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This article is about the U.S. state; for other meanings, see Alaska (disambiguation). For information about the history of Alaska, see History of Alaska.
Alaska
State
Map
CountryUnited States
Admitted to the UnionJanuary 3, 1959 (49th)
CapitalJuneau
Largest cityAnchorage
Government
 • GovernorFrank Murkowski (R)
 • Upper house{{{Upperhouse}}}
 • Lower house{{{Lowerhouse}}}
U.S. senatorsTed Stevens (R) Lisa Murkowski (R)
Population
 • Total626,932
Language
 • Official languageEnglish
 • Spoken languageEnglish 85.7%, Native North American 5.2%, Spanish 2.9%
Latitude54°40'N to 71°50'N
Longitude130°W to 173°E
The Last Frontier
State bird Willow Ptarmigan
State land mammal Moose
State marine mammal Bowhead Whale
State fish King Salmon
State insect Skimmer Dragonfly
State flower Forget-me-not
(Myosotis alpestris)
State motto "North To The Future"
State song "Alaska's Flag"
State tree Sitka Spruce
State fossil Wooly Mammoth
State gem Jade
State sport Dog Mushing

Alaska (IPA: [ʌ 'læ skʌ]) is the 49th state of the United States. It was admitted on January 3, 1959. The population of the state is 626,932, as of 2000, according to the census. The name "Alaska" is most likely derived from the Aleut word Alyeska, meaning greater land as opposed to the Aleut word Aleutia, meaning lesser land. To the Aleuts, this distinction was a linguistic variation distinguishing the mainland from an island.

It is bordered by Yukon Territory and British Columbia, 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 Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Alaska is the largest state by area in the United States. It is larger in area than all but 18 of the world's nations.

History

Main article: History of Alaska

Alaska was first inhabited by humans who came across the Bering Land Bridge. Eventually, Alaska became populated by the Inupiaq, Inuit and Yupik Eskimos, Aleuts, and a variety of American Indian groups. Most, if not all, of the pre-Columbian population of the Americas probably took this route and continued further south and east.

The first written accounts indicate that the first Europeans to reach Alaska came from Russia. Vitus Bering sailed east and saw Mt. St. Elias. The Russian-American Company hunted sea otters for their fur. The colony was never very profitable, because of the costs of transportation.

At the instigation of U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, the United States Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (approximately $90,750,000 in 2005 dollars, adjusted for inflation) on 9 April 1867, and the United States flag was raised on 18 October of that same year (now called Alaska Day). Coincident with the ownership change, the de facto International Date Line was moved westward, and Alaska changed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, for residents, Friday, October 6, 1867 was followed by Friday, October 18, 1867; two Fridays in a row because of the date line shift.


The first American administrator of Alaska was Polish immigrant Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski. The purchase was not popular in the contiguous United States, where Alaska became known as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox." Alaska celebrates the purchase each year on the last Monday of March, calling it Seward's Day. After the purchase of Alaska between 1867 and 1884 the name was changed to the Department of Alaska. Between 1884 and 1912 it was called the district of Alaska.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law on 7 July 1958 which paved the way for Alaska's admission into the Union on January 3, 1959.

Alaska suffered one of the worst earthquakes in recorded North American history on Good Friday 1964 (see Good Friday Earthquake).

In 1976, the people of Alaska amended the state's constitution, establishing the Alaska Permanent Fund. The fund invests a portion of the state's mineral revenue, including revenue from the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System, "to benefit all generations of Alaskans." In March 2005, the fund's value was over $30 billion.

Prior to 1983, the state lay across four different time zones—Pacific Standard Time (UTC -8 hours) in the southeast panhandle, a small area of Yukon Standard Time (UTC -9 hours) around Yakutat, Alaska–Hawaii Standard Time (UTC -10 hours) in the Anchorage and Fairbanks vicinity, with the Nome area and most of the Aleutian Islands observing Bering Standard Time (UTC -11 hours). In 1983 the number of time zones was reduced to two, with the entire mainland plus the inner Aleutian Islands going to UTC -9 hours (and this zone then being renamed Alaska Standard Time as the Yukon Territory had several years earlier (circa 1975) adopted a single time zone identical to Pacific Standard Time), and the remaining Aleutian Islands were slotted into the UTC −10 hours zone, which was then renamed Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time.

Over the years various vessels have been named USS Alaska, in honor of the state.

During World War II three of the outer Aleutian Islands—Attu, Agattu and Kiska—were occupied by Japanese troops. It was the only territory within the current borders of the United States to have land occupied during the war.

Politics

Alaska is often characterized as a Republican-leaning state with strong Libertarian tendencies. Local political communities often work on issues related to land use development, fishing, tourism, and individual rights as many residents are proud of their rough Alaskan heritage.

