early 1960′s to 2005, 24 people reportedly went missing, 9 of whom were never found. Rumors of a serial killer on the loose to alien abductions began to spread. In 2005, the FBI was called in to investigate. They attributed the disappearances to excessive alcohol consumption and a harsh winter climate. The recent film, The Fourth Kind (supposedly set in Nome but actually filmed in Bulgaria and Canada) which is loosely based on true events, makes the case for alien abduction as the cause for the disappearances. During the Nome Gold Rush of 1899-1909, Nome was the biggest town in Alaska with a population estimated over 20000. What remains from Nome's Gold Rush architecture isn't very grand at all as the city has been battered by devastating fires (1905 & 1934), and severe storms (1913, 1945, & 1974). It still possesses, however, a mysterious charm. Sights include Downtown Nome, the White Alice Communication System on Anvil Mountain (google it!), Cemetery Hill, and the breathtaking coast of the Bering Sea. Video shot ...
- published: 31 Oct 2011
- views: 8385
- author: dansvideocreations
Alaska.org - Nome Alaska: There's No Place Like Nome
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:03
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
Official Video of the Nome Alaska Chamber of Commerce
http://wn.com/Alaskaorg_Nome_Alaska_There's_No_Place_Like_Nome
Official Video of the Nome Alaska Chamber of Commerce
- published: 09 Jun 2008
- views: 41971
- author: AlaskaChannel
Alaska's Super Storm November 2011 in Nome, Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:21
- Updated: 26 Nov 2012
Alaska's Super Storm in Nome, Alaska. In Nome, Alaska on 11/9/11 between 2pm-5pm after a blizzard with 60 mph winds that occured the night before. First part of video shows East End Front Street at around 2:30 where the waves were getting high a few hours later same road but shooting from a friends balcony on Front Street with the road torn up. Snap shots are of my neighbor's roof, my car that someone or something ran into during the blizzard, other car than ran off the side of the roads. At 3 minutes West Beach where minners have there cabins. Water has risen to their cabins and there was a road that is now non-existent, this shot taken at about 2:30pm before high tide at 5pm. A friend of ours who lives in one of those cabins moved to our house he night before, good thing he did. Shots of bering sea and front street and last one is of a tired seal on the the snake river resting from being tossed by waves in the Bering sea, shot was taken on our way to West Beach on Airport Rd.
http://wn.com/Alaska's_Super_Storm_November_2011_in_Nome,_Alaska
Alaska's Super Storm in Nome, Alaska. In Nome, Alaska on 11/9/11 between 2pm-5pm after a blizzard with 60 mph winds that occured the night before. First part of video shows East End Front Street at around 2:30 where the waves were getting high a few hours later same road but shooting from a friends balcony on Front Street with the road torn up. Snap shots are of my neighbor's roof, my car that someone or something ran into during the blizzard, other car than ran off the side of the roads. At 3 minutes West Beach where minners have there cabins. Water has risen to their cabins and there was a road that is now non-existent, this shot taken at about 2:30pm before high tide at 5pm. A friend of ours who lives in one of those cabins moved to our house he night before, good thing he did. Shots of bering sea and front street and last one is of a tired seal on the the snake river resting from being tossed by waves in the Bering sea, shot was taken on our way to West Beach on Airport Rd.
- published: 10 Nov 2011
- views: 23028
- author: fireweedjelly
Nome Alaska Gold Dredge
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:06
- Updated: 21 Oct 2012
Old gold dredge in Nome Alaska and the new miners
http://wn.com/Nome_Alaska_Gold_Dredge
Old gold dredge in Nome Alaska and the new miners
- published: 24 Jul 2012
- views: 816
- author: paulxxoo1
Gold mining Nome Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:09
- Updated: 27 Sep 2012
Nice operation behind Polar Cub Restaurant.
http://wn.com/Gold_mining_Nome_Alaska
Front Street, Nome AK
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:28
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Front_Street,_Nome_AK
Nome, Alaska in the 70's
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:28
- Updated: 25 Nov 2012
Super 8 video footage of Nome, Alaska filmed in the late 1970's. Included are shots of downtown Nome, the Iditarod, snowmachine racing, gold dredges, Big & Little Diomede Islands, and the King Island Dancers & Drummers. Enjoy! Audio Credits: "Alaska and Me" by John Denver "Redington's Run" by Hobo Jim "The Iditarod Song" by Hobo Jim "North to Alaska" by Boxcar Willie "Welcome Song, Part 1" by the King Island Drummers and Dancers
http://wn.com/Nome,_Alaska_in_the_70's
Super 8 video footage of Nome, Alaska filmed in the late 1970's. Included are shots of downtown Nome, the Iditarod, snowmachine racing, gold dredges, Big & Little Diomede Islands, and the King Island Dancers & Drummers. Enjoy! Audio Credits: "Alaska and Me" by John Denver "Redington's Run" by Hobo Jim "The Iditarod Song" by Hobo Jim "North to Alaska" by Boxcar Willie "Welcome Song, Part 1" by the King Island Drummers and Dancers
- published: 07 Aug 2011
- views: 2733
- author: MizzyPhotoGirl
Fortune & Glory - Mining beach gold in Nome, Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
Mining bech gold at te GPAA camp at CRipple River, Alaska July 2008.
http://wn.com/Fortune_Glory_Mining_beach_gold_in_Nome,_Alaska
Mining bech gold at te GPAA camp at CRipple River, Alaska July 2008.
- published: 04 Feb 2009
- views: 76708
- author: Kurt F
Nome, Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:13
- Updated: 03 Jun 2012
This is a video that I put together after a trip to Nome.
http://wn.com/Nome,_Alaska
This is a video that I put together after a trip to Nome.
- published: 09 Feb 2007
- views: 6311
- author: BlackLabStudios
Under the Ice prospecting,Nome AK 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:05
- Updated: 02 Sep 2012
This is a shot of the ice cracking around where I have set up to prospect thru the 6 feet of ice off the coast of Nome AK. I had over a 1/4 mile by 1/4 mile area to grid off and dig holes thru the ice before bringing up material samples for testing for GOLD amounts. This is all to figure the best place to go when all the ice goes away.
http://wn.com/Under_the_Ice_prospecting,Nome_AK_2012
This is a shot of the ice cracking around where I have set up to prospect thru the 6 feet of ice off the coast of Nome AK. I had over a 1/4 mile by 1/4 mile area to grid off and dig holes thru the ice before bringing up material samples for testing for GOLD amounts. This is all to figure the best place to go when all the ice goes away.
- published: 10 May 2012
- views: 1276
- author: DanfromNY55
Dredges In Nome Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:24
- Updated: 11 Dec 2012
small dredges in Nome Alaska
http://wn.com/Dredges_In_Nome_Alaska
Smoking Salmon in Nome, Alaska (Part 1 of 4)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:54
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Part 1 of 4 on how to smoke salmon. Learn how to brine, smoke, and can salmon. This is a Sockeye (red) Salmon caught at the Pilgrim River near Nome, Alaska.
http://wn.com/Smoking_Salmon_in_Nome,_Alaska_Part_1_of_4
Part 1 of 4 on how to smoke salmon. Learn how to brine, smoke, and can salmon. This is a Sockeye (red) Salmon caught at the Pilgrim River near Nome, Alaska.
- published: 07 Aug 2010
- views: 19476
- author: fireweedjelly
Nome Alaska, Feb. 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:46
- Updated: 21 Jun 2012
Photos from my trip to Nome with a short dogsledding clip, with my original MIDI music
http://wn.com/Nome_Alaska,_Feb_2011
Photos from my trip to Nome with a short dogsledding clip, with my original MIDI music
- published: 16 Feb 2011
- views: 2780
- author: Brad Sondahl
Flight 152 from Anchorage, AK to Nome, AK
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:10
- Updated: 17 Nov 2011
Video from my Alaska Airlines flight 152 from Anchorage, AK to Nome, AK, including video of flying over Nome, AK
http://wn.com/Flight_152_from_Anchorage,_AK_to_Nome,_AK
Video from my Alaska Airlines flight 152 from Anchorage, AK to Nome, AK, including video of flying over Nome, AK
- published: 26 Oct 2007
- views: 4785
- author: David Grossman
Nome Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:40
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
This video was uploaded from an Android phone.
http://wn.com/Nome_Alaska
New Keene's 176 Nome Commercial Nome Alaska power Sluice
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:45
- Updated: 21 Oct 2012
This is Patrick Keene trip up to Nome Alaska with out new 176 nome beach box. Patrick was up on the GPAA Cripple Creek Claims. Pat shows basic set up and operation.
http://wn.com/New_Keene's_176_Nome_Commercial_Nome_Alaska_power_Sluice
This is Patrick Keene trip up to Nome Alaska with out new 176 nome beach box. Patrick was up on the GPAA Cripple Creek Claims. Pat shows basic set up and operation.
- published: 28 Feb 2011
- views: 13203
- author: keeneengineering
Smoking Salmon in Nome, Alaska (Part 2 of 4)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:41
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Part 2 of 4 on how to smoke salmon. Learn how to brine, smoke, and can salmon. This is a Sockeye (red) Salmon caught at the Pilgrim River near Nome, Alaska.
http://wn.com/Smoking_Salmon_in_Nome,_Alaska_Part_2_of_4
Part 2 of 4 on how to smoke salmon. Learn how to brine, smoke, and can salmon. This is a Sockeye (red) Salmon caught at the Pilgrim River near Nome, Alaska.
- published: 07 Aug 2010
- views: 9810
- author: fireweedjelly
Smoking Salmon in Nome, Alaska (part 3 of 4)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:27
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Part 3 of 4 on how to smoke salmon. Learn how to brine, smoke, and can salmon. This is a Sockeye (red) Salmon caught at the Pilgrim River near Nome, Alaska.
http://wn.com/Smoking_Salmon_in_Nome,_Alaska_part_3_of_4
Part 3 of 4 on how to smoke salmon. Learn how to brine, smoke, and can salmon. This is a Sockeye (red) Salmon caught at the Pilgrim River near Nome, Alaska.
- published: 07 Aug 2010
- views: 31269
- author: fireweedjelly
Smoking Salmon in Nome, Alaska (part 4 of 4)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:54
- Updated: 24 Nov 2012
Smoking salmon part 4 of 4 on how to brine, smoke and can salmon. Red Sockeye Salmon caught on the Pilgrim River in Nome, Alaska.
http://wn.com/Smoking_Salmon_in_Nome,_Alaska_part_4_of_4
Smoking salmon part 4 of 4 on how to brine, smoke and can salmon. Red Sockeye Salmon caught on the Pilgrim River in Nome, Alaska.
