Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway Alaska USA
Alaska (i/əˈlæskə/) is a state situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent. Bordering the