Portal:Alaska
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Introduction
Alaska (/əˈlæskə/ (
listen); Aleut: Alax̂sxax̂; Inupiaq: Alaskaq; Russian: Аляска, translit. Alyaska) is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America. The Canadian administrative divisions of British Columbia and Yukon border the state to the east, its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug) to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—the southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest state in the United States by area and the
seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.
The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for 7.2 million U.S. dollars at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km2). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.
Selected general articles
North Slope Borough, established in 1972, is an Alaskan borough bounded on the south by the Brooks Range and located largely in the North Slope region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost formal community on the North American continent. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,430. The borough seat is Utqiagvik. Utqiaġvik, the city’s native name, is the Iñupiaq name for the location, meaning "the place to gather roots." The mayor is Harry K. Brower, Jr., first elected in a special election in July 2016 after recall of the previous mayor by an April 2016 election. Read more...
Matanuska-Susitna Valley shown shaded in red north of Anchorage, Alaska
Matanuska-Susitna Valley (/mætəˈnuːskəsuːˈsɪtnə/) (known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about 35 miles (56 km) north of Anchorage, Alaska.
It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displayed annually in Palmer at the Alaska State Fair.
It includes the valleys of the Matanuska, Knik, and Susitna Rivers.
11,000 of Mat-Su Valley residents commute to Anchorage for work (as of 2008).
It is the fastest growing region in Alaska and includes the towns of Palmer, Wasilla, Big Lake, Houston, Willow and Talkeetna.
The valleys are shaped by three mountain ranges: the Alaska Range, the Talkeetna Mountains and the Chugach Mountains. The Matanuska-Susitna Valley was carved by glaciers
leaving thousands of lakes.
The Mat-Su rivers and lakes are home to the spawning grounds of chinook, coho, sockeye, pink, and chum salmon.
The area is home to 31 state parks and campgrounds. Read more...
An aerial view of North Pole, looking north, with the Tanana River to the southwest of it
North Pole is a small city in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2016 United States Census, the city had a population of 2,232, up from 1,570 in 2000. Read more...
Southeast Alaska and Alaska Marine Highway ferry routes
Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east by 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 scenery and mild rainy climate.
The largest cities in the region are Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Read more...
Interior Alaska is the central region of Alaska's territory, roughly bounded by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Denali in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Ray Mountains. The native people of the interior are Alaskan Athabaskans. 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. The interior region has an estimated population of 113,154. Read more...
The Fairbanks North Star Borough is a borough located in the state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 97,581. The borough seat is Fairbanks. The borough's land area is slightly smaller than that of the state of New Jersey.
Fairbanks North Star Borough comprises the Fairbanks, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is one of only two metropolitan areas in Alaska with over 100,000 people (the other being Anchorage). Read more...
Köppen climate types of Alaska
The climate of Alaska is determined by average temperatures and precipitation received statewide over many years. The extratropical storm track runs along the Aleutian Island chain, across the Alaska Peninsula, and along the coastal area of the Gulf of Alaska which exposes these parts of the state to a large majority of the storms crossing the North Pacific. The climate in Juneau and the southeast panhandle is a mid-latitude oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) in the southern sections and a subarctic oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc) in the northern parts. The climate in Southcentral Alaska is a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) due to its short, cool summers. The climate of the interior of Alaska is best described as extreme and is the best example of a true subarctic climate, as the highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Alaska have both occurred in the interior. The climate in the extreme north of Alaska is an Arctic climate (Köppen ET) with long, cold winters, and cool summers where snow is possible year-round. Read more...- The government of Alaska in common with state and federal governments of the United States, has three branches of government: the executive, consisting of the Governor of Alaska and the state agencies; the state legislature consisting of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate; and the judiciary consisting of the Supreme court and lower courts.
Alaska has 246 federally recognized tribal governments and one federal Indian (Native American) reservation. Read more...
As of 2017, Alaska has an estimated population of 739,818.
In 2005, the population of Alaska was 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 (53,132 births minus 16,542 deaths) 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. More than half of the state's population lives in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks, with two-fifths in Anchorage alone. Read more...
Bethel (Mamterilleq in Central Alaskan Yup'ik) is the largest community on the Kuskokwim river, located approximately 50 mi (80 km) upriver from where the river flows into Kuskokwim Bay. 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 of 6,080 as of the 2010 Census. Bethel is home to the lone detention center in southwestern Alaska, the Yukon Kuskokwim Correction Center.