Alaska Natives, while organized in and around their communities, are often active within the Native corporations which have been given ownership over large tracts of land, and thus need to deliberate resource conservation and development issues.

In presidential elections, the state's Electoral College votes have been most often won by a Republican nominee. Only once has Alaska supported a Democrat nominee (Lyndon B. Johnson in the landslide year of 1964), although the 1960 and 1968 elections were close. No state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate fewer times. President George W. Bush won the state's electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 25 percentage points with 61.1% of the vote. Juneau stands out as an area that supports Democratic candidates.

When Congress, in 1957 and 1958, debated the wisdom of admitting it as the 49th state, much of the political debate centered on whether Alaska would become a Democratic or Republican-leaning state. Conventional wisdom had it that, with its rugged individualism, penchant for new ideas, and dependence on the Federal Government largess for basic needs, it would become a Democratic stronghold, about which Republicans (and the, then, Republican Administration of Dwight Eisenhower) had reservations. Given time, those fears proved roundly unfounded. After an early flirtatious period with liberal politics, the political climate of Alaska changed quickly once oil was discovered and the federal government came to be seen as 'meddling' in local affairs. Still, despite its libertarian rhetoric, the state regularly takes in more federal money than it gives out, a fact that can be attributed at least partially to its equal representation in the U.S. Senate.

In recent years, the Alaska Legislature (20-member Senate serving 4-year terms and 40-member House serving 2-year terms) has been dominated by conservatives, generally Republicans. Likewise, recent state governors have been mostly conservatives, although not always elected under the official 'Party' banner. Republican Wally Hickel was elected to the office for a second term in 1990 after jumping the Republican ship and briefly joining the Alaskan Independence Party ticket just long enough to be reelected. He subsequently officially 'rejoined' the Republican fold in 1994.

Alaska's members of the U.S. Congress are all Republican. U.S. Senator Ted Stevens was appointed to the position following the death of U.S. Senator Bob Bartlett in December of 1968, and has never lost a re-election campaign since. As the longest-serving Republican in the Senate (some political wits call him Senator-For-Life), Stevens has been a crucial force in gaining Federal money for his state.

Until his resignation from the U.S. Senate to run for Governor, Republican Frank Murkowski held the state's other Senatorial position and, as Governor, was allowed to appoint his daughter, Lisa Murkowski as his successor. She won a full six-year term on her own in 2004.

Alaska's sole U.S. House Representative, Don Young won re-election to his 17th-straight term, also in 2004. His seniority in House ranks him as one of the most influential Republican House members. His position on the House Transportation Committee allowed him to parlay some $450 million to two bridge projects in Alaska, for which he gained national notoriety following the devastation in the State of Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina and his insistence that those monies not be returned to aid in rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

Geography

Alaska is the only state that is both in North America and not part of the 48 contiguous states; about 500 miles (800 kilometers) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington. (It is thus an exclave.) It is also the only state in which the majority of citizenry must pass through a foreign country when driving to its Capital City. NOTE: Alaska's Capital City, Juneau, is accessible ONLY via ship or air. There are no roads leading in or out of Juneau.

Alaska is the largest state in the United States in terms of land area, 570,374 square miles (1,477,261 km²). If a map of Alaska were superimposed upon a map of the lower 48 states, Alaska would overlap Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado.

One scheme for describing the state's geography is by labeling the regions:

  • South Central Alaska is the southern coastal region and is the population center for the state. The Municipality of Anchorage and many small but growing towns (Palmer, Wasilla, etc.) lie within this area. Petroleum industrial plants, transportation, tourism, and two military bases form the core of the economy here.
  • The Alaska Panhandle, also known as Southeast Alaska, is home to Juneau, many small towns, tidewater glaciers and extensive forests. Tourism, fishing, forestry and state government anchor the economy.
  • The Alaska Interior is home to Fairbanks. The geography is marked by large braided rivers, such as the Yukon River and the Kuskokwim River, as well as Arctic tundra lands and shorelines.
  • The Alaskan Bush is the remote, less crowded part of the state, encompassing 380 native villages and small towns such as Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue and, most famously, Barrow, the northernmost point on the North American continent.

With its numerous islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (54,700 km) of tidal shoreline. The island chain extending west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula is called the Aleutian Islands. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians. For example, Unimak Island is home to Mount Shishaldin, a moderately active volcano that rises to 9,980 ft (3,042 m) above sea level. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland.

North America's second largest tides occur in Turnagain Arm just south of Anchorage, which often sees tidal differences of more than 35 feet.