- published: 07 Aug 2010
- views: 8334
- author: fireweedjelly
Disassembling Alaskan King Crab in Nome, Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:23
- Updated: 26 Nov 2012
How to disassemble Alaskan King Crab.
http://wn.com/Disassembling_Alaskan_King_Crab_in_Nome,_Alaska
Cooking Alaska King Crab in Nome, Alaska
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:57
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
Cooking live Alaska King Crab recently pulled from the ice of the Bering Sea in Nome, Alaska
http://wn.com/Cooking_Alaska_King_Crab_in_Nome,_Alaska
Cooking live Alaska King Crab recently pulled from the ice of the Bering Sea in Nome, Alaska
- published: 10 Mar 2008
- views: 17123
- author: fireweedjelly
photo: AP / Guang Niu, Pool
16 Dec 2012
Retired Col. Gen. Viktor Yesin yesterday wrapped up a visit to the United States during which he met with officials at the Pentagon, State Department as well as members of Congress warning about underestimating China’s tactical nuclear weapons buildup ... Yesin warns that U.S. and Western arms specialists are dramatically underestimating China’s nuclear arsenal ... Somewhere between the higher and lower estimates is no doubt the truth ... Mr ... Mr ... ....(size: 4.0Kb)
photo: AP / Jason DeCrow
16 Dec 2012
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage committed suicide as first responders closed in, the governor said Sunday, raising the specter that Adam Lanza had planned an even more gruesome massacre and was stopped short. Lanza blasted his way into the building and used a high-power rifle to kill 20 children and six adults, including the principal who tried to stop him, authorities said ... Among the questions ... H ... The Rev....(size: 8.8Kb)
photo: AP / Charles Krupa
18 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Most people reason dramatically, not quantitatively." -Oliver Wendell Holmes. On the same day that a 20-year-old, described as brilliant but remote, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and massacred 26 children and adults, the school where I teach went on "lock-down." Four students with a handgun were arrested ... That morning before school, he had posted on Twitter and Facebook....(size: 14.0Kb)
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
16 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Fundamentalism is good for protest, good for revolution, and good for war, but not so good for development.". After a century of being persecuted and driven underground, mainly for their vibrant nationalism and their anti-imperialist and pro-Palestinian views, Egypt's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has finally taken center-state ... Such actions will have to be avoided....(size: 6.9Kb)
photo: AP / Jason DeCrow
18 Dec 2012
An increasing number of US congressmen have called for a national dialogue about measures to curb gun violence following the shooting last week at a primary school in Connecticut that killed 26 people, including 20 children and six adults. White House officials have said that President Barack Obama would make preventing gun-related violence a priority in his second term in office and stricter laws would be part of the effort. ... ....(size: 19.2Kb)
noodls
19 Dec 2012
State of Alaska) ... Spectrum Alaska - application to transport natural gas. The REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA (Commission) hereby gives notice that an application was filed by SPECTRUM ALASKA, LLC (Spectrum Alaska), to transport natural gas in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska....(size: 1.5Kb)
noodls
19 Dec 2012
State of Alaska). December 18, 2012, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sean Parnell announced appointments to the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council, Board of Nursing, State Commission for Human Rights, State Council on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, and Alaska Council on Emergency Medical Services ... Franks earned an associate degree in human services from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)....(size: 8.7Kb)
noodls
19 Dec 2012
State of Alaska) ... Anchorage, Alaska, Dec. 17, 2012 - Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) will make $7.6 million in federal grant funds and federal low-income housing tax credits available in 2013 to spur construction and operation of new rental facilities in Alaska's capital city ... It is important to Juneau, Southeast Alaska and the whole state that we move quickly."....(size: 3.3Kb)
MSNBC
19 Dec 2012
Otis Scott McDaniel died Monday at the Alaska Native Medical Center surrounded by friends and family. McDaniel painted the beauty of Alaska's great outdoors for more than 60 years ......(size: 1.2Kb)
MSNBC
19 Dec 2012
An Alaska trapper driving a snowmachine on a frozen creek was attacked by a wolf that left a 3-inch gash in his arm ... the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner he was about 30 miles off the Taylor Highway in eastern interior Alaska when he was attacked Thursday afternoon....(size: 1.4Kb)
MSNBC
19 Dec 2012
The State of Alaska's Office of Veterans Affairs held an open house Tuesday, marking the relocation of its Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson office to East Anchorage ... Suite 180, will help staff provide more assistance to Alaska's veterans....(size: 1.3Kb)
noodls
19 Dec 2012
"Under his leadership Congress renounced the federal policy of termination against American Indian and Alaska Native tribes by repealing House Concurrent Resolution 108 and approved the establishment of the National Museum of the American Indian ... that have benefited not only the American Indian and Alaska Native people, but the entire nation....(size: 2.3Kb)
noodls
19 Dec 2012
(Source. Alaska Pacific University). Department. Office of the President. FLSA Classification. Non - Exempt. Supervisor. Executive Assistant to the President. Job Category. Regular, full-time. IPED Category. Clerical, Secretarial. Days/hours. Monday-Friday 8.00-5.00pm*. *hours and days may vary depending upon requirements. Summary. ... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... This noodl was issued by Alaska Pacific University and was initially posted at www.alaskapacific.edu....(size: 5.5Kb)
MSNBC
19 Dec 2012
MSNBC
19 Dec 2012
MSNBC
19 Dec 2012
Dan Coffey, a former Anchorage Assemblyman, has been accused of violating state lobbyist disclosure laws and a campaign finance law, according to the Alaska Public Offices Commission ... Advertise . AdChoices ... ....(size: 1.5Kb)
Business Journal
19 Dec 2012
Daniel Inouye dies at 88 Forest City Hawaii chosen to develop 690 Pohukaina project Federal judge expects ruling in Honolulu rail lawsuit ‘in short order’ Hawaii agency approves financing for Stanford Carr’s Halekauwila Place project Best Buy founder Richard Schulze given more time to make an offer Hawaii residents can vote on students’ designs in Alaska Airlines’ ‘Paint the Plane’ contest Live Blog....(size: 10.9Kb)
MSNBC
19 Dec 2012
The National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a blizzard warning for northern El Paso County from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday. A strong cold front will move through the Pikes Peak region Wednesday morning, with strong northerly winds and snow expected throughout the day ... Warmer conditions return Thursday with a forecast high of 42 with sunny skies ... The storm formed in the Gulf of Alaska and moved south ... ....(size: 2.4Kb)
| Nome Siqnazuaq |
|
|---|---|
| — City — | |
 |
|
 |
|
| Coordinates: 64°30′14″N 165°23′58″W / 64.50389°N 165.39944°W / 64.50389; -165.39944Coordinates: 64°30′14″N 165°23′58″W / 64.50389°N 165.39944°W / 64.50389; -165.39944 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Census Area | Nome |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • Mayor | Denise Michels |
| Area | |
| • Total | 21.6 sq mi (55.9 km2) |
| • Land | 12.5 sq mi (32.5 km2) |
| • Water | 9.1 sq mi (23.5 km2) |
| Elevation | 20 ft (6 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 3,598 |
| • Density | 170/sq mi (64/km2) |
| • Demonym | Nomeite |
| Time zone | Alaska (AKST) (UTC-9) |
| • Summer (DST) | AKDT (UTC-8) |
| ZIP Code | 99762 |
| Area code | 907 |
| FIPS code | 02-54920 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1407125 |
| Website | http://www.nomealaska.org/ |
Nome (Siqnazuaq in Iñupiaq) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the most populous city in Alaska. Nome lies within the region of the Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC).
The city of Nome claims to be home to the world's largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the Canadian city of Quesnel, British Columbia.
In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic raged among Inuit in the Nome area. Fierce territory-wide blizzard conditions prevented delivery of a life-saving serum by airplane from Anchorage. A relay of dog sled teams was organized to deliver the serum. The annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates this historic event.
Contents |
Etymology[link]
The origin of the city's name "Nome" is still under debate. The name may have been given by Nome's founder, Jafet Lindeberg: within trekking distance of his childhood home in Kvænangen, Norway, there is a Nome valley (Norwegian: Nomedalen).
An alternate theory is that Nome received its name through an error: allegedly when a British cartographer copied an ambiguous annotation made by a British officer on a nautical chart, while on a voyage up the Bering Strait. The officer had written "? Name" next to the unnamed cape. The mapmaker misread the annotation as "C. Nome", or Cape Nome, and used that name on his own chart;[1] the city in turn took its name from the cape.
In February 1899, some local miners and merchants voted to change the name from Nome to Anvil City, because of the confusion with Cape Nome, 12 miles (19 km) south, and the Nome River, the mouth of which is four miles (6 km) south of Nome. The United States Post Office in Nome refused to accept the change. Fearing a move of the post office to Nome City, a mining camp on the Nome River, the merchants unhappily agreed to change the name of Anvil City back to Nome.
Geography and climate[link]
Nome is located at 64°30′14″N 165°23′58″W / 64.50389°N 165.39944°W / 64.50389; -165.39944 (64.503877, −163.399409).[2] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.6 square miles (56 km2), of which 12.5 square miles (32 km2) is land and 9.1 square miles (23.6 km2) of it (41.99%) is water.
Nome has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc), with long, very cold winters, and short, cool summers. However, conditions in both winter and summer are moderated by the city's coastal location: temperatures are at their lowest in late January/early February, with February being the coolest month, averaging 5.7 °F (−14.6 °C). Highs do not break freezing until late April. Temperatures peak in mid/late July, with a July average of 52.6 °F (11.4 °C). Daytime temperatures average below freezing starting in mid October. Snow averages 57 inches (145 cm) per season. Precipitation is greatest in the summer months, and averages 16.6 inches (422 mm) per year. The annual average temperature is 27.0 °F (−2.8 °C).
| Climate data for Nome, Alaska | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 46 (8) |
48 (9) |
43 (6) |
51 (11) |
78 (26) |
83 (28) |
86 (30) |
83 (28) |
71 (22) |
59 (15) |
50 (10) |
43 (6) |
86 (30) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 13.4 (−10.3) |
13.6 (−10.2) |
17.7 (−7.9) |
26.8 (−2.9) |
43.0 (6.1) |
53.9 (12.2) |
58.6 (14.8) |
56.0 (13.3) |
48.6 (9.2) |
34.0 (1.1) |
23.0 (−5.0) |
15.8 (−9.0) |
33.7 (0.9) |
| Average low °F (°C) | −1.8 (−18.8) |
−2.3 (−19.1) |
1.0 (−17.2) |
12.4 (−10.9) |
31.1 (−0.5) |
40.6 (4.8) |
46.6 (8.1) |
45.2 (7.3) |
37.2 (2.9) |
22.9 (−5.1) |
10.8 (−11.8) |
0.9 (−17.3) |
20.4 (−6.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −54 (−48) |
−52 (−47) |
−46 (−43) |
−30 (−34) |
−11 (−24) |
20 (−7) |
28 (−2) |
23 (−5) |
9 (−13) |
−10 (−23) |
−39 (−39) |
−44 (−42) |
−54 (−48) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 0.92 (23.4) |
0.75 (19.1) |
0.60 (15.2) |
0.65 (16.5) |
0.74 (18.8) |
1.14 (29) |
2.15 (54.6) |
3.23 (82) |
2.51 (63.8) |
1.58 (40.1) |
1.28 (32.5) |
1.01 (25.7) |
16.56 (420.6) |
| Snowfall inches (cm) | 9.9 (25.1) |
6.2 (15.7) |
6.4 (16.3) |
5.8 (14.7) |
2.6 (6.6) |
0.2 (0.5) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.4 (1) |
4.9 (12.4) |
10.9 (27.7) |
9.9 (25.1) |
57.2 (145.3) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 11.0 | 7.5 | 8.4 | 7.9 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 11.8 | 16.1 | 14.8 | 11.8 | 12.4 | 11.5 | 131.2 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.1 inch) | 9.7 | 6.3 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 4.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 6.8 | 10.9 | 9.9 | 63.4 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 62.0 | 141.3 | 204.6 | 246.0 | 291.4 | 276.0 | 251.1 | 176.7 | 153.0 | 117.8 | 66.0 | 52.7 | 2,038.6 |
| Source: NOAA (normals, 1971−2000),[3] HKO,[4] The Weather Channel (records)[5] | |||||||||||||
Demographics[link]
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1900 | 12,488 |
|
|
| 1910 | 2,600 | −79.2% | |
| 1920 | 852 | −67.2% | |
| 1930 | 1,213 | 42.4% | |
| 1940 | 1,559 | 28.5% | |
| 1950 | 1,870 | 19.9% | |
| 1960 | 2,316 | 23.9% | |
| 1970 | 2,357 | 1.8% | |
| 1980 | 2,301 | −2.4% | |
| 1990 | 3,500 | 52.1% | |
| 2000 | 3,505 | 0.1% | |
| 2010 | 3,598 | 2.7% | |
| population in 1900 includes persons on vessels in port, the census having been taken during the rush to the gold fields | |||
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,505 people, 1,184 households, and 749 families residing in the city.[6] The population density was 279.7 people per square mile (108.0/km²). There were 1,356 housing units at an average density of 108.2 per square mile (41.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 51.04% Native American, 37.89% White, 1.54% Asian, 0.86% Black or African American, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 8.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.05% of the population.
