Geography.
Alaska is the only state that is both in North America and not part
of the 48 contiguous states. Alaska is the largest state in the United
States in terms of land area, 570,374 square miles (1,477,261 kmІ). If you
superimposed a map of Alaska on the Lower 48 states, Alaska would stretch
from Minnesota to Texas and from Georgia to California.
One scheme for describing the state's geography is by labeling the regions:
• South Central Alaska is the southern coastal region with towns,
cities, and petroleum industrial plants;
• The Alaska Panhandle, also known as Southeast Alaska, is home to
towns, tidewater glaciers and extensive forests;
• the Alaska Interior has big rivers, such as the Yukon River and the
Kuskokwim River, as well as Arctic tundra lands and shorelines; and
• The Alaskan Bush is the remote, uncrowned part of the state.
Alaska, with its numerous islands, has nearly 34,000 miles (54,700 km) of
tidal shoreline. The island chain extending west from the southern tip of
Alaska is called the Aleutian Islands. Many active volcanoes are found in
the Aleutians.
Alaska is the easternmost state in the Union. The Aleutian Islands
actually cross longitude 180°.
Alaska's most populous city is Anchorage, home of 260,284 people, 225,744
of whom live in the urbanized area. It ranks a distant third in the List of
U.S. cities by area. Sitka ranks as the America's largest city by area,
followed closely by Junea.
Government.
Much of Alaska is managed by the federal government as national forests,
national parks, and national wildlife refuges. There are places in Alaska
that are general public lands (BLM land) but they are arguably more
spectacular than many national parks in the Lower 48. Many of Alaska's
state parks would be national parks if they were in other states.
Much of Alaska is managed by corporations called ANCSA, or native,
corporations, of which there are thirteen regional ones and dozens of local
ones.
Alaska has no counties in the sense used in the rest of the country;
however, 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.
Business.
Alaska's main agriculture output is seafood, although nursery stock, dairy
products, vegetables, and livestock are produced and used internally.
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. There is also
a small but growing service and tourism sector. Its industrial outputs are
crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, gold, precious metals, zinc and other
mining, seafood processing, timber and wood products.
Transport.
Alaska has various transportation options. Some of Alaska is connected by
roads (and sometimes a tunnel) to the highways of Canada and of the rest of
the United States. These places are "on the road system". Along the Pacific
Ocean, many places have freight and passenger service from ocean-going
ships. Most places have air service, ranging from jets on tarmac to
floatplanes on lakes.
4. The most important dates in the history of Alaska.
August 21
- In 1732, a Russian expedition under
surveyor Mikhail Gvozdev sights
the Alaska mainland at Cape Prince
of Wales.
July 16
- In 1741, Vitus Bering, on St. Elias Day, sights the Alaskan
mainland. In honour of the saint, the most
prominent peak was named; this was the first point
on the northwest coast named by Europeans.
December 8
- In 1741, Vitus Bering died after his ship was wrecked on an
island off the Alaskan coast.
September 25
- In 1745, a Russian fur hunter, Mikhail Nevodchikov, reaches
Attu in his search for sea otters.
May 12
- In 1778, Captain James Cook entered Prince William Sound.
May 26
- In 1778, Captain James Cook entered Cook Inlet.
August 25
- In 1778, Captain James Cook turned back south
July
- In 1786, while charting Lituya Bay, 2 small boats are
swamped by rip tides, and 21 French sailors drown.
July 8
- In 1799, the Russian American Company is formed by Royal
Charter; they were given a 20-year monopoly on
trading on the coast from 55 degrees north.
March
- In 1812, the Russian American Company establishes a post at
Fort Ross, California to grow crops for their Alaska.
September
- In 1848, the Hudson's Bay Company builds Fort Selkirk, at
the confluence of the Pelly and Yukon Rivers.
- In 1852, Fort Selkirk is destroyed by a group of Tlingits who
objected to the Hudson's Bay Company trying to
break the Tlingit monopoly on trade with the
interior tribes.
March 30
- In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska for
$7,200,000
July 23
- In 1867, Alaska's first post office is authorized, to
be opened at Sitka.
October 18
- In 1867, official ceremonies at Sitka transferred
Alaska from Russia to the United States.
July 27
- In 1868, the Customs Act is amended to include Alaska.
October 7
- In 1869, the prediction of a total solar eclipse by American
scientist George Davidson so impressed Kohklux,
chief of the Chilkat Indian village of Klukwan, he
drew him an incredibly detailed map of a vast part
of the interior of the Yukon and Alaska.
- In 1871, of the 41 whaling ships hunting in the Bering Sea,
32 are trapped by early ice; all of the 1,200 people
on the ships escaped, but 31 of the ships were
destroyed the following spring.
August
- In 1876, twelve whaling ships are trapped by ice near Point
Barrow; 50 men die attempting to reach safety.
July 2
- In 1882, George Krause becomes the first white man
allowed to cross the Chilkat Pass to the interior.
- In 1894, a resolution of the Privy Council authorizes the
North-West Mounted Police into the Yukon "in
the interests of peace and good government, in
the interests also of the public revenue." By June
26, Inspector Charles Constantine and Staff-
Sergeant Charles Brown were at Juneau, heading
for the goldfields of the British Yukon.
October 2
- In 1895, the North-west Territories was divided into the
Districts of Franklin, Mackenzie, Ungava and
Yukon.
August 17
- In 1896, a party consisting of George Carmack, his wife
Kate, Skookum Jim, Tagish Charlie and Patsy
Henderson stake placer gold claims on Rabbit
Creek, and rename the creek Bonanza Creek.
July 14
- In 1897, the Excelsior reaches San Francisco with the first
large shipment of Klondike gold.
