Federated state of the United States (1,530,700 km 2 with 670,053 inhabitants in 2006), the largest in the Union, but the least densely populated; it occupies the northwest end of North America and is separated from the rest of the USA by the interposition of a strip of Canadian territory. There are three regions: the peaceful coastal one, crossed by a series of imposing chains, culminating in MacKinley, the highest peak in North America; the central one, formed by an ancient plateau furrowed by the Yukon and from other rivers; the arctic one, with another chain (Brooks Range) bordered towards the Arctic Sea by a flat strip. The three regions are also different in climatic terms: the first is rainy, with rather mild winters and cool summers; in the interior the climate is of a cold continental type, dry, with freezing winters and cool summers; the Arctic has a typically polar character. The most notable river is the Yukon, which flows into the Bering Sea.
According to abbreviationfinder, the population is mostly allochthonous. The 35,500 residents of 1880 doubled in the following twenty years with the exploitation of gold. After more than a century (early 2000) the demographic structure is made up for 80% by Whites, and for the rest by Aleutini and Inuit, as well as by Blacks and Hispanics transferred from other parts of the USA. The largest city is Anchorage (which has a well-equipped airport); they follow, at a distance, the capital, Juneau, Fairbanks, and then the ports of Valdez and Nome. Traditional activities are fishing, fur trading, reindeer breeding, logging, mining of metal ores (including gold and other precious). Since the early 1960s, the greatest resource has been oil, discovered in large quantities in the field of Prudhoe Bay, near the Arctic coast, connected with the port of Valdez by a 1280 km oil pipeline; in 2002 just under 60 million tonnes were extracted. Tourism has also become an important activity, especially due to the attraction exercised by the various national parks.
In addition to the Aleutians, the islands of the Bering Sea depend on the Alaska, namely: the Pribilof, constituting areas of respect for the sea lions, reindeer and foxes; Saint Lawrence, inhabited by Inuit; San Matteo, uninhabited, used as an oasis for birds and the Piccola Diomedes.
HISTORY
The exploration of the state began in 1741 with VJ Bering. In the second half of the century. 18th major expeditions (including that of J. Cook, 1778) explored the Pacific coast and in the first half of the 19th century the polar one. In 1863 the course of the Yukon was rebuilt. The gradual exploration and population of the country were the work of commercial companies for the hunting of fur animals: first it was that of the Siberian traders Selikov and Golicov who in 1783 founded a factory on the island Kodiak. In 1799 the tsar Paul I. it granted the monopoly of the fur trade and the exercise of sovereign powers throughout the Pacific dominion N of the 51st parallel to the established Russian-American Company.
Subsequently, the impossibility of facing the English and American competition led the Russian government to transfer the possession to the USA for a payment of 7,200,000 dollars (treaty of March 30, 1867). It was only in 1884 that the new American dominion was administratively organized as a district of the state of Oregon, then transformed into a territory in 1912. In 1959 the A. it became the 49th State of the Union.
Alaskana Range (Alaska Range) Mountain range of the A. south which, arching inland, faces the Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula. In Mount MacKinley (6196 m) it reaches the highest height in all of North America. Gulf of. Wide inlet of the Pacific Ocean along the southern coast of Alaska. Peninsula of the Alaska The largest peninsula that branches off from the region of the same name, towards the southwest, between Bristol Bay to the north and Cook Bay to the SE. It is 800 km long and is crossed by the Aleutian chain. It extends into the Aleutian Islands, with which geographically it forms a single unit. A. Highway North American Highway (2443 km), which joins Canada with Alaska. Opened in 1942, it starts in Dawson Creek, in British Columbia east, and ends in Fairbanks.
According to countryaah, Alaska has the following main cities:
Anchorage
Anchorage City of Alaska (279,671 residents In 2007), the main city of the state, in the inner part of the Bay of Cook. Founded in 1914. Industrial activities in the food (fish canneries), mechanical and woodworking sectors. Alaska’s largest airport and the northernmost in America. In 1964 it was seriously damaged by an earthquake.
Juneau
Juneau City of the USA (31,118 in 2005), capital of Alaska. It is located on the coast facing the Alexander Archipelago, on the Gastineau Channel. Founded in 1881. Good harbor with canning and wood industries. Nearby gold deposits.
Fairbanks
Fairbanks City of the USA (34,540 residents In 2007), in central Alaska, on a small tributary of the Tanana River. Founded in 1902, after the discovery of gold deposits, still exploited in the surrounding area. Agricultural and fur market, it is home to mechanical, metallurgical, food and building materials industries. It is connected by an oil pipeline (1120 km long) to Haines (in Yukon).