There were 1,184 households out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.45.
In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 31.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 115.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $59,402, and the median income for a family was $68,804. Males had a median income of $50,521 versus $35,804 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,402. About 5.4% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.3% under the age of 18 and 6.9% ages 65 or older.
The population of Nome is a mixture of Inupiat Eskimos and non-Natives. Although some employment opportunities are available, subsistence activities are prevalent in the community. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community—the Nome Eskimo Community. Former villagers from King Island also live in Nome. The ANCSA village corporation in Nome is Sitnasuak Native Corporation.
History[link]
Pre-history[link]
Inupiat hunted for game on the west coast of Alaska from prehistoric times and there is recent archeological evidence to suggest that there was an Inupiat settlement at Nome, known in Inupiat as Sitnasuak, before the discovery of gold.
Gold rush[link]
Main article: Nome Gold Rush
In the summer of 1898, the "Three Lucky Swedes": Norwegian-American Jafet Lindeberg, and two naturalized American citizens of Swedish birth, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson, discovered gold on Anvil Creek. News of the discovery reached the outside world that winter. By 1899, Nome had a population of 10,000 and the area was organized as the Nome mining district. In that year, gold was found in the beach sands for dozens of miles along the coast at Nome, which spurred the stampede to new heights. Thousands more people poured into Nome during the spring of 1900 aboard steamships from the ports of Seattle and San Francisco. By 1900, a tent city on the beaches and on the treeless coast reached 48 km (30 mi), from Cape Rodney to Cape Nome.
Many late-comers were jealous of the original discoverers, and tried to "jump" the original claims by filing mining claims covering the same ground. The federal judge for the area ruled the original claims valid, but some of the claim jumpers agreed to share their invalid claims with influential Washington politicians. Alexander McKenzie,took an interest in the gold rush and secured the appointment of Arthur Noyes as the federal district judge for the Nome region for the purpose of taking control of gold placer mines in Nome. McKenzie seized mining claims with an unlawfully-procured receivership granted by Judge Noyes. Mckenzie's claim-jumping scheme was eventually stopped by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.[7] However, the episode provided the plot for Rex Beach's best-selling novel The Spoilers[8] (1906), which was made into a stage play, then five times into movies, including two versions starring John Wayne: The Spoilers (1942 film) (co-starring Marlene Dietrich) and North to Alaska (1960, the theme of which mentions Nome.[9]) Wyatt Earp, of Tombstone, Arizona fame, stayed in Nome for a short period, but little is known of his activities there.
During the period from 1900 – 1909, estimates of Nome's population reached as high as 20,000. The highest recorded population of Nome, in the 1900 United States census, was 12,488. At this time, Nome was the largest city in the Alaska Territory. Early in this period, the U.S. Army policed the area, and expelled any inhabitant each autumn who did not have shelter (or the resources to pay for shelter) for the harsh winter.
By 1910 Nome's population had fallen to 2,600.[10]
Fires in 1905 and 1934 and violent storms in 1900, 1913, 1945 and 1974 destroyed much of Nome's gold rush era architecture. The pre-fire "Discovery Saloon" is now a private residence and is being slowly restored as a landmark.
Serum run[link]
In 1925, Nome was the destination of the famous "Great Race of Mercy", where dog sleds played a large part in transporting diphtheria serum through harsh conditions. In 1973, Nome became the ending point of the 1,049+ mi (1,600+ km) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race held in honor of the serum run.
The sled driver of the final leg of the relay was the Norwegian-born Gunnar Kaasen; his lead sled dog was Balto. A statue of Balto by F.G. Roth stands near the zoo in Central Park, New York City. Leonhard Seppala ran the penultimate, and longest, leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome. One of his dogs, Togo, is considered the forgotten hero of the "Great Race of Mercy",[11] another of his dogs, Fritz, is preserved and on display at the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum in Nome.
World War II and later[link]
During World War II, Nome was the last stop on the ferry system for planes flying from the United States to the Soviet Union for the Lend-lease program. The airstrip currently in use was built and troops were stationed there. One "Birchwood" hangar remains and has been transferred to a local group with hopes to restore it. It is not located on the former Marks AFB (now the primary Nome Airport); rather it is a remnant of an auxiliary landing field a mile or so away: "Satellite Field". In the hills north of the city, there were auxiliary facilities associated with the Distant Early Warning system that are visible from the city but are no longer in use. Nome's population decline continued after 1910 although at a fairly slow rate. By 1950 Nome had 1,852 inhabitants.[12]
Total gold production for the Nome district has been at least 3.6 million ounces.[13]
By 1960 the population of Nome had climbed to 2,316. At this point placer gold mining was still the leading economic activity. The local Inuit population was involved in ivory carving and the U.S. military had stationed troops in the city also contributing to the local economy.[14]
Education[link]
There are 5 schools located in the community, attended by 683 students.
Higher education[link]
The University of Alaska Fairbanks operates a regional satellite facility in Nome called the Northwest Campus (formerly known as Northwest Community College).
Public schools[link]
Nome is served by the Nome City School District and the following public schools:
- Nome Elementary School, serves grades PK-6
- Nome-Beltz Junior/Senior High School, serves grades 7-12.
- Anvil City Science Academy, a 5-8 charter magnet, is also part of the school district.
Private schools[link]
- Nome Adventist School, a private school encompassing grades 1 through 9.
Media[link]
Nome's airwaves are filled by the radio stations KNOM (780 AM, 96.1 FM) and KICY (850 AM, 100.3 FM), plus a translator of Fairbanks' KUAC, K217CK, on 91.3 FM.
Cable television and broadband in Nome is serviced by GCI, which offer all popular cable channels, plus most of Anchorage's television stations. Nome also has three local low-powered stations, K09OW channel 9 and K13UG channel 13 (both carrying programming from ARCS), plus K11TH channel 11 (a 3ABN owned and operated translator).
Nome also is home to Alaska's oldest newspaper, the Nome Nugget.
At least two major films have been set in Nome, but not filmed there: the 1995 animated/live action family film Balto starring Kevin Bacon, and the 2009 science-fiction/horror film The Fourth Kind starring Milla Jovovich. The latter film was notable for purporting the events depicted involving alien abduction were based upon actual events, and for claiming that Nome experienced a large number of unexplained disappearances, a fact that is disputed. FBI declines comment but denies that there have been 2000+ visits to Nome over the past 60 years. Additionally, in one scene of The Simpsons Movie, when the family moves to Alaska, Marge knits a doormat that reads "Nome Sweet Nome", revealing their exact location. In Disney Pixar short films, the snow globe the snowman is trying to get out of says Nome Sweet Nome, Alaska.
Transportation[link]
Airports[link]
Nome is a regional center of transportation for surrounding villages. There are two state-owned airports.
- Nome Airport - public-use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) west of the central business district of Nome, it has two asphalt paved runways: 3/21 measures 5,576 by 150 feet (1,700 x 46 m) and 10/28 is 6,001 by 150 feet (1,829 x 46 m). An $8.5 million airport improvement project is nearing completion.
- Nome City Field - a public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) north of the central business district of Nome, it has one runway designated 3/21 with a gravel surface measuring 1,950. It is serviced by general aviation.
Water ports[link]
Nome has a seaport, used by freight ships and cruise ships,[15] located at 64° 30’ N and 165° 24’ W on the southern side of the Seward Peninsula in Norton Sound. The Corps of Engineers completed the Nome Harbor Improvements Project in the summer of 2006 adding a 3,025 ft (922 m). breakwater east of the existing Causeway and a 270 ft (82 m). spur on the end of the Causeway making it to a total of 2,982 feet (909 m). The City Dock (south) on the Causeway is equipped with marine headers to handle the community's bulk cargo and fuel deliveries. The City Dock is approximately 200 feet (61 m) in length with a depth of 22.5 feet (MLLW). The WestGold Dock (north) is 190 feet (58 m) in length with the same depth of 22.5 feet (ML,LW). The Westgold dock handles nearly all of the exported rock/gravel for this region and is the primary location to load/unload heavy equipment. The opening between the new breakwater and the Causeway (Outer Harbor Entrance) is approximately 500 feet (150 m) in width and serves as access to both Causeway deep water docks and the new Snake River entrance that leads into the Small Boat Harbor. The old entrance along the seawall has been filled in and is no longer navigable. (See photos on website) Buoys outline the navigation channel from the outer harbor entrance into the inner harbor. The Nome Small Boat Harbor has a depth of 10 feet (MLLW) and offers protected mooring for recreational and fishing vessels alongside 2 floating docks. Smaller cargo vessels and landing crafts load village freight and fuel at the east, west and south inner harbor sheet pile docks, east beach landing and west barge ramp for delivery in the region. A new addition to the Nome facility in 2005 was a 60-foot-wide (18 m) concrete barge ramp located inside the inner harbor just west of the Snake River entrance. The ramp provides the bulk cargo carriers with a suitable location closer to the Causeway to trans-load freight to landing crafts and roll equipment on and off barges. This location also has approximately 2 acres (8,100 m2) of uplands to be used for container, vessel and equipment storage.
Surface transportation[link]
Local roads lead to Teller, Council and the Kougarok River. There are also smaller roads to communities up to 54 miles (87 km) from Nome, [16] yet no road connection to the other major cities of Alaska. There are no railroads going to or from Nome. A 500-mile (800 km) road project (Manley Hot Springs–Nome) is being discussed in Alaska. It has been estimated (in 2010) to cost $2.3 to $2.7 billion, or approximately $5 million per mile.[17]
Health[link]
Local hospitals or health clinics include Norton Sound Regional Hospital and Nome Health Center. The hospital is a qualified Acute Care facility and Medevac Service. Long Term Care is provided by Quyaana Care Center (a unit of the hospital). Specialized Care is available through various facilities such as Norton Sound Community Mental Health Center, Turning Point - Saquigvik (transitional living), and XYZ Senior Center. Nome is classified as a large town/Regional Center, it is found in EMS Region 5A in the Norton Sound Region. Emergency Services have limited highway, coastal and airport access. Emergency service is provided by 911 Telephone Service and by Nome Volunteer Ambulance Dept.
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ "Nome Convention and Visitor Bureau". Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20080315034539/http://www.nomealaska.org/vc/history.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "Climatography of the United States No. 20 (1971–2000)" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2004. http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/climatenormals/clim20/ak/506496.pdf. Retrieved 2010−05−18.
- ^ "Climatological Normals of Nome". Hong Kong Observatory. http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/climat/world/eng/n_america/us/nome_e.htm. Retrieved 2010−05−18.
- ^ "Monthly Averages for Nome, AK – Temperature and Precipitation". The Weather Channel. http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/garden/wxclimatology/monthly/USAK0170. Retrieved 2010−05−18.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Tornanses v. Melsing, 106 F. 775 (9th Cir. 1901)
- ^ http://www.miningswindles.com/html/the_spoilers.html
- ^ Please notice, according to North to Alaska-article the film is based on the play Birthday Gift by Ladislas Fodor.
- ^ Farm Journal Complete World Atlas, 1912 Edition, p. 195
- ^ [1]
- ^ Hammond's Complete World Atlas, 1952 Edition, p. 355
- ^ A.H Koschman and M.H. Bergendahl (1968) Principal Gold-Producing Districts of the United States, U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 610, p.18.
- ^ World Book Encyclopedia, 1967 Edition, Vol. 14, p. 351
- ^ http://www.nomealaska.org/port/index.html City of Nome, Port
- ^ http://www.nomealaska.org/vc/information.htm
- ^ COCKERHAM, SEAN (January 27, 2010). "Nome road could cost $2.7 billion". Anchorage Daily News. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/1111745.html. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nome |
- City of Nome
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Frank H. Nowell Photographs Photographs documenting scenery, towns, businesses, mining activities, Native Americans, and Eskimos in the vicinity of Nome, Alaska from 1901-1909.
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Wilhelm Hester Photographs 345 photographs ca. 1893-1906 of Puget Sound sailing vessels and ships' crews, the Alaska Gold Rush in Nome and vicinity in 1900, images of logging activities in Washington state, and San Francisco's Chinatown.
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Eric A. Hegg Photographs 736 photographs from 1897-1901 documenting the Klondike and Alaska gold rushes, including depictions of frontier life in Skagway and Nome, Alaska and Dawson, Yukon Territory.
- Nome, Alaska at the Open Directory Project
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This article is about the U.S. state of Alaska. For other uses, see Alaska (disambiguation).
"Alaskan" redirects here. For other uses, see Alaskan (disambiguation).
| State of Alaska | |||||
|
|||||
| Nickname(s): The Last Frontier | |||||
| Motto(s): North to the Future | |||||
 |
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| Official language(s) | None[1][2] | ||||
| Spoken language(s) | English 89.7%, Native North American 5.2%, Spanish 2.9% |
||||
| Demonym | Alaskan | ||||
| Capital | Juneau | ||||
| Largest city | Anchorage | ||||
| Area | Ranked 1st in the U.S. | ||||
| - Total | 663,268 sq mi (1,717,854 km2) |
||||
| - Width | 2,261 miles (3,639 km) | ||||
| - Length | 1,420 miles (2,285 km) | ||||
| - % water | 13.77 | ||||
| - Latitude | 51°20'N to 71°50'N | ||||
| - Longitude | 130°W to 172°E | ||||
| Population | Ranked 47th in the U.S. | ||||
| - Total | 722,718 (2011 est)[3] | ||||
| - Density | 1.26/sq mi (0.49/km2) Ranked 50th in the U.S. |
||||
| - Median household income | US$64,333 (4th) | ||||
| Elevation | |||||
| - Highest point | Mount McKinley (Denali)[4] 20,320 ft (6194 m) |
||||
| - Mean | 1900 ft (580 m) | ||||
| - Lowest point | Ocean[4] sea level |
||||
| Before statehood | Alaska Territory | ||||
| Admission to Union | January 3, 1959 (49th) | ||||
| Governor | Sean Parnell (R) | ||||
| Lieutenant Governor | Mead Treadwell (R) | ||||
| Legislature | Alaska Legislature | ||||
| - Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - Lower house | House of Representatives | ||||
| U.S. Senators | Lisa Murkowski (R) Mark Begich (D) |
||||
| U.S. House delegation | Don Young (R) (at-large) (list) | ||||
| Time zones | |||||
| - east of 169° 30' | Alaska: UTC-9/-8 | ||||
| - west of 169° 30' | Aleutian: UTC-10/-9 | ||||
| Abbreviations | AK US-AK | ||||
| Website | www.alaska.gov | ||||
Alaska (i/əˈlæskə/) is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Alaska is the 4th least populous and the least densely populated of the 50 United States. Approximately half of Alaska's 722,718[3] residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area.
Alaska was purchased from Russia on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million ($120 million in today's[when?] dollars) at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized (or incorporated) territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.[5]
The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or, more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[6] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
Contents |
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of Alaska
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined.[7] It is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on continental North America; about 500 miles (800 km) of British Columbia (Canada) separates Alaska from Washington state. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States. It is technically part of the continental U.S., but is often not included in colloquial use; Alaska is not part of the contiguous U.S., often called "the Lower 48".[8] The capital city, Juneau, is situated on the mainland of the North American continent, but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system.
The state is bordered by the Yukon Territory and British Columbia in Canada, to the east, the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Alaska's territorial waters touch Russia's territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island and Alaskan Little Diomede Island are only 3 miles (4.8 km) apart. With the extension of the Aleutian Islands into the eastern hemisphere, it is technically both the westernmost and easternmost state in the United States, as well as also being the northernmost.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States in land area at 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km2), over twice the size of Texas, the next largest state. Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries. Counting territorial waters, Alaska is larger than the combined area of the next three largest states: Texas, California, and Montana. It is also larger than the combined area of the 22 smallest U.S. states.
Regions[link]
There are no officially defined borders demarcating the various regions of Alaska, but there are six widely accepted regions:
South Central[link]
Main article: South Central Alaska
The most populous region of Alaska, containing Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Kenai Peninsula. Rural, mostly unpopulated areas south of the Alaska Range and west of the Wrangell Mountains also fall within the definition of Southcentral, as well as the Prince William Sound area and the communities of Cordova and Valdez.
Southeast[link]
Main article: Southeast Alaska
Also known as the Panhandle, this is the region of Alaska closest to the rest of the United States, and hence was where most initial non-Native settlement occurred following the Alaska Purchase. It contains the state capital, Juneau, the former capital, Sitka, and the large town of Ketchikan. The road systems leading from these cities are strictly local; no roads connect these communities to each other or any other communities apart from their own suburbs. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States.
Interior[link]
Main article: Alaska Interior
The largest region of Alaska, much of it uninhabited wilderness. Fairbanks is the only community of any significant size. Small towns and Native villages are scattered throughout, mostly along the highway and river systems. Denali National Park and Preserve is located here, home to Mount McKinley (also widely known by its local name of Denali), the highest point in North America.
Southwest[link]
Main article: Southwest Alaska
A sparsely inhabited region stretching some 500 miles (800 km) inland from the Bering Sea. Most of the population lives along the coast. Kodiak Island is also located in Southwest. The massive Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, one of the largest river deltas in the world, is here. Portions of the Alaska Peninsula are considered part of Southwest, with the remaining portions included with the Aleutian Islands (see below).
North Slope[link]
Main article: Alaska North Slope
The North Slope is mostly tundra peppered with small villages. The area is known for its massive reserves of crude oil, and contains both the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field.[9] Barrow, the northernmost city in the United States, is located here. The Northwest Arctic area, anchored by Kotzebue and also containing the Kobuk River valley, is often regarded as being part of this region. However, the respective Inupiat of the North Slope and of the Northwest Arctic seldom think of themselves as one.
Aleutian Islands[link]
Main article: Aleutian Islands
More than 300 small, volcanic islands make up this chain, which stretches over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) into the Pacific Ocean. The International Date Line was drawn west of 180° to keep the whole state, and thus the entire North American continent, within the same legal day. However, because some of these islands fall in the Eastern Hemisphere, this makes Alaska the northernmost, easternmost and westernmost state in the union, with the southernmost state being Hawaii. Two of the islands, Attu and Kiska, were occupied by Japanese forces during World War II.
Natural features[link]
With its myriad islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (54,720 km) of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Unimak Island, for example, is home to Mount Shishaldin, which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to 10,000 feet (3,048 m) above the North Pacific. It is the most perfect volcanic cone on Earth, even more symmetrical than Japan's Mount Fuji. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland. Geologists have identified Alaska as part of Wrangellia, a large region consisting of multiple states and Canadian provinces in the Pacific Northwest which is actively undergoing continent building.
One of the world's largest tides occurs in Turnagain Arm, just south of Anchorage – tidal differences can be more than 35 feet (10.7 m). (Many sources say Turnagain has the second-greatest tides in North America, but several areas in Canada have larger tides.)[10]
Main article: List of lakes in Alaska
Alaska has more than three million lakes.[11][12] Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles (487,747 km2) (mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands). Glacier ice covers some 16,000 square miles (41,440 km2) of land and 1,200 square miles (3,110 km2) of tidal zone. The Bering Glacier complex near the southeastern border with Yukon covers 2,250 square miles (5,827 km2) alone. With over 100,000, Alaska has half of the world's glaciers.
Land ownership[link]
According to an October 1998 report by the United States Bureau of Land Management, approximately 65% of Alaska is owned and managed by the U.S. federal government as public lands, including a multitude of national forests, national parks, and national wildlife refuges. Of these, the Bureau of Land Management manages 87 million acres (35 million hectares), or 23.8% of the state. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It is the world's largest wildlife refuge, comprising 16 million acres (6.5 million hectares).
Of the remaining land area, the state of Alaska owns 101 million acres (41 million hectares); its entitlement under the Alaska Statehood Act. A portion of that acreage is occasionally ceded to organized boroughs, under the statutory provisions pertaining to newly formed boroughs. Smaller portions are set aside for rural subdivisions and other homesteading-related opportunities, though these are infrequently popular due to the often remote and roadless locations. The University of Alaska, as a land grant university, also owns substantial acreage which it manages independently.
Another 44 million acres (18 million hectares) are owned by 12 regional, and scores of local, Native corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Regional Native corporation Doyon, Limited often promotes itself as the largest private landowner in Alaska in advertisements and other communications. Provisions of ANCSA allowing the corporations' land holdings to be sold on the open market starting in 1991 were repealed before they could take effect. Effectively, the corporations hold title (including subsurface title in many cases, a privilege denied to individual Alaskans) but cannot sell the land. Individual Native allotments can be and are sold on the open market, however.
Various private interests own the remaining land, totaling about one percent of the state. Alaska is, by a large margin, the state with the smallest percentage of private land ownership when Native corporation holdings are excluded.
Climate[link]
Main article: Climate of Alaska
The climate in Juneau and the southeast panhandle is a mid-latitude oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) in the southern sections and a subarctic oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc) in the northern parts. On an annual basis, the panhandle is both the wettest and warmest part of Alaska with milder temperatures in the winter and high precipitation throughout the year. Juneau averages over 50 inches (1,270 mm) of precipitation a year. This is also the only region in Alaska in which the average daytime high temperature is above freezing during the winter months.
The climate of Anchorage and south central Alaska is mild by Alaskan standards due to the region's proximity to the seacoast. While the area gets less rain than southeast Alaska, it gets more snow, and days tend to be clearer. On average, Anchorage receives 16 inches (406 mm) of precipitation a year, with around 75 inches (191 cm) of snow, although there are areas in the south central which receive far more snow. It is a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) due to its brief, cool summers.
The climate of Western Alaska is determined in large part by the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. It is a subarctic oceanic climate in the southwest and a continental subarctic climate farther north. The temperature is somewhat moderate considering how far north the area is. This region has a tremendous amount of variety in precipitation. An area stretching from the northern side of the Seward Peninsula to the Kobuk River valley is technically a desert, with portions receiving less than 10 inches (254 mm) of precipitation annually. On the other extreme, some locations between Dillingham and Bethel average around 100 inches (2,540 mm) of precipitation.[14]
The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks. The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s °F (the low to mid 30s °C), while in the winter, the temperature can fall below −60 °F (−51.1 °C). Precipitation is sparse in the Interior, often less than 10 inches (254 mm) a year, but what precipitation falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter.
The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Alaska are both in the Interior. The highest is 100 °F (37.8 °C) in Fort Yukon (which is just 8 miles or 13 kilometers inside the arctic circle) on June 27, 1915,[15][16] making Alaska tied with Hawaii as the state with the lowest high temperature in the United States.[17][18] The lowest official Alaska temperature is −80 °F (−62.2 °C) in Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971,[15][16] one degree above the lowest temperature recorded in continental North America (in Snag, Yukon, Canada).[19]
The climate in the extreme north of Alaska is Arctic (Köppen ET) with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers. Even in July, the average low temperature in Barrow is 34 °F (1.1 °C).[20] Precipitation is light in this part of Alaska, with many places averaging less than 10 inches (254 mm) per year, mostly as snow which stays on the ground almost the entire year.
History[link]
Main article: History of Alaska
Alaska natives[link]
See also: Prehistory of Alaska
Numerous indigenous peoples occupied Alaska for thousands of years before the arrival of European peoples to the area. The Tlingit people developed a matriarchal society in what is today Southeast Alaska, along with parts of British Columbia and the Yukon. Also in Southeast were the Haida, now well known for their unique arts, and the Tsimshian people, whose population were decimated by a smallpox epidemic in the 1860s. The Aleutian Islands are still home to the Aleut people's seafaring society, although they were among the first native Alaskans to be exploited by Russians. Western and Southwestern Alaska are home to the Yup'ik, while their cousins the Alutiiq lived in what is now Southcentral Alaska. The Gwich’in people of the northern Interior region are primarily known today for their dependence on the caribou within the much-contested Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The North Slope and Little Diomede Island are occupied by the widespread Inuit people.
