Admiral Andy's Ask About Cruises

Alaska

Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state of the United States, and the largest state of the Union. It occupies the extreme northwestern region of the North American continent and is separated from Asia by the 82-km- (51-mi-) wide Bering Strait. Alaska has belonged to the United States since 1867, when it was bought from Russia by Secretary of State William H. Seward. The United States paid Russia $7.2 million for the rights of the Russian American Company in Alaska.

By 1900 Alaska had become a land of golden opportunity as one gold discovery followed another and prospectors arrived by the tens of thousands. Although the gold rush was over within a few years, many people settled in Alaska, and fishing developed as an important industry. Alaska’s strategic importance became apparent during World War II (1939-1945) with the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor and occupation of Atta and Kiska and with the American desire to send military aid, particularly aircraft, through Alaska to Russia. During the 1940s and 1950s, the large influx of immigrants helped to give renewed impetus to its movement for statehood. On January 3, 1959, Alaska was admitted to the Union as the 49th state.

Alaska is a rugged, wild, beautiful land of majestic mountains and deep, high-walled fjords; of slow-moving glaciers and still-active volcanoes; of dense, coniferous forests and desolate, treeless islands; of hot springs and icy streams. It is a land of contrasts, with extremes of wind and sun, snow and rain, heat and cold.

Alaska is a land that has undergone tremendous change. Since becoming a United States territory in 1912, it has significantly developed its mineral, fishery, forest, and petroleum resources. The state now has a stable and self-sufficient economy based on its rich and varied natural resources—above all, oil and natural gas. Today’s Alaska is a composite of old and new, with fur trappers, traditional sea mammal hunters, and dog teams living in a state with modern cities connected to the world by all the modern means of communication.

The name Alaska is probably derived from an Aleut word meaning “great land,” which originally referred to the Alaska Peninsula. Alaska is called the Last Frontier, because of its opportunities and many lightly settled regions, and the Land of the Midnight Sun, because the sun shines nearly around the clock during Alaskan summers. Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city, and Juneau is the state capital.

Alaska occupies the northwestern portion of North America. It includes the Aleutian Islands, a chain of about 150 islands that arcs westward across the Pacific Ocean for 1,800 km (1,100 mi).

Alaska has a total area of 1,593,438 sq km (615,230 sq mi), including 45,327 sq km (17,501 sq mi) of inland water and 70,849 sq km (27,355 sq mi) of coastal water over which the state has jurisdiction. Alaska has more area of lakes and rivers than any other state, equaling more than the entire land area of Massachusetts and Vermont combined. The state’s extreme dimensions are about 2,240 km (about 1,390 mi) from north to south and about 3,550 km (about 2,210 mi) from east to west. The mean elevation is about 580 m (1,900 ft). A large area, north of an imaginary line from the Seward Peninsula through Fort Yukon to the Canadian border, lies within the Arctic Circle. Alaska’s Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait is 4 km (2.5 mi) east of Big Diomede Island, or Ratmanov Island, which belongs to Russia (see Diomede Islands). Fairbanks, in the center of the state, is 5,280 km (3,280 mi) by air from New York City, 5,670 km (3,520 mi) from Tokyo, and 6,810 km (4,230 mi) from London. This key position, at the northern end of the Pacific Ocean and close to Asia, is a major factor in Alaska’s continued economic importance.