Alaska
Alaska (/əˈlæskə/ ⓘ ə-LASS-kə) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. It borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and the Yukon territory to the east; it shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south. Technically a semi-exclave of the U.S., it is the largest exclave in the world.
This article is about the U.S. state. For other uses, see Alaska (disambiguation).
Alaska
January 3, 1959 (49th)
- Lisa Murkowski (R)
- Dan Sullivan (R)
Mary Peltola (D) (list)
665,384[1] sq mi (1,723,337 km2)
571,951[2] sq mi (1,481,346 km2)
91,316 sq mi (236,507 km2) 13.77%
1,420 mi (2,285 km)
2,261 mi (3,639 km)
1,900 ft (580 m)
20,310 ft (6,190.5 m)
0 ft (0 m)
733,391
1.10/sq mi (0.42/km2)
$77,800[4]
Alaskan
- English 86.3%
- Alaska Native languages 5.2%
- Tagalog 3.4%
- Spanish 2.9%
- Others 2.2%
UTC−08:00 (ADT)
UTC−09:00 (HADT)
51°20'N to 71°50'N
130°W to 172°E
- Land: Moose
- Marine: Bowhead whale
Gold
Alaska is the largest U.S. state by area, comprising more total area than the next three largest states of Texas, California and Montana combined, and is the seventh-largest subnational division in the world. It is the third-least populous and most sparsely populated U.S. state, but is, with a population of 736,081 as of 2020, the continent's most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel, with more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland.[6] The state contains the second-largest and largest cities in the United States by area: the state capital of Juneau, and its former capital, Sitka, respectively. The state's most populous city is Anchorage and approximately half of Alaska's residents live within its metropolitan area.
Indigenous people have lived in Alaska for thousands of years, and it is widely believed that the region served as the entry point for the initial settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge. The Russian Empire was the first to actively colonize the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America, which spanned most of the current state, and promoted and maintained a native Alaskan Creole population.[7] The expense and logistical difficulty of maintaining this distant possession prompted its sale to the U.S. in 1867 for US$7.2 million (equivalent to $157 million in 2023). 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.[8]
Abundant natural resources have enabled Alaska—with one of the smallest state economies—to have one of the highest per capita incomes, with commercial fishing, and the extraction of natural gas and oil, dominating Alaska's economy. U.S. Armed Forces bases and tourism also contribute to the economy; more than half the state is federally-owned land containing national forests, national parks, and wildlife refuges. It is among the most irreligious states, one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana, and is known for its libertarian-leaning political culture, generally supporting the Republican Party in national elections. The Indigenous population of Alaska is proportionally the second highest of any U.S. state, at over 15 percent, after only Hawaii.[9]
Etymology[edit]
The name "Alaska" (Russian: Аля́ска, romanized: Aljáska) was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the Alaska Peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut-language idiom, alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or, more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[10][11][12]
Communication[edit]
Alaska's internet and other data transport systems are provided largely through the two major telecommunications companies: GCI and Alaska Communications. GCI owns and operates what it calls the Alaska United Fiber Optic system[173] and, as of late 2011, Alaska Communications advertised that it has "two fiber optic paths to the lower 48 and two more across Alaska.[174] In January 2011, it was reported that a $1 billion project to connect Asia and rural Alaska was being planned, aided in part by $350 million in stimulus from the federal government.[175]