Alaska is also wet in other ways. While Minnesota may be famous for its ten-thousand lakes, Alaska is home to three-and-a-half million such lakes, just counting those 20-acres in size or larger. Marshlands and wetland permafrost comprise another sizable chunk of the state, collectively covering 188,320 square miles, mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands. Frozen water, in the form of glacier ice, covers still more: some 16-thousand square miles of land and 1200 square miles of tidal zone. One, the Bering Glacier complex near the southeastern border with Yukon, Canada, covers 2250 square miles alone.

Template:Ussm

Alaska is the westernmost state in the union. The Aleutian Islands actually cross longitude 180°, also making it the easternmost state, although the International Date Line doglegs around them to keep the whole state in the same day. (see: Extreme points of the United States)

According to the October 1998 report of the United States Bureau of Land Management, approximately 65% of Alaska is owned and managed by the U.S. Federal Government as national forests, national parks, and national wildlife refuges. Of these, the Bureau of Land Management manages 87 million acres (350,000 km²), or 23.8% of the state. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Of the remaining land area, the State of Alaska owns 24.5%; another 10% is managed by thirteen regional and dozens of local Native corporations created under ANCSA. Various private interests own the remaining land, totaling less than 1%.

See:

Boroughs and census areas

Alaska has no counties in the sense used in the rest of the country. Instead, the state is divided into 27 census areas and boroughs. The difference between boroughs and census areas is that boroughs have an organized area-wide government, while census areas are artificial divisions defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. Areas of the state not in organized boroughs compose what the government of Alaska calls the unorganized borough. Borough-level government services in the unorganized borough are provided by the state itself.

Economy

The state's 2003 total gross state product was $31 billion. Its per-capita income for 2003 was $33,213, 14th in the nation. Alaska's main export is seafood. Agriculture represents only a fraction of the Alaska 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. 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.

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 Fairbanks, where the cost of living is actually less than some major cities in the Lower 48, thanks to lower housing and transportation costs. The introduction of big-box stores in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau also did much to lower prices. 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 in to 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 of some online retailers to purchase items much more cheaply than they could in their own communities, if they are available at all.

Transportation

Alaska is arguably the least-connected state in terms of road transportation. 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, which has spurred several debates over the decades about moving the capital to a city on the road system. One unique feature of the road system is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, which links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage with the relatively isolated community of Whittier. The tunnel is the longest road tunnel in North America at nearly 2.5 miles and combines a one-lane roadway and train tracks in the same housing. Consequently, eastbound traffic, westbound traffic, and the Alaska Railroad must share the tunnel, resulting in waits of 20 minutes or more to enter.

The Alaska Railroad runs from Seward through Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks to North Pole, with spurs to Whittier and Palmer. The railroad is famous for its summertime passenger services but also plays a vital part in moving Alaska's natural resources, such as coal and gravel, to ports in Anchorage, Whittier and Seward. The Alaska Railroad is the only remaining railroad in North America to use cabooses on its freight trains. A stretch of the track along an area inaccessible by road serves as the only transportation to cabins in the area.

Most cities and villages in the state are accessible only by sea or air. Alaska has a well-developed ferry system, known as the Alaska Marine Highway, which serves the cities of Southeast and the Alaska Peninsula. The system also operates a ferry service from Bellingham, Washington up the Inside Passage to Haines (several cruise companies offer cruises up the Inside Passage as well, with service all the way to Seward and Whittier). Cities not served by road or sea can only be reached by air, accounting for Alaska's extremely well-developed Bush air services—an Alaskan novelty.

Anchorage itself, and to a lesser extent Fairbanks, are serviced by many major airlines. Air travel is the cheapest and 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 (unofficial sources have estimated the numbers for 2004 at some four million tourists arriving in Alaska between May and September).

However, regular flights to most villages and towns within the state are commercially challenging to provide. Alaska Airlines is the only major airline offering in-state travel with jet service (sometimes in combination cargo and passenger Boeing 737-200s) 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 like: 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. But 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 lots of items from stores and warehouse clubs.

Another Alaskan transportation method is the dogsled. In modern times, dog mushing is more of a sport than a true means of transportation. Various races are held around the state, but the most well known is the Iditarod, a 1,150-mile trail from Anchorage to Nome. The race commemorates the famous 1925 serum run to Nome in which mushers and dogs like 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.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census
year		 Population
1950 128,643
1960 226,167
1970 300,382
1980 401,851
1990 550,043
2000 626,932

As of 2004, the population of Alaska was 655,435.

Race and ancestry

The racial breakdown of the state is:

The largest ancestry groups in the state are: German (16.6%), Alaska Native/American Indian (15.6%), Irish (10.8%), English (9.6%), American (5.7%), and Norwegian (4.2%). Alaska has the largest percentage of American Indians (16%) of any state.