Colonization[link]
Some researchers believe that the first Russian settlement in Alaska was established in 17th century.[21] According to this hypothesis, in 1648 several koches of Semyon Dezhnyov's expedition were thrown to Alaska by storm and founded this settlement. This hypothesis is based on the message of Chukchi geographer Nikolai Daurkin who had visited Alaska in 1764–1765 and reported about a village on the Kheuveren river, populated by "bearded men" who "pray to the icons". Some modern researchers associate Kheuveren with Koyuk River.[22]
It is usually assumed that the first European boat to reach Alaska was the St. Gabriel under the authority of the surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and assistant navigator I. Fyodorov on August 21, 1732 during expedition of Siberian cossak A. F. Shestakov adb Belorussian explorer D. I. Pavlutsky (1729—1735)[23]
Another European contact with Alaska occurred in 1741, when Vitus Bering led an expedition for the Russian Navy aboard the St. Peter. After his crew returned to Russia with sea otter pelts judged to be the finest fur in the world, small associations of fur traders began to sail from the shores of Siberia towards the Aleutian islands. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1784. Between 1774 and 1800 Spain sent several expeditions to Alaska in order to assert its claim over the Pacific Northwest. In 1789 a Spanish settlement and fort were built in Nootka Sound. These expeditions gave names to places such as Valdez, Bucareli Sound, and Cordova. Later, the Russian-American Company carried out an expanded colonization program during the early-to-mid-19th century.
Sitka, renamed New Archangel from 1804 to 1867, on Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in what is now Southeast Alaska, became the capital of Russian America and remained the capital after the colony was transferred to the United States. The Russians never fully colonized Alaska, and the colony was never very profitable.
William H. Seward, the United States Secretary of State, negotiated the Alaska Purchase (also known as Seward's Folly) with the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million. Alaska was loosely governed by the military initially, and was administered as a district starting in 1884, with a governor appointed by the president of the United States, as well as a district court headquartered in Sitka.
For most of Alaska's first decade under the American flag, Sitka was the only community inhabited by American settlers. They organized a "provisional city government," which was Alaska's first city government, but not in a legal sense. Legislation allowing Alaskan communities to legally incorporate as cities did not come about until 1900, and home rule for cities was extremely limited or unavailable until statehood took effect.
U.S. Territory[link]
Starting in the 1890s and stretching in some places to the early 1910s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was officially incorporated as an organized territory in 1912. Alaska's capital, which had been in Sitka until the 1900 legislation mandated its transfer to Juneau (the actual move took place in 1906, after initial questions arose), began to take shape with the construction of the Alaska Governor's Mansion that same year.
During World War II, the Aleutian Islands Campaign focused on the three outer Aleutian Islands – Attu, Agattu and Kiska[24] – that were invaded by Japanese troops and occupied between June 1942 and August 1943. Unalaska/Dutch Harbor became a significant base for the U.S. Army Air Corps and Navy submariners.
The U.S. Lend-Lease program involved the flying of American warplanes through Canada to Fairbanks and thence Nome; Soviet pilots took possession of these aircraft, ferrying them to fight the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The construction of military bases contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities.
Statehood[link]
Statehood for Alaska was an important cause of James Wickersham early in his tenure as a congressional delegate. Decades later, the statehood movement gained its first real momentum following a territorial referendum in 1946. The Alaska Statehood Committee and Alaska's Constitutional Convention would soon follow. Statehood supporters also found themselves fighting major battles against political foes, mostly in the U.S. Congress but also within Alaska. Statehood was approved by Congress on July 7, 1958. Alaska was officially proclaimed a state on January 3, 1959.
On April 27, 1964, the massive "Good Friday Earthquake" killed 133 people and destroyed several villages and portions of large coastal communities, mainly by the resultant tsunamis and landslides. It was the third most powerful earthquake in the recorded history of the world, with a moment magnitude of 9.2. It was over one thousand times more powerful than the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. The time of day (5:36 pm), time of year and location of the epicenter were all cited as factors in potentially sparing thousands of lives, particularly in Anchorage.
The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline led to an oil boom. Royalty revenues from oil have funded large state budgets from 1980 onward. That same year, not coincidentally, Alaska repealed its state income tax. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Prince William Sound, spilling over 11,000,000 US gallons (42,000 m3) of crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,600 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demographics of Alaska
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 33,426 |
|
|
| 1890 | 32,052 | −4.1% | |
| 1900 | 63,592 | 98.4% | |
| 1910 | 64,356 | 1.2% | |
| 1920 | 55,036 | −14.5% | |
| 1930 | 59,278 | 7.7% | |
| 1940 | 72,524 | 22.3% | |
| 1950 | 128,643 | 77.4% | |
| 1960 | 226,167 | 75.8% | |
| 1970 | 300,382 | 32.8% | |
| 1980 | 401,851 | 33.8% | |
| 1990 | 550,043 | 36.9% | |
| 2000 | 626,932 | 14.0% | |
| 2010 | 710,231 | 13.3% | |
| 1930 and 1940 censuses taken in preceding autumn Sources: 1910–2010[25] |
|||
The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Alaska was 722,718 on July 1, 2011, a 1.76% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[3]
The United States Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2008, estimated Alaska's population at 686,293, which represents an increase of 59,361, or 9.5%, since the last census in 2000.[26] This includes a natural increase since the last census of 60,994 people (that is 86,062 births minus 25,068 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 5,469 people out of the state.[26] Immigration from outside the U.S. resulted in a net increase of 4,418 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 9,887 people.[26]
In 2000 Alaska ranked the 48th state by population, ahead of Vermont and Wyoming (and Washington D.C.).[27] Alaska is the least densely populated state, and one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world, at 1.0 person per square mile (0.42/km²), with the next state, Wyoming, at 5.1 per square mile (1.97/km²). Alaska is the largest U.S. state by area, and the sixth wealthiest (per capita income). As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 8.5%.[28]
Race and ancestry[link]
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Alaska had a population of 710,231. In terms of race and ethnicity, the state was 66.7% White (64.7% Non-Hispanic White Alone), 14.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.4% Asian, 3.3% Black or African American, 1.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 1.6% from Some Other Race, and 7.3% from Two or More Races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 5.5% of the population.[29]
In 1960, the Census Bureau reported Alaska's population as 77.2% White, 3% Black, and 18.8% American Indian and Alaska Native.[30]
Languages[link]
According to the 2005–2007 American Community Survey, 84.7% of people over the age of five speak only English at home. About 3.5% speak Spanish at home. About 2.2% speak another Indo-European language at home and about 4.3% speak an Asian language at home. And about 5.3% speak other languages at home.[31]
A total of 5.2% of Alaskans speak one of the state's 22 indigenous languages, known locally as "native languages". These languages belong to two major language families: Eskimo–Aleut and Na-Dene. As the homeland of these two major language families of North America, Alaska has been described as the crossroads of the continent, providing evidence for the recent settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge.
Religion[link]
Alaska has been identified, along with Pacific Northwest states Washington and Oregon, as being the least religious in the U.S.[32][33] According to statistics collected by the Association of Religion Data Archives, about 39% of Alaska residents were members of religious congregations. Evangelical Protestants had 78,070 members, Roman Catholics had 54,359, and mainline Protestants had 37,156.[34] After Catholicism, the largest single denominations are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 30,169,[35] and Southern Baptists with 22,959. The large Eastern Orthodox (with 49 parishes and up to 50,000 followers)[36] population is a result of early Russian colonization and missionary work among Alaska Natives.[37]
In 1795, the First Russian Orthodox Church was established in Kodiak. Intermarriage with Alaskan Natives helped the Russian immigrants integrate into society. As a result, an increasing number of Russian Orthodox churches[38] gradually became established within Alaska. Alaska also has the largest Quaker population (by percentage) of any state.[39] In 2009 there were 6,000 Jews in Alaska (for whom observance of the mitzvah may pose special problems).[40] Estimates for the number of Alaskan Muslims range from 2,000[41][42] to 5,000.[43] In 2010, the local Muslim community broke ground on the first mosque in the state.[44] Alaskan Hindus often share venues and celebrations with members of other religious communities including Sikhs and Jains.[45][46][47]
Economy[link]
Main article: Economy of Alaska
The 2007 gross state product was $44.9 billion, 45th in the nation. Its per capita personal income for 2007 was $40,042, ranking 15th in the nation. The oil and gas industry dominates the Alaskan economy, with more than 80% of the state's revenues derived from petroleum extraction. Alaska's main export product (excluding oil and natural gas) is seafood, primarily salmon, cod, Pollock and crab.
Agriculture represents only a fraction of the Alaskan economy. Agricultural production is primarily for consumption within the state and includes nursery stock, dairy products, vegetables, and livestock. 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. Military bases are a significant component of the economy in both Fairbanks and Anchorage. Federal subsidies are also an important part of the economy, allowing the state to keep taxes low. Its industrial outputs are crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, gold, precious metals, zinc and other mining, seafood processing, timber and wood products. There is also a growing service and tourism sector. Tourists have contributed to the economy by supporting local lodging.
Largest employers[link]
According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the following were the state's largest private sector employers in 2010:[48]
Energy[link]
See also: Natural gas in Alaska and Energy law#Alaska law
Alaska has vast energy resources. Major oil and gas reserves are found in the Alaska North Slope (ANS) and Cook Inlet basins. According to the Energy Information Administration, Alaska ranks second in the nation in crude oil production. Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope is the highest yielding oil field in the United States and on North America, typically producing about 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m3/d).
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline can transport and pump up to 2.1 million barrels (330,000 m3) of crude oil per day, more than any other crude oil pipeline in the United States. Additionally, substantial coal deposits are found in Alaska's bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite coal basins. The United States Geological Survey estimates that there are 85.4 trillion cubic feet (2,420 km3) of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas from natural gas hydrates on the Alaskan North Slope.[49] Alaska also offers some of the highest hydroelectric power potential in the country from its numerous rivers. Large swaths of the Alaskan coastline offer wind and geothermal energy potential as well.[50]
Alaska's economy depends heavily on increasingly expensive diesel fuel for heating, transportation, electric power and light. Though wind and hydroelectric power are abundant and underdeveloped, proposals for state-wide energy systems (e.g. with special low-cost electric interties) were judged uneconomical (at the time of the report, 2001) due to low (<$0.50/Gal) fuel prices, long distances and low population.[51] The cost of a US gallon of gas in urban Alaska today is usually $0.30–$0.60 higher than the national average; prices in rural areas are generally significantly higher but vary widely depending on transportation costs, seasonal usage peaks, nearby petroleum development infrastructure and many other factors.
Alaska accounts for one-fifth (20 percent)[citation needed] of domestically produced United States oil production. Prudhoe Bay (North America's largest oil field) alone accounts for 8% of the U.S. domestic oil production.
Permanent Fund[link]
The Alaska Permanent Fund is a constitutionally authorized appropriation of oil revenues, established by voters in 1976 to manage a surplus in state petroleum revenues from oil, largely in anticipation of same from the recently constructed Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. The fund was originally proposed by Governor Keith Miller on the eve of the 1969 Prudhoe Bay lease sale, out of fear that the legislature would spend the entire proceeds of the sale (which amounted to $900 million (US)) at once, and was later championed by Governor Jay Hammond and Kenai state representative Hugh Malone. It has served as an attractive political prospect ever since, diverting revenues which would normally be deposited into the general fund.
The Alaska Constitution was written so as to discourage dedicating state funds for a particular purpose. The Permanent Fund has become the rare exception to this, mostly due to the political climate of distrust existing during the time of its creation. From its initial principal of $734,000, the fund has grown to $40 billion as a result of oil royalties and capital investment programs.[52] Most if not all the principal is invested conservatively outside Alaska. This has led to frequent calls by Alaskan politicians for the Fund to make investments within Alaska, though such a stance has never really gained momentum.