July 17
- In 1897, the Portland reached Seattle with a large shipment
of Klondike, turning the excitement caused by the
Excelsior's arrival at San Francisco into an all-out
gold rush.
- In 1898, gold was discovered near the future site of Nome,
triggering a stampede.
- In 1898, a series of 5 avalanches in the Chilkoot Pass between
2:00 AM and noon killed over 70 people.
June 13
- In 1898, the Yukon Territory is created.
July 29
- In 1900, the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad was
completed, with the Golden Spike driven at
Carcross, Yukon.
- In 1900, Congress authorized a massive telegraph construction
project in Alaska.
July 22
- In 1902, Felice Pedroni ("Felix Pedro") discovered gold in
the Tanana Hills, causing a stampede which
resulted in the founding of Fairbanks.
May
- In 1904, the first commercial wireless communication
facility in the U.S. opened, between Nome and St.
Michael.
May 7
- In 1906, the Alaska Delegate Act was passed by Congress,
giving the territory's 40,000 people the right to elect
a non-voting delegate to Congress.
August 24
- In 1912, the Alaska Territorial Act was passed by Congress.
July 3
- In 1913, the first airplane in Alaska made a demonstration
flight at Fairbanks, piloted by James V. Lilly.
March 12
- In 1914, a bill authorizing the construction of the
government-financed Alaska Railroad was signed by
President Wilson. Construction started in 1915, and
some sections were opened as they were completed,
but the entire line, running from Seward to Fairbanks,
was not completed until July 15, 1923.
October 25
- In 1918, the coastal steamer Princess Sophia sunk near
Juneau, killing 463 people, about 10% of the
Yukon's white population.
- In 1919, the Yukon finally allowed women to vote in Territorial
elections. Manitoba had been the first province to
enfranchise women.
July 10
- In 1919, Louis Beauvette staked the first silver claim at Keno
Hill, in the central Yukon; by 1930 this district was
producing 14% of all the silver mined in Canada.
enfranchisement was passed in May 1918.
July 15
- In 1923, the Alaska Railroad was completed, following 8 years
of construction.
February 24
- In 1924, Carl Ben Eielson made Alaska's first Air Mail flight.
June 3
- In 1942, a large carrier-based Japanese force attacked
Dutch Harbour.
June 7
- In 1942, the Japanese landed almost 2,500 troops on the
Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska. It took a huge
Allied force until August 15, 1943 to regain control.
September 24
- In 1942, the Alaska Highway opened at Contact Creek, 305
miles north of Fort Nelson, B.C.
February 22
- In 1951, after 3 years of rumours, the federal government
approved moving the capital of the Yukon from
Dawson City to Whitehorse. A new Federal Building
was constructed in 1952, and the Territorial
Council chambers were moved the following year,
with the first meeting held in Whitehorse in April.
- In 1951, the Alaska Highway was turned over to Canada, in a
ceremony at Whitehorse.
January 3
- In 1959, Alaska became the 49th State.
March 27
- In 1964, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.4 on the
Richter scale hits the Anchorage area, killing 115
people and destroying hundreds of homes.
November 6
- In 1967, Jean Gordon, the Yukon's first female member of
the Territorial Council, takes her seat.
- In 1968, the oil riches of Alaska's North Slope, first
reported almost 100 years ago, were confirmed by
a drilling program at Prudhoe Bay. The following
year, a total of $990,220,590 was bid in a one-day
lease sale of those properties.
January 23
- In 1971, the temperature at Prospect Creek, Alaska,
dropped to 80 degrees below zero, the lowest
temperature ever recorded in the United States.
December 18
- In 1971, the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act (ANCSA)
was signed into law by the President. Among the
major provisions were the transfer of title to 40
million acres of land to native corporations, and a
cash payment of $962.5 million.
February 14
- In 1973, the Yukon Native Brotherhood presented a
Statement of Claim to the federal government,
stating their position on land claims, self-
government and other issues which had been
published in January in "Together Today For Our
Children Tomorrow".
- In 1975, the first section of pipe for the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez was laid. By
August, 21,600 people were working on the project.
The first oil was put through the 800-mile line on
June 20, 1977.
February 3
- In 1988, PL 100-241, the Alaska Native Claim Settlement
Act Amendments, was signed by President Regan.
The amendments gave more flexibility to the
corporations managing Settlement lands.
March 24
- In 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez went aground on Bligh
Reef, pouring almost 11 million gallons of oil into
Prince William Sound.
May 29
- In 1993, the Umbrella Final Agreement is signed by
representatives of the Council for Yukon Indians
and the Yukon and federal governments,
establishing the basic format for all 14 Yukon First
Nations land claims agreements.
Conclusion.
Summing up to the aforesaid, it would be desirable to emphasize, that
Alaska is a crossroads of a sea, air truck transport between Northern
America, Asia and the Europe, that’s why Alaska is one of the most
perspective states of USA by way of development of economy and tourism. The
variety of riches of culture, an abundance of national parks attracts
tourists from the world.
The considerable contribution to development of Alaska was brought by
Russian empire. The general past, the general cultural wealth is what
unites Russia and Alaska and today.
The list of literature.
1. Джеймс Микэнер «Аляска».
2. Боб Черрай «Дух Ворона».
3. Marcia Simpson «Rogue's Yarn», «Crow in Stolen Colors»,
«Sound Tracks».
4. Gore Vidal «Williwaw».
5. Borneman «The Native People of Alaska»
6. http://www.encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
7. http://www.alaskacam.com
8. http://www.alaska.com
9. http://www.goingtoalaska.com
10. http://www.mapquest.com
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