Annual events in Bethel include a noted dogsled race, the Kuskokwim 300, Camai, a traditional Yup'ik dance festival held each spring, and the Bethel Fair held in August. Read more...
The location of the state of Alaska in relation to the rest of the United States of America
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Alaska. Read more...
Cordova /kɔːrˈdoʊvə,ˈkɔːrdəvə/) is a small town located near the mouth of the Copper River in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, United States, at the head of Orca Inlet on the east side of Prince William Sound. The population was 2,239 at the 2010 census, down from 2,454 in 2000. Cordova was named Puerto Cordova by Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo in 1790. No roads connect Cordova to other Alaskan towns, so a plane or ferry is required to travel there. In the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 1989, an oil tanker ran aground northwest of Cordova, heavily damaging ecology and fishing. Read more...
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.
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. Alaska is the only state that has no institutions that are part of NCAA Division I. Read more...
Bethel Census Area is a census area in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population is 17,013. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest community is the city of Bethel, which is also the largest city in the unorganized borough. Read more...
Aerial view of part of downtown Kenai. The intersection of Willow Street and Barnacle Way is in the center of the foreground. Cook Inlet and Mount Redoubt are in the background.
Kenai (/ˈkiːnaɪ/, KEY-nigh) (Dena'ina: Shk'ituk't) is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 7,100 as of the 2010 census, up from 6,942 in 2000. Read more...
Alaska is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined. About 500 miles (800 km) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington State. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States that is part of the continental U.S. but is not part of the contiguous U.S. Alaska is also the only state, other than Hawaii, whose capital city is accessible only via ship or air, because no roads connect Juneau to the rest of the continent.
The state is bordered by Yukon and British Columbia, Canada to the east, the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south, Russia (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug), Bering Sea, the Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west, and the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Read more...
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. Read more...
From top left: Joyce K. Carver Memorial Library, Kenai Peninsula Borough Building, aerial view of the City of Soldotna, Central Peninsula Hospital, Soldotna Creek Park, and the Kenai Peninsula College.
Soldotna is a home rule city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2010 census the population was 4,163, up from 3,759 in 2000. It is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Soldotna is located in the Southcentral portion of Alaska on the central-western portion of the Kenai Peninsula. The city limits span 7 square miles along the Kenai River, which empties into the Cook Inlet in the nearby city of Kenai. The Kenai River was selected by CNN Travel as one of the "World's 15 Best Rivers for Travelers," due to its fishing and hunting opportunities. Soldotna is located on the western edge of the vast Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area spanning nearly 2 million acres and home to bears, moose, caribou, sheep, and many fish and bird species. Read more...
Kodiak (Alutiiq: Sun'aq; Russian: Кадьяк, tr. Kadʹyak) is one of seven 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. 2014 estimates put the population at 6,304.
Originally inhabited by Alutiiq natives for over 7,000 years, the city was settled in the 18th century by the subjects of the Russian crown and became the capital of Russian Alaska. Read more...
A portion of the Tanana Valley, as seen from the Parks Monument overlook of the George Parks Highway east of Ester.
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. Traditional inhabitants of the valley are Tanana Athabaskans of Alaskan Athabaskans. Read more...
Kenai Peninsula Borough is a borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 55,400. The borough seat is Soldotna.
The borough includes the entirety of the Kenai Peninsula and a few areas of the mainland of Alaska on the opposite side of Cook Inlet. Read more...
Petersburg (Tlingit: Gantiyaakw Séedi "Steamboat Channel") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Petersburg Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 2,948 at the 2010 census, down from 3,224 in 2000.
The borough encompasses Petersburg and Kupreanof, plus mostly uninhabited areas stretching to the Canadian–American border and the southern boundary of the City and Borough of Juneau. While the city of Petersburg ceased to exist as a separate administrative entity (the borough assembly created a service area to assume operation of the former city's services), the tiny city of Kupreanof remains separate within the borough. Read more...
Alaska in 1895 (Rand McNally). The boundary of southeastern Alaska shown is that claimed by the United States prior to the conclusion of the Alaska boundary dispute.
The history of Alaska dates back to the Upper Paleolithic period (around 14,000 BC), when wanderer groups crossed the Bering land bridge into what is now western Alaska. At the time of European contact by the Russian explorers, the area was populated by Alaska Native groups. The name "Alaska" derives from the Aleut word Alaxsxaq (also spelled Alyeska), meaning "mainland" (literally, "the object toward which the action of the sea is directed").