Starting in 1982, dividends from the fund's annual growth have been paid out each year to eligible Alaskans, ranging from an initial $1,000.00 in 1982 (equal to three years' payout, as the distribution of payments was held up in a lawsuit over the distribution scheme) to $3,269.00 in 2008 (which included a one-time $1,200.00 "Resource Rebate"). Every year, the state legislature takes out 8 percent from the earnings, puts 3 percent back into the principal for inflation proofing, and the remaining 5 percent is distributed to all qualifying Alaskans. To qualify for the Permanent Fund Dividend, one must have lived in the state for a minimum of 12 months, maintain constant residency subject to allowable absences,[53] and not be subject to court judgments or criminal convictions which fall under various disqualifying classifications or may subject the payment amount to civil garnishment.
Cost of living[link]
The cost of goods in Alaska has long been higher than in the contiguous 48 states. This has changed for the most part in Anchorage and to a lesser extent in Fairbanks, where the cost of living has dropped somewhat in the past five years. Federal government employees, particularly United States Postal Service (USPS) workers and active-duty military members, receive a Cost of Living Allowance usually set at 25% of base pay because, while the cost of living has gone down, it is still one of the highest in the country.
The introduction of big-box stores in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau also did much to lower prices. Wal-Mart opened their first Anchorage store in 1993, and debuted in Fairbanks in 2004. The company currently has locations covering most of the population centers of Alaska, including Juneau, Ketchikan and Kodiak. However, rural Alaska suffers from extremely high prices for food and consumer goods, compared to the rest of the country due to the relatively limited transportation infrastructure. Many rural residents come into these cities and purchase food and goods in bulk from warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam's Club. Some have embraced the free shipping offers[54] of some online retailers to purchase items much more cheaply than they could in their own communities, if they are available at all.
Agriculture[link]
Due to the northern climate and short growing season, relatively little farming occurs in Alaska. Most farms are in either the Matanuska Valley, about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Anchorage, or on the Kenai Peninsula, about 60 miles (97 km) southwest of Anchorage. The short 100-day growing season limits the crops that can be grown, but the long sunny summer days make for productive growing seasons. The primary crops are potatoes, carrots, lettuce, and cabbage. The Tanana Valley is another notable agricultural locus, especially Delta Junction area, about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Fairbanks, with a sizable concentration of farms growing agronomic crops; these farms mostly lie north and east of Fort Greely. This area was largely set aside and developed under a state program spearheaded by Hammond during his second term as governor. Delta-area crops consist predominately of barley and hay. West of Fairbanks lies another concentration of small farms catering to restaurants, the hotel and tourist industry, and community supported agriculture.
Alaskan agriculture has experienced a surge in growth of market gardeners, small farms and farmers' markets in recent years, with the highest percentage increase (46%) in the nation in growth in farmers' markets in 2011, compared to 17% nationwide.[55] The peony industry has also taken off, as the growing season allows farmers to harvest during a gap in supply elsewhere in the world, thereby filling a niche in the flower market.[56]
Alaska, with no counties, also lacks county fairs. However, a small assortment of state and local fairs (with the Alaska State Fair in Palmer the largest), are held mostly in the late summer. The fairs are mostly located in communities with historic or current agricultural activity, and feature local farmers exhibiting produce in addition to more high-profile commercial activities such as carnival rides, concerts and food. "Alaska Grown" is used as an agricultural slogan.
Alaska has an abundance of seafood, with the primary fisheries in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific, and seafood is one of the few food items that is often cheaper within the state than outside it. Many Alaskans take advantage of salmon seasons to harvest portions of their household diet while fishing for subsistence, as well as sport. This includes fish taken by hook, net or wheel.[57]
Hunting for subsistence, primarily caribou, moose, and Dall sheep is still common in the state, particularly in remote Bush communities. An example of a traditional native food is Akutaq, the Eskimo ice cream, which can consist of reindeer fat, seal oil, dried fish meat and local berries.
Alaska's reindeer herding is concentrated on Seward Peninsula where wild caribou can be prevented from mingling and migrating with the domesticated reindeer.[58]
Most food in Alaska is transported into the state from "Outside", and shipping costs make food in the cities relatively expensive. In rural areas, subsistence hunting and gathering is an essential activity because imported food is prohibitively expensive. The cost of importing food to villages begins at 7¢ per pound (15¢/kg) and rises rapidly to 50¢ per pound ($1.10/kg) or more. The cost of delivering a 1 US gallon (3.8 L) of milk is about $3.50 in many villages where per capita income can be $20,000 or less. Fuel cost can exceed $8.00 per gallon.
Transportation[link]
Main article: Transportation in Alaska
Roads[link]
See also: List of Alaska Routes
Alaska has few road connections compared to the rest of the U.S. The state's road system covers a relatively small area of the state, linking the central population centers and the Alaska Highway, the principal route out of the state through Canada. The state capital, Juneau, is not accessible by road, only a car ferry, which has spurred several debates over the decades about moving the capital to a city on the road system, or building a road connection from Haines. The western part of Alaska has no road system connecting the communities with the rest of Alaska.
One unique feature of the Alaska Highway system is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, an active Alaska Railroad tunnel recently upgraded to provide a paved roadway link with the isolated community of Whittier on Prince William Sound to the Seward Highway about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Anchorage at Portage. At 2.5 miles (4.0 km) the tunnel was the longest road tunnel in North America until 2007.[59] The tunnel is the longest combination road and rail tunnel in North America.
Rail[link]
Built around 1915, the Alaska Railroad (ARR) played a key role in the development of Alaska through the 20th century. It links north Pacific shipping through providing critical infrastructure with tracks that run from Seward to Interior Alaska by way of South Central Alaska, passing through Anchorage, Eklutna, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali, and Fairbanks, with spurs to Whittier, Palmer and North Pole. The cities, towns, villages, and region served by ARR tracks are known statewide as "The Railbelt". In recent years, the ever-improving paved highway system began to eclipse the railroad's importance in Alaska's economy.
The railroad, though famed for its summertime tour passenger service, played a vital role in Alaska's development, moving freight into Alaska while transporting natural resources southward (i.e., coal from the Usibelli coal mine near Healy to Seward and gravel from the Matanuska Valley to Anchorage).
The Alaska Railroad was one of the last railroads in North America to use cabooses in regular service and still uses them on some gravel trains. It continues to offer one of the last flag stop routes in the country. A stretch of about 60 miles (100 km) of track along an area north of Talkeetna remains inaccessible by road; the railroad provides the only transportation to rural homes and cabins in the area; until construction of the Parks Highway in the 1970s, the railroad provided the only land access to most of the region along its entire route.
In northern Southeast Alaska, the White Pass and Yukon Route also partly runs through the state from Skagway northwards into Canada (British Columbia and Yukon Territory), crossing the border at White Pass Summit. This line is now mainly used by tourists, often arriving by cruise liner at Skagway. It featured in the 1983 BBC television series Great Little Railways.
The Alaska Rail network is not connected to Outside. In 2000, the U.S. Congress authorized $6 million to study the feasibility of a rail link between Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48.[60][61][62]
Alaska Rail Marine provides car float service between Whittier and Seattle.
Marine transport[link]
Many cities, towns and villages in the state do not have road or highway access; the only modes of access involve travel by air, river, or the sea.
Alaska's well-developed state-owned ferry system (known as the Alaska Marine Highway) serves the cities of southeast, the Gulf Coast and the Alaska Peninsula. The ferries transport vehicles as well as passengers. The system also operates a ferry service from Bellingham, Washington and Prince Rupert, British Columbia in Canada through the Inside Passage to Skagway. The Inter-Island Ferry Authority also serves as an important marine link for many communities in the Prince of Wales Island region of Southeast and works in concert with the Alaska Marine Highway.
In recent years, cruise lines have created a summertime tourism market, mainly connecting the Pacific Northwest to Southeast Alaska and, to a lesser degree, towns along Alaska's gulf coast. The population of Ketchikan may rise by over 10,000 people on many days during the summer, as up to four large cruise ships at a time can dock, debarking thousands of passengers.
Air transport[link]
Cities not served by road, sea, or river can be reached only by air, foot, dogsled, or snowmachine accounting for Alaska's extremely well developed bush air services—an Alaskan novelty. Anchorage itself, and to a lesser extent Fairbanks, are served by many major airlines. Because of limited highway access, air travel remains the most efficient form of transportation in and out of the state. Anchorage recently completed extensive remodeling and construction at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to help accommodate the upsurge in tourism (in 2000–2001, the latest year for which data is available, 2.4 million total arrivals to Alaska were counted, 1.7 million by air travel; 1.4 million were visitors).[63][64]
Regular flights to most villages and towns within the state that are commercially viable are challenging to provide, so they are heavily subsidized by the federal government through the Essential Air Service program. Alaska Airlines is the only major airline offering in-state travel with jet service (sometimes in combination cargo and passenger Boeing 737-400s) from Anchorage and Fairbanks to regional hubs like Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue, Dillingham, Kodiak, and other larger communities as well as to major Southeast and Alaska Peninsula communities.
The bulk of remaining commercial flight offerings come from small regional commuter airlines such as Era Aviation, PenAir, and Frontier Flying Service. The smallest towns and villages must rely on scheduled or chartered bush flying services using general aviation aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan, the most popular aircraft in use in the state. Much of this service can be attributed to the Alaska bypass mail program which subsidizes bulk mail delivery to Alaskan rural communities. The program requires 70% of that subsidy to go to carriers who offer passenger service to the communities.
Many communities have small air taxi services. These operations originated from the demand for customized transport to remote areas. Perhaps the most quintessentially Alaskan plane is the bush seaplane. The world's busiest seaplane base is Lake Hood, located next to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where flights bound for remote villages without an airstrip carry passengers, cargo, and many items from stores and warehouse clubs. Alaska has the highest number of pilots per capita of any U.S. state: out of the estimated 663,661 residents, 8,550 are pilots, or about one in 78.[65]
Other transport[link]
Another Alaskan transportation method is the dogsled. In modern times (that is, any time after the mid-late 1920s), dog mushing is more of a sport than a true means of transportation. Various races are held around the state, but the best known is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 1150-mile (1850 km) trail from Anchorage to Nome (although the distance varies from year to year, the official distance is set at 1,049 miles (1,688 km)). The race commemorates the famous 1925 serum run to Nome in which mushers and dogs like Togo and Balto took much-needed medicine to the diphtheria-stricken community of Nome when all other means of transportation had failed. Mushers from all over the world come to Anchorage each March to compete for cash, prizes, and prestige. The "Serum Run" is another sled dog race that more accurately follows the route of the famous 1925 relay, leaving from the community of Nenana (southwest of Fairbanks) to Nome.[66]
In areas not served by road or rail, primary transportation in summer is by all-terrain vehicle and in winter by snowmobile or "snow machine," as it is commonly referred to in Alaska.
Data transport[link]
Alaska's internet and other data transport systems are provided largely through the two major telecommunications companies: GCI and Alaska Communications. GCI owns and operates what it calls the Alaska United Fiber Optic system[67] and as of late 2011 Alaska Communications advertised that it has "two fiber optic paths to the lower 48 and two more across Alaska.[68] In January 2011, it was reported that a $1 billion project to run connect Asia and rural Alaska was being planned, aided in part by $350 million in stimulus from the federal government.[69]
Law and government[link]
Main article: Government of Alaska
State government[link]
Like all other U.S. states, Alaska is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: an executive branch consisting of the Governor of Alaska and the other independently elected constitutional officers; a legislative branch consisting of the Alaska House of Representatives and Alaska Senate; and a judicial branch consisting of the Alaska Supreme Court and lower courts.