The vast, sparsely populated bush regions of northern and western Alaska are primarily inhabited by Alaska Natives, and they also have a large presence in the southeast. Anchorage, Fairbanks, and other parts of south-central and southeast Alaska have many whites of northern and western European ancestry. The Wrangell-Petersburg area has many residents of Scandinavian ancestry and the Aleutians have many Filipinos. Most of the state's black population lives in Anchorage.

As of 2000, 85.7% of Alaska residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 5.2% speak Native American languages. Spanish speakers make up 2.9% of the population, followed by Tagalog speakers at 1.5% and Korean at 0.8%.

Religion

Notable is Alaska's relatively large Eastern Orthodox Christian population, a result of early Russian colonization and missionary work among indigenous Alaskans.

Social issues

Alaska has long had a problem with alcohol use and abuse. Many rural communities in Alaska have outlawed its import. "Dry", "wet", and "damp" are terms describing a community's laws on liquor consumption. This problem directly relates to Alaska's high rate of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) as well as contributing to the high rate of suicides. This is a controversial topic for many residents.

Alaska has long had a problem with "brain drain" as many of its young people, including most of the highest academic achievers, leave the state upon graduating high school. The state has been successfully combating this by offering 4 year scholarships to the top 10 percent of Alaska high school graduates.

Notable Alaskans

The National Statuary Hall of the United States of America is part of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Each state has selected one or two distinguished citizens and provided statues. Alaska's are of its first two senators:

  • Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett (1904–1968) was the territorial delegate to the US Congress from 1944 to 1958, and was elected as the first senior U.S. Senator in 1958 and re-elected in 1964. There are streets, buildings, and even the first state ferry, named for him.
  • Ernest Gruening (1886–1974) was appointed Governor of the Territory of Alaska in 1939, and served in that position for fourteen years. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1958 and re-elected in 1962.
  • Jay Hammond (1922–2005) was Governor during the building of the Alaska Pipeline and established the Alaska Permanent Fund, providing Alaskans with essentially free money. He is regarded as somewhat of a hero because of this. He also governor during passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and effectively served to moderate associated issues within the state among disparate interest groups ranging from conservationists to natives to pro-development interests.
  • Fran Ulmer was the first woman elected to statewide office—she became Lieutenant Governor in 1994.
  • Republican Lisa Murkowski was appointed as a U.S. Senator, by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski, a long time U.S. Senator, to fill his Senate term, vacated in 2002. She won her first election to the Senate in 2004 in a close and expensive race with former Governor Tony Knowles, a Democrat, who had served 8 years as Governor and many years as the mayor of Anchorage prior.
  • George Sharrock (1910–2005) moved to the territory before statehood, eventually elected as the mayor of Anchorage and served during the Good Friday Earthquake in March 1964. This was the most devastating earthquake to hit Alaska and it sunk beach property, damaged roads and destroyed buildings all over the south central area. Sharrock, sometimes called the "earthquake mayor," led the city's rebuilding effort over six months.

Important cities and towns

Alaska's most populous city is Anchorage, home of 260,283 people, 225,744 of whom live in the urbanized area. It ranks third in the List of U.S. cities by area, behind two other Alaskan cities. Sitka ranks as America's largest city by area, followed closely by Juneau.

Cities of 100,000 or more people

Towns of 10,000-100,000 people

Towns of fewer than 10,000 people

   

25 richest places in Alaska

Ranked by per capita income:

1. Halibut Cove, Alaska $89,895

2. Chicken, Alaska $65,400

3. Edna Bay, Alaska $58,967

4. Sunrise, Alaska $56,000

5. Lowell Point, Alaska $45,790

6. Petersville, Alaska $43,200

7. Coldfoot, Alaska $42,620

8. Port Clarence, Alaska $35,286

9. Hobart Bay, Alaska $34,900

 

10. Red Dog Mine, Alaska $34,348

11. Adak, Alaska $31,747

12. Meyers Chuck, Alaska $31,660

13. Pelican, Alaska $29,347

14. Ester, Alaska $29,155

15. Chignik Lagoon, Alaska $28,941

16. Four Mile Road, Alaska $28,465

17. Healy, Alaska $28,225

18. Moose Pass, Alaska $28,147

 

19. Cube Cove, Alaska $27,920

20. Womens Bay, Alaska $27,746

21. Skagway, Alaska $27,700

22. Nelson Lagoon, Alaska $27,596

23. Valdez, Alaska $27,341

24. McKinley Park, Alaska $27,255

25. Attu Station, Alaska $26,964

See also: Richest Places in Alaska

Colleges and universities

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alaska.


Political parties

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