The U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. In the 1890s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was granted territorial status in 1912 by the United States of America. Read more...
Unalaska (Aleut: Iluulux̂) is the chief center of population in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Island and neighboring Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Islands off mainland Alaska. The population was 4,376 at the 2010 census, which is 79% of the entire Aleutians West Census Area. Unalaska is the second largest city in the Unorganized Borough, behind Bethel.
The Aleut or Unangan people have lived on Unalaska Island for thousands of years. The Unangan, 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. The Russian fur trade reached Unalaska when Stepan Glotov and his crew arrived on August 1, 1759. Natives, Russians and their descendants comprised most of the community's population until the mid-20th century, when the involvement of the United States in World War II led to a large-scale influx of people and construction of buildings all along the strategically located Aleutians. Read more...- There is a lack of dental care in rural Alaska because many Alaska Natives live in rural villages, most of which are only accessible by boat or bush plane. There are many programs to help Alaska Natives understand the importance of dental care while helping them to receive the professional care and guidance that is needed. There are many problem issues within the rural Alaska Native population such as tooth disease. To help with these health issues there are dentists, as well as dental therapist aides, who travel to these villages to perform care. These programs are funded by the United States federal government and the Alaska Native Corporations. Read more...
- Nome Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska, mostly overlapping with the Seward Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,492. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest community by far is the city of Nome. Read more...
Anchorage (officially called the Municipality of Anchorage; Dena'ina: Dgheyaytnu) is a unified home rule municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 298,192 residents in 2016, it is Alaska's most populous city and contains more than 40 percent of the state's total population; among the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in its most populous city. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016, which accounts for more than half of the state's population. At 1,706 square miles of land area, the city is larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, at 1,212 square miles.
Anchorage is in the south-central portion of Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south. The city limits span 1,961.1 square miles (5,079.2 km2) which encompass the urban core, a joint military base, several outlying communities and almost all of Chugach State Park. Read more...
The Denali Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census the population of the borough was 1,826. The borough seat is Healy, and its only incorporated place is Anderson. The borough was incorporated in 1990.
The area was previously a part of the Unorganized Borough, with the Upper Railbelt School District serving as the region's rural education attendance area (which was replaced by a school district under the borough's umbrella upon incorporation). Read more...
Anchorage (officially called the Municipality of Anchorage; Dena'ina: Dgheyaytnu) is a unified home rule municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 298,192 residents in 2016, it is Alaska's most populous city and contains more than 40 percent of the state's total population; among the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in its most populous city. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016, which accounts for more than half of the state's population. At 1,706 square miles of land area, the city is larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, at 1,212 square miles.
Anchorage is in the south-central portion of Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south. The city limits span 1,961.1 square miles (5,079.2 km2) which encompass the urban core, a joint military base, several outlying communities and almost all of Chugach State Park. Read more...
Seward (Alutiiq: Qutalleq) is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated on Alaska's southern coast, approximately 120 miles by road from Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, and nearly 1,300 miles from the closest point in the contiguous United States at Cape Flattery, Washington.
With an estimated permanent population of 2,831 people as of 2017, Seward is the fourth-largest city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, behind Kenai, Homer, and the borough seat of Soldotna. The city is named for former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, who orchestrated the United States' purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 while serving in this position as part of President Andrew Johnson's administration. Read more...
Northwest Arctic Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,523. The borough seat is Kotzebue. The borough was formed on June 2, 1986. Read more...- The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (pronounced key-nye) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe, the Kahtnuht’ana Dena’ina ("People along the Kahtnu (Kenai River)"), that historically inhabited the area. They called the Kenai Peninsula Yaghanen ("the good land"). Read more...
The City and Borough of Wrangell (Tlingit: Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw) is a borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census the population was 2,369, up from 2,308 in 2000. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Borough on May 30, 2008, Wrangell was previously a city in the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area (afterwards renamed the Petersburg Census Area (the Petersburg Borough was formed from part of this census area)). Its Tlingit name is Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw ("Ḵaachx̱ans Little Lake" with áa-kʼw 'lake-diminutive'). The Tlingit people residing in the Wrangell area, who were there centuries before Europeans, call themselves the Shtaxʼhéen Ḵwáan after the nearby Stikine River. Alternately they use the autonym Shxʼát Ḵwáan, where the meaning of shxʼát is unknown.