The state of Alaska employs approximately 15,000 employees statewide.[70]
The Alaska Legislature consists of a 40-member House of Representatives and a 20-member Senate. Senators serve four year terms and House members two. The Governor of Alaska serves four-year terms. The lieutenant governor runs separately from the governor in the primaries, but during the general election, the nominee for governor and nominee for lieutenant governor run together on the same ticket.
Alaska's court system has four levels: the Alaska Supreme Court, the court of appeals, the superior courts and the district courts.[71] The superior and district courts are trial courts. Superior courts are courts of general jurisdiction, while district courts only hear certain types of cases, including misdemeanor criminal cases and civil cases valued up to $100,000.[71] The Supreme Court and the Court Of Appeals are appellate courts. The Court Of Appeals is required to hear appeals from certain lower-court decisions, including those regarding criminal prosecutions, juvenile delinquency, and habeas corpus.[71] The Supreme Court hears civil appeals and may in its discretion hear criminal appeals.[71]
State politics[link]
Further information: Political party strength in Alaska, Alaska political corruption probe
Although Alaska entered the union as a Democratic state, since the early 1970s Alaska has been characterized as a Republican-leaning state.[72] Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development, fishing, tourism, and individual rights. Alaska Natives, while organized in and around their communities, have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land, which require stewardship.
Alaska is the only state in which possession of one ounce or less of marijuana in one's home is completely legal under state law, though the federal law remains in force.[73]
The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States, with the Alaskan Independence Party.[74]
Six Republicans and four Democrats have served as governor of Alaska. In addition, Republican Governor Wally Hickel was elected to the office for a second term in 1990 after leaving the Republican party and briefly joining the Alaskan Independence Party ticket just long enough to be reelected. He subsequently officially rejoined the Republican party in 1994.
Taxes[link]
To finance state government operations, Alaska depends primarily on petroleum revenues and federal subsidies. This allows it to have the lowest individual tax burden in the United States,[75] and be one of only five states with no state sales tax, one of seven states that do not levy an individual income tax, and one of two states that has neither. The Department of Revenue Tax Division[76] reports regularly on the state's revenue sources. The Department also issues an annual summary of its operations, including new state laws that directly affect the tax division.
While Alaska has no state sales tax, 89 municipalities collect a local sales tax, from 1–7.5%, typically 3–5%. Other local taxes levied include raw fish taxes, hotel, motel, and bed-and-breakfast 'bed' taxes, severance taxes, liquor and tobacco taxes, gaming (pull tabs) taxes, tire taxes and fuel transfer taxes. A part of the revenue collected from certain state taxes and license fees (such as petroleum, aviation motor fuel, telephone cooperative) is shared with municipalities in Alaska.
Fairbanks has one of the highest property taxes in the state as no sales or income taxes are assessed in the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB). A sales tax for the FNSB has been voted on many times, but has yet to be approved, leading law makers to increase taxes dramatically on other goods such as liquor and tobacco.
In 2008 the Tax Foundation ranked Alaska as having the 4th most "business friendly" tax policy. More "friendly" states were Wyoming, Nevada, and South Dakota.[77]
Federal politics[link]
| Year | Republican | Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 59.49% 192,631 | 37.83% 122,485 |
| 2004 | 61.07% 190,889 | 35.52% 111,025 |
| 2000 | 58.62% 167,398 | 27.67% 79,004 |
| 1996 | 50.80% 122,746 | 33.27% 80,380 |
| 1992 | 39.46% 102,000 | 30.29% 78,294 |
| 1988 | 59.59% 119,251 | 36.27% 72,584 |
| 1984 | 66.65% 138,377 | 29.87% 62,007 |
| 1980 | 54.35% 86,112 | 26.41% 41,842 |
| 1976 | 57.90% 71,555 | 35.65% 44,058 |
| 1972 | 58.13% 55,349 | 34.62% 32,967 |
| 1968 | 45.28% 37,600 | 42.65% 35,411 |
| 1964 | 34.09% 22,930 | 65.91% 44,329 |
| 1960 | 50.94% 30,953 | 49.06% 29,809 |
In presidential elections, the state's electoral college votes have been won by the Republican nominee in every election since statehood, except for 1964. No state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate fewer times. Alaska supported Democratic nominee Lyndon B. Johnson in the landslide year of 1964, and the 1960 and 1968 elections were close. Since 1972, however, Republicans have carried the state by large margins. In 2008, Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama in Alaska, 59.49% to 37.83%. McCain's running mate was Sarah Palin, the state's governor and the first Alaskan on a major party ticket.
The Alaska Bush, central Juneau, midtown and downtown Anchorage, and the area surrounding the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus have been strongholds of the Democratic Party. Matanuska-Susitna Borough and South Anchorage typically have the strongest Republican showing. As of 2004, well over half of all registered voters have chosen "Non-Partisan" or "Undeclared" as their affiliation,[78] despite recent attempts to close primaries.
Because of its population relative to other U.S. states, Alaska has only one member in the U.S. House of Representatives. This seat is currently being held by Republican Don Young, who was re-elected to his 19th consecutive term in 2008. Alaska's At-large congressional district is currently the world's second-largest legislative constituency by area, behind only the Canadian territory of Nunavut.
In 2008, Governor Sarah Palin became the first Republican woman to run on a national ticket when she became John McCain's Vice Presidential running mate. She continued to be a prominent national figure even after resigning from the governor's job in July 2009.
Alaska's United States Senators belong to Class 2 and Class 3. In 2008, Democrat Mark Begich, mayor of Anchorage, defeated long-time Republican senator Ted Stevens. Stevens had been convicted on seven felony counts of failing to report gifts on Senate financial discloser forms one week before the election. The conviction was set aside in April 2009 after evidence of prosecutorial misconduct emerged.
Republican Frank Murkowski held the state's other senatorial position. After being elected governor in 2002, he resigned from the Senate and appointed his daughter, State Representative Lisa Murkowski as his successor. She won a full six-year term in 2004 and 2010.
Cities, towns and boroughs[link]
Alaska is not divided into counties, as most of the other U.S. states, but it is divided into boroughs. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Alaska's 16 boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However, unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states, the boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. The area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough.
The Unorganized Borough has no government of its own, but the U.S. Census Bureau in cooperation with the state divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation. A recording district is a mechanism for administration of the public record in Alaska. The state is divided into 34 recording districts which are centrally administered under a State Recorder. All recording districts use the same acceptance criteria, fee schedule, etc., for accepting documents into the public record.
Whereas many U.S. states use a three-tiered system of decentralization—state/county/township—most of Alaska uses only two tiers—state/borough. Owing to the low population density, most of the land is located in the Unorganized Borough which, as the name implies, has no intermediate borough government of its own, but is administered directly by the state government. Currently (2000 census) 57.71% of Alaska's area has this status, with 13.05% of the population.
For statistical purposes the United States Census Bureau divides this territory into census areas. Anchorage merged the city government with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough in 1975 to form the Municipality of Anchorage, containing the city proper and the communities of Eagle River, Chugiak, Peters Creek, Girdwood, Bird, and Indian. Fairbanks has a separate borough (the Fairbanks North Star Borough) and municipality (the City of Fairbanks).
The state's most populous city is Anchorage, home to 278,700 people in 2006, 225,744 of whom live in the urbanized area. The richest location in Alaska by per capita income is Halibut Cove ($89,895). Yakutat City, Sitka, Juneau, and Anchorage are the four largest cities in the U.S. by area.
Cities and census-designated places (by population)[link]
Alaska has a total of 355 cities and census-designated places. The majority of these are located in the rural expanse of Alaska known as "The Bush" and are unconnected to the contiguous North American road network. The 100 largest cities and census-designated places in Alaska are listed below, in population order:
- Anchorage @
- Fairbanks @
- Juneau @
- Badger #
- Knik-Fairview #
- College #
- Sitka @
- Lakes #
- Tanaina #
- Ketchikan @
- Kalifornsky #
- Wasilla @
- Meadow Lakes #
- Kenai @
- Steele Creek #
- Kodiak @
- Bethel @
- Palmer @
- Chena Ridge #
- Sterling #
- Gateway #
- Homer @
- Farmers Loop #
- Fishhook #
- Nikiski #
- Unalaska @
- Barrow @
- Soldotna @
- Valdez @
- Nome @
- Goldstream #
- Big Lake #
- Butte #
- Kotzebue @
- Petersburg @
- Seward @
- Eielson AFB #
- Ester #
- Wrangell @
- Dillingham @
- Deltana #
- Cordova @
- Prudhoe Bay #
- North Pole @
- Willow #
- Ridgeway #
- Bear Creek #
- Fritz Creek #
- Anchor Point #
- Houston @
- Haines #
- Lazy Mountain #
- Sutton-Alpine #
- Metlakatla #
- Cohoe #
- Kodiak Station #
- Susitna North #
- Tok #
- Craig @
- Diamond Ridge #
- Salcha #
- Hooper Bay @
- Farm Loop #
- Akutan @
- Healy #
- Salamatof #
- Sand Point @
- Delta Junction @
- Chevak @ and
King Cove @ - (tied)
- Skagway #
- Ninilchik #
- Funny River #
- Talkeetna #
- Buffalo Soapstone #
- Selawik @
- Togiak @
- Mountain Village @
- Emmonak @
- Hoonah @
- Klawock @
- Moose Creek #
- Knik River #
- Pleasant Valley #
- Kwethluk @
- Two Rivers # and
Womens Bay # - (tied)
- Unalakleet @
- Fox River #
- Gambell @
- Alakanuk @
- Point Hope @
- Savoonga @
- Quinhagak @
- Noorvik @
- Yakutat #
- Kipnuk #
- Akiachak #
- Happy Valley #
- Big Delta #
- Key
@ - city
# - census-designated place
Out of Alaska's 2010 Census population figure of 710,231, 20,429 people, or 2.88% of the population, do not live in an incorporated city or census-designated place. Approximately 3/4 of that figure are people who live in urban and suburban neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city limits of Ketchikan, Kodiak, Palmer and Wasilla, in areas where census-designated places have not been created by the Census Bureau. The remainder are scattered throughout Alaska, both within organized boroughs and in the Unorganized Borough.
Education[link]
The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development administers many school districts in Alaska. In addition, the state operates a boarding school, Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka; and provides partial funding for other boarding schools, including Nenana Student Living Center in Nenana and The Galena Interior Learning Academy in Galena.[79]
There are more than a dozen colleges and universities in Alaska. Accredited universities in Alaska include the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and Alaska Pacific University.[80]Alaska is the only state that has no insitutions that are part of the NCAA Division I program.
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development operates AVTEC, Alaska's Institute of Technology. Campuses in Seward and Anchorage offer 1 week to 11 month training programs in areas as diverse as Information Technology, Welding, Nursing, and Mechanics.
Alaska has had a problem with a "brain drain". Many of its young people, including most of the highest academic achievers, leave the state after high school graduation and do not return. The University of Alaska has attempted to combat this by offering partial four-year scholarships to the top 10% of Alaska high school graduates, via the Alaska Scholars Program.[81]
Public health and public safety[link]
See also: Dentistry in rural Alaska
The Alaska State Troopers are Alaska's statewide police force. They have a long and storied history, but were not an official organization until 1941. Before the force was officially organized, law enforcement in Alaska was handled by various federal agencies. Larger towns usually have their own local police and some villages rely on "Public Safety Officers" who have police training but do not carry firearms. In much of the state, the troopers serve as the only police force available. In addition to enforcing traffic and criminal law, wildlife Troopers enforce hunting and fishing regulations. Due to the varied terrain and wide scope of the Troopers' duties, they employ a wide variety of land, air, and water patrol vehicles.
Many rural communities in Alaska are considered "dry," having outlawed the importation of alcoholic beverages .[82] Suicide rates for rural residents are higher than urban.[83]
Domestic abuse and other violent crimes are also at high levels in the state; this is in part linked to alcohol abuse.[84]
Alaska also has the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation. The average age of sexually assaulted victims is 16 years old. In four out of five cases, the suspects were relatives, friends or acquaintances.[85]
Culture[link]
See also: List of artists and writers from Alaska
Some of Alaska's popular annual events are the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome, World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, the Alaska Hummingbird Festival in Ketchikan, the Sitka Whale Fest, and the Stikine River Garnet Fest in Wrangell. The Stikine River features the largest springtime concentration of American Bald Eagles in the world.
The Alaska Native Heritage Center celebrates the rich heritage of Alaska's 11 cultural groups. Their purpose is to enhance self-esteem among Native people and to encourage cross-cultural exchanges among all people. The Alaska Native Arts Foundation promotes and markets Native art from all regions and cultures in the State, both on the internet; at its gallery in Anchorage, 500 West Sixth Avenue, and at the Alaska House New York, 109 Mercer Street in SoHo.[86]
Music[link]
Main article: Music of Alaska
Influences on music in Alaska include the traditional music of Alaska Natives as well as folk music brought by later immigrants from Russia and Europe. Prominent musicians from Alaska include singer Jewel, traditional Aleut flautist Mary Youngblood, folk singer-songwriter Libby Roderick, Christian music singer/songwriter Lincoln Brewster, metal/post hardcore band 36 Crazyfists and the groups Pamyua and Portugal. The Man.
There are many established music festivals in Alaska, including the Alaska Folk Festival, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, the Anchorage Folk Festival, the Athabascan Old-Time Fiddling Festival, the Sitka Jazz Festival, and the Sitka Summer Music Festival. The most prominent orchestra in Alaska is the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, though the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and Juneau Symphony are also notable. The Anchorage Opera is currently the state's only professional opera company, though there are several volunteer and semi-professional organizations in the state as well.
The official state song of Alaska is "Alaska's Flag", which was adopted in 1955; it celebrates the flag of Alaska.
Movies filmed in Alaska[link]
See also: List of films set in Alaska
Alaska's first independent picture all made on place was in the silent years. The Chechahcos was produced by Alaskan businessman Austin E. Lathrop and filmed in and around Anchorage. It was released in 1924 by the Alaska Moving Picture Corporation and was the only film the company made.
One of the most prominent movies filmed in Alaska is MGM's Eskimo/Mala The Magnificent, starring Alaska Native Ray Mala. In 1932 an expedition set out from MGM's studios in Hollywood to Alaska to film what was then billed as "The Biggest Picture Ever Made." Upon arriving in Alaska, they set up "Camp Hollywood" in Northwest Alaska, where they lived during the duration of the filming. Louis B. Mayer spared no expense in spite of the remote location, going so far as to hire the chef from the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to prepare meals. When Eskimo premiered at the Astor Theatre in New York City, the studio received the largest amount of feedback in its history to that point. Eskimo was critically acclaimed and released worldwide; as a result, Mala became an international movie star. Eskimo won the first Oscar for Best Film Editing at the Academy Awards, and was also responsible for showcasing and preserving aspects of Inupiat culture on film.
The 1983 Disney movie Never Cry Wolf was at least partially shot in Alaska. The 1991 film White Fang, starring Ethan Hawke, was filmed in and around Haines, Alaska. Steven Seagal's 1994 On Deadly Ground, starring Michael Caine, was filmed in part at the Worthington Glacier near Valdez.[87] The 1999 John Sayles film Limbo, starring David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Kris Kristofferson, was filmed in Juneau.
The psychological thriller Insomnia, starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams, was shot in Canada, but was set in Alaska. The 2007 horror feature 30 Days of Night is set in Barrow, Alaska, but was filmed in New Zealand. Most films and television shows set in Alaska are not filmed there; for example, Northern Exposure, set in the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska, was actually filmed in Roslyn, Washington.
The 2007 film directed by Sean Penn, Into The Wild, was partially filmed and set in Alaska. The film, which is based on the novel of the same name, follows the adventures of Christopher McCandless, who died in a remote abandoned bus along the Stampede Trail west of Healy in 1992.
State symbols[link]
Main article: State symbols of Alaska
- State Motto: North to the Future
- Nicknames: "The Last Frontier" or "Land of the Midnight Sun" or "Seward's Icebox"
- State bird: Willow Ptarmigan, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1955. It is a small (15–17 inches) Arctic grouse that lives among willows and on open tundra and muskeg. Plumage is brown in summer, changing to white in winter. The Willow Ptarmigan is common in much of Alaska.
- State fish: King Salmon, adopted 1962.
- State flower: wild/native Forget-Me-Not, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1917.[88] It is a perennial that is found throughout Alaska, from Hyder to the Arctic Coast, and west to the Aleutians.
File:2008-05-04 at 18-26-44-Forgetmenot-Flower.jpg
The Forget-me-not is the state's official flower and bears the same blue and gold as the state flag
- State fossil: Woolly Mammoth, adopted 1986.
- State gem: Jade, adopted 1968.
- State insect: Four-spot skimmer dragonfly, adopted 1995.
- State land mammal: Moose, adopted 1998.
- State marine mammal: Bowhead Whale, adopted 1983.
- State mineral: Gold, adopted 1968.
- State song: "Alaska's Flag"
- State sport: Dog Mushing, adopted 1972.
- State tree: Sitka Spruce, adopted 1962.
- State dog: Alaskan Malamute, adopted 2010.[89]
- State soil: Tanana,[90] adopted unknown.
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey[link]
The Alaska Heritage Resources Survey (AHRS) is a restricted inventory of all reported historic and prehistoric sites within the state of Alaska and is maintained by the Office of History and Archaeology. The survey's inventory of cultural resources includes objects, structures, buildings, sites, districts, and travel ways, with a general provision that they are over 50 years old. As of January 31, 2012 over 35,000 sites have been reported.[91]
See also[link]
 |
Book: United States |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
 |
See more Wikipedia articles related to Alaska. |
- Outline of history
- Outline of geography
- List of National Register of Historic Places in Alaska
- List of people from Alaska
- List of places in Alaska
References[link]
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- ^ Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation
- ^ "State of Alaska Permanent Fund Division". Pfd.state.ak.us. http://www.pfd.state.ak.us/dividendamounts/index.aspx. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ FreeShipping.org for examples of companies offering free shipping to Alaska
- ^ http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdamediafb?contentid=2011/08/0338.xml&printable=true&contentidonly=true
- ^ http://alaskapeonies.org/
- ^ "Alaska Department of Fish and Game". Adfg.alaska.gov. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingPersonalUse.main. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
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- ^ completion of the 3.5 mile (5.6 km) Interstate 93 tunnel as part of the "Big Dig" project in Boston, Massachusetts.
- ^ Barbara Yaffe (2011-01-02). "Alaska Oil / BC Tar sands via rail". http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/powerplay/archive/2010/12/13/transporting-oil-across-b-c.aspx. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ Allan Dowd (2007-06-27). "Economic study touts Alaska-Canada rail link". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2138860820070622. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ AlaskaCanadaRail.org (2005-01-02). "Alaska Canada Rail Link". http://alaskacanadarail.com/index.html. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ State of Alaska Office of Economic Development. Alaska Visitor Arrivals and Profile-Summer 2001. November, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2006.[dead link]
- ^ State of Alaska Office of Economic Development. Alaska Visitor Arrivals and Profile-Fall/Winter 2001. November, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2006.
- ^ Federal Aviation Administration. 2005 U.S. Civil Airman Statistics
- ^ "Norman Vaughan Serum Run". United Nations. 2010-04-15. http://www.serumrun.org/. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ Alaska United Fiber Optic System homepage
- ^ Alaska Communications Coverage Map. Alaska Communications.
- ^ Arctic fiber-optic cable could benefit far-flung Alaskans. Anchorage Daily News.
- ^ "State of Alaska". Dop.state.ak.us. http://dop.state.ak.us/employeeOrientation/introduction. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ a b c d "About the Alaska Court System". State.ak.us. http://www.state.ak.us/courts/ctinfo.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ "National Journal Alaska State Profile". Election.nationaljournal.com. http://election.nationaljournal.com/states/ak.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ Volz, Matt (2006-07-11). "Judge rules against Alaska marijuana law". The Seattle Times (Frank A. Blethen). http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003118645_webpot10.html. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ "Questions And Answers — About Alaskan Independence". Alaskan Independence Party. 2006. http://www.akip.org/faqs.html.
- ^ CNN Money (2005). "How tax friendly is your state?" Retrieved from CNN website.
- ^ "Department of Revenue Tax Division". Tax.state.ak.us. http://www.tax.state.ak.us/. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ "Educating Taxpayers Since 1937". The Tax Foundation. http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/11.html. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ "State of Alaska". Gov.state.ak.us. Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20080225223222/http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/elections/regbypty.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ "Alaska ICE". Alaska ICE. http://www.alaskaice.org/material.php?matID=138. Retrieved 2010-06-02. [dead link]
- ^ These are the only three universities in the state ranked by US News and World Report. [1]
- ^ "UA Scholars Program – Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20080309023826/http://www.alaska.edu/scholars/faq.xml. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ "AK Dept. of Public Safety Alcoholic Beverage Control Board". Dps.state.ak.us. http://www.dps.state.ak.us/abc/restrictions.aspx. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ "State of Alaska". Hss.state.ak.us. http://www.hss.state.ak.us/suicideprevention/statistics_pages_sspc/AKsuiciderate_rural_urban_90-00.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ "Alaska State Troopers FY 2008 Byrne Grant Application" (PDF). http://notes3.state.ak.us/pn/pubnotic.nsf/0/8dad412f35cf9ba1892574e30001c413/$FILE/JAG+supplemental+program+narrative.pdf. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ D'oro, Rachel (2008-01-30). "Rural Alaska steeped in sexual violence". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-29-alaska-sexualassaults_N.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- ^ www.alaskanativearts.org
- ^ "On Deadly Ground". Filminamerica.com. http://www.filminamerica.com/Movies/OnDeadlyGround/. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- ^ "Alaska Conservation Foundation – State Symbols". Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20090225094636/http://akcf.org/_pages/about_ACF/about_alaska/state_symbols.php.
- ^ "It's official: Malamute now Alaska's state dog – KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source |". KTUU.com. 2010-05-12. http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12473783. Retrieved 2010-06-02. [dead link]
- ^ TANANA – ALASKA STATE SOIL U.S. Department of Agriculture
- ^ Alaska Heritage Resources Survey – General Overview, Department of Natural Resources – Alaska.gov (retrieved February 22, 2012)
External links[link]
| Find more about Alaska on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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Definitions and translations from Wiktionary |
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Images and media from Commons |
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Learning resources from Wikiversity |
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News stories from Wikinews |
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Quotations from Wikiquote |
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Textbooks from Wikibooks |
- Alaska Community Database System
- Alaska's Digital Archives
- Alaska, project area of the American Land Conservancy
- Alaska Inter-Tribal Council
- Alaska at the Open Directory Project
- Big, Beautiful Alaska[dead link] – slideshow by Life magazine
- The short film Alaska (1967) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
Geographic data related to Alaska at OpenStreetMap
- U.S. Government
- Energy & Environmental Data for Alaska
- USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Alaska
- US Census Bureau
- Alaska State Facts
- Documents on Alaskan Statehood at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library[dead link]
- Guide to collections containing information on Alaskan statehood at the Eisenhower Presidential Library[dead link]
- State government
- State of Alaska website
- Alaska State Databases – Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Alaska state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.
- Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Recorder's Office
Coordinates: 64°N 153°W / 64°N 153°W / 64; -153
 |
Chuckchi Sea |  RussiaArctic Ocean |
Beaufort Sea | |
| Russia • Bering Strait Chukotka |
 |
 Canada Yukon |
||
  Alaska East |
||||
 |
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| Bering Sea Pacific Ocean  Japan |
Pacific Ocean Hawaii |
Canada British Columbia |
| Preceded by Arizona |
List of U.S. states by date of statehood Admitted on January 3, 1959 (49th) |
Succeeded by Hawaii |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
