Alaska
Alaska | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Admitted to the Union | January 3, 1959 (49th) |
| Capital | Juneau |
| Largest city | Anchorage |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Frank Murkowski (R) |
| • Upper house | {{{Upperhouse}}} |
| • Lower house | {{{Lowerhouse}}} |
| U.S. senators | Ted Stevens (R) Lisa Murkowski (R) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 626,932 |
| Language | |
| • Official language | English |
| • Spoken language | English 85.7%, Native North American 5.2%, Spanish 2.9% |
| Latitude | 54°40'N to 71°50'N |
| Longitude | 130°W to 173°E |
Alaska (IPA: [ə 'læ skə]) 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 2000 U.S. census. Alaska is most likely ranked the fourth smallest state population wise in the U.S. with Wyoming, Vermont, and by now North Dakota smaller than Alaska. 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
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Politics
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Geography
Alaska is one of the two states that is not bordered by another US state, Hawaii being the other. It is the only state that is both in North America and is not part of the 48 contiguous states; about 500 miles (800 kilometers) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington. Therefore, Alaska is an exclave of the United States that is part of the continental U.S. but is not part of the contigual U.S. It is also the only state in which the majority of citizenry must pass through a foreign country when driving to its capital city. 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 Continental United States, Alaska would overlap Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado. Alaska has the longest coastline of any state.
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, such as Palmer, and Wasilla, 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 town in the United States.
The northeast corner of Alaska is covered by the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which covers 19,049,236 acres (79,318 km²).
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 (3042 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 (10.7 m).
Alaska is home to 3.5 million lakes of 20 acres (8 ha) or larger. Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles (487 747 km², mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands. Frozen water, in the form of glacier ice, covers some 16,000 square miles (41 440 km²) of land and 1200 square miles (3108 km²) of tidal zone. The Bering Glacier complex near the southeastern border with Yukon, Canada, covers 2250 square miles (5827 km²) alone.
Template:Ussm 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. It is part of the 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 United States 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 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Various private interests own the remaining land, totaling less than 1%.
See also:
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.
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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 held the title of the longest road tunnel in North America (at nearly 2.5 miles [4 km]) until completion of the 3.5 mile (5.6km) Interstate 93 tunnel as part of the "Big Dig" project in Boston, Massachusetts. The Anderson Tunnel 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. As reflected on the Alaska Department of Transportation Tunnel Website, it is now considered "North America's longest railroad-highway tunnel."
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 Skagway. 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 best known is the Iditarod, a 1,150-mile (1850 km) 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 2005, Alaska has an estimated population of 663,661, which is an increase of 5,906, or 0.9%, from the prior year and an increase of 36,730, or 5.9%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 36,590 people derived from its 53,132 births of which 16,542 deaths is subtracted from, and an increase due to net migration of 1,181 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 5,800 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 4,619 people.
Alaska is the least densely populated state.
Race and ancestry
The racial breakdown of the state is:
- 67.6% White (Non-Hispanic)
- 15.6% Native American or Alaska Native
- 4.1% Hispanic
- 4% Asian
- 3.5% Black
- 5.4% Mixed race
The largest ancestry groups in the state are: German (16.6%), Alaska Native or 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
- Christian – 81%
- Protestant – 68%
- Orthodox – 8%
- Catholic – 7%
- Latter-day Saint – 1%
- Other religions – 1%
- Not religious/agnostic – 17%
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 also 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. While for many this functions as a sort of walkabout, many do not return to the state. The University of Alaska has been successfully combating this by offering four-year scholarships to the top 10 percent of Alaska high school graduates, the Alaska Scholars Program.
Domestic abuse and other violent crimes are also at notoriously high levels in the state; this is in part linked to alcohol abuse.
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 was 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.
- 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.
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Cities of 100,000 or more people Towns of 10,000-100,000 people |
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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
- University of Alaska System
- Alaska Bible College
- Alaska Pacific University
- Charter College
- Ilisagvik College
- Sheldon Jackson College
External links
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
- Alaska, an external wiki
- State of Alaska website
- US Census Bureau
- Alaska.com Information
- Alaska Travel Industry Association
- Alaska Newspapers
Political parties
- Alaska Republican Party
- Alaska Democratic Party
- Alaska Republican Moderate Party
- Alaskan Independence Party
- Alaska Libertarian Party
- Alaska Green Party