The central (urban) part of Wrangell is located at , in the northwest corner of Wrangell Island, whereas the borough now encompasses the entire eastern half of the former Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, in addition to the area around Meyers Chuck, which was formerly in the Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area. It also includes Thoms Place, a former census-designated place on Wrangell Island. Read more...
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,029. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest communities are Deltana and Tok, both unincorporated CDPs. Read more...
The Unorganized Borough is made up of the portions of the U.S. state of Alaska which are not contained in any of its 19 organized boroughs. It encompasses nearly half of Alaska's land area, 323,440 square miles (837,700 km2), an area larger than any other U.S. state, and larger than the land area of the smallest 16 states combined. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, it had a population of 81,803, which was 13% of the population of the state. Read more...
Map of Beringia showing the 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. Like Seward, Alaska, it was named after William H. Seward, the United States Secretary of State who fought for the U.S. purchase of Alaska.
The Seward Peninsula is a remnant 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 Chukotka Peninsula and Seward Peninsula show proof that Inupiat people 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. Read more...- The Aleutian Islands (/əˈljuːʃən/; Russian: Алеутские острова; Aleut: Tanam Unangaa, literally "Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island") are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller ones belonging to both the U.S. state of Alaska and the Russian federal subject of Kamchatka Krai. They form 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 in Russia, and mark a dividing line between the Bering Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Crossing longitude 180°, at which point east and west longitude end, the archipelago contains both the westernmost part of the United States by longitude (Amatignak Island) and the easternmost by longitude (Semisopochnoi Island). The westernmost U.S. island in real terms, however, is Attu Island, west of which runs the International Date Line. While nearly all the archipelago is part of Alaska and is usually considered as being in the "Alaskan Bush", at the extreme western end, the small, geologically related Commander Islands belong to Russia.
The islands, with their 57 volcanoes, form the northernmost part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. 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. Read more...
This is a list of notable people from Alaska. This list includes individuals who were born in Alaska, grew up there, retired there, or in any other fashion lived there even if for only a brief period of time (such as infancy, during one or more of the many gold rushes during the late 19th century and early 20th century, or as a result of rapid military influx and outflux from 1940 onward).- Key to table entries:
- Name
- Year born
- Year died
- Communities lived in in Alaska
- Noted for
- Key to table entries:
- These are tables of congressional delegations from Alaska to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. Read more...
Valdez (/vælˈdiːz,vəlˈdɛz/; Alutiiq: Suacit) 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, down from 4,036 in 2000. The city was named in 1790 after the Spanish Navy Minister Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán. A former Gold Rush town, it is located at the head of a fjord on the eastern side of Prince William Sound. The port did not flourish until after the road link to Fairbanks was constructed in 1899. It suffered huge damage during the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and is located near the site of the disastrous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill. Today it is one of the most important ports in Alaska, a commercial fishing port as well as a freight terminal. Read more...
Aleutians West Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,561. It is part of the Unorganized Borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest city is Unalaska. It contains most of the Aleutian Islands, from Attu Island in the west to Unalaska Island in the east, as well as the Pribilof Islands, which lie north of the Aleutians in the Bering Sea. Read more...- The following is a list of sporting venues, events, and teams based in Alaska. Read more...
Ketchikan Gateway Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,477. The borough seat is Ketchikan.
Ketchikan Gateway Borough comprises the Ketchikan, AK Micropolitan Statistical Area. Read more...- The Inside Passage (French: Passage Intérieur) is a coastal route for ships and boats along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific NW coast of North America. The route extends from southeastern Alaska, in the United States, through western British Columbia, in Canada, to northwestern Washington state, in the United States. Ships using the route can avoid some of the bad weather in the open ocean and may visit some of the many isolated communities along the route. The Inside Passage is heavily travelled by cruise ships, freighters, tugs with tows, fishing craft and ships of the Alaska Marine Highway, BC Ferries, and Washington State Ferries systems.
The term "Inside Passage" is also often used to refer to the ocean and islands around the passage itself. Read more... - This is a list of earthquakes in Alaska. Read more...
Kotzebue (/ˈkɒtsəbjuː/ KOTS-ə-bew) or Kikiktagruk (Inupiaq: Qikiqtaġruk [qekeqtɑʁʐuk]) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing the borough. The population of the city was 3,201 as of the 2010 census, up from 3,082 in 2000. Read more...
The City and Borough of Yakutat (/ˈjækətæt/, YAK-ə-tat) (Tlingit:
Yaakwdáat) is a borough in the U.S. state of Alaska and was the name of a former city within it. The name is Tlingit, Yaakwdáat ("the place where canoes rest") but it originally derives from an Eyak name diyaʼqudaʼt and was influenced by the Tlingit word yaakw ("canoe, boat"). The borough covers an area about six times the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, making it one of the largest counties (or county equivalents) in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 662, down from 680 in 2000. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that Alaska's Captain Cook State Recreation Area was a traditional salmon fishing spot for the Dena'ina people, before being used for commercial fishing?
- ... that Alaskans in coastal areas evacuated to higher ground where they waited to see if the 2018 Gulf of Alaska earthquake had caused a tsunami?
- ... that in 1906, Russian-Jewish immigrant Abe Spring first proposed Alaska as a refuge for Jews, but the suggestion was rejected by the US Congress?
- ... that a megaflood from ancient Lake Atna 17,000 years ago may have contributed to the devastation caused by the 1964 Alaska earthquake?
- ... that the U.S. Army bombarded the village of Wrangell, Alaska, in 1869 to force the handover of the first man to be given the death penalty under U.S. rule?
- ... that Alaska P. Davidson was the first female FBI special agent?
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Selected images
Homer, showing (from bottom to top) the edge of downtown, its airport and the Spit.
The Russian settlement of St. Paul's Harbor (present-day Kodiak town), Kodiak Island, 1814.
Miners and prospectors climb the Chilkoot Trail during the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush.
An Alaska Railroad locomotive over a bridge in Girdwood approaching Anchorage (2007).
The White Pass and Yukon Route traverses rugged terrain north of Skagway near the Canada–US border.
The Kachemak Bay Campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage, located in downtown Homer.
Russian Old Believers Church in Nikolaevsk
The MV Tustumena (named after Tustumena Glacier) is one of the state's many ferries, providing service between the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Chain.
Alaska welcome sign on the Klondike Highway.
Cordova, built in the early 20th century to support the Kennecott Mines and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, has persevered as a fishing community since their closure.
Alaska's size compared with the 48 contiguous states. (Albers equal-area conic projection)
Denali is the highest peak in North America.
Films featuring Alaskan wolves usually employ domesticated wolf-dog hybrids to stand in for wild wolves.
Main Street in Talkeetna.
Kodiak, before and after the tsunami which followed the Good Friday earthquake in 1964, destroying much of the townsite.
The forget-me-not is the state's official flower and bears the same blue and gold as the state flag.
Dan Sullivan, junior United States Senator
Bethel, the largest city in the Unorganized Borough and in rural Alaska.
Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city and by a significant margin the largest city in Alaska's interior.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline transports oil, Alaska's most financially important export, from the North Slope to Valdez. The heat pipes in the column mounts are pertinent, since they disperse heat upwards and prevent melting of permafrost.
A dog team in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, arguably the most popular winter event in Alaska.
Köppen climate types of Alaska.
Lisa Murkowski, senior United States Senator
Augustine Volcano erupting on January 12, 2006
A modern Alutiiq dancer in traditional festival garb.
Juneau, Alaska's third-largest city and its capital.
The center of state government in Juneau. The large buildings in the background are, from left to right: the Court Plaza Building (known colloquially as the "Spam Can"), the State Office Building (behind), the Alaska Office Building, the John H. Dimond State Courthouse, and the Alaska State Capitol. Many of the smaller buildings in the foreground are also occupied by state government agencies.
Anchorage, Alaska, Alaska's largest city.
Grizzly bear fishing for salmon at Brooks Falls, part of Katmai National Park and Preserve.
The Sterling Highway, near its intersection with the Seward Highway.
St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral in downtown Sitka.
Halibut is important to the state's economy as both a commercial and sport-caught fish.
A Bombardier Dash 8, operated by Era Alaska, on approach to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Aerial view of infrastructure at the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field.
U.S. troops navigate snow and ice during the Battle of Attu in May 1943.
Utqiagvik (Browerville neighborhood near Eben Hopson Middle School shown), known colloquially for many years by the nickname "Top of the World", is the northernmost city in the United States.
The Susitna River bridge on the Denali Highway is 1,036 feet (316 m) long.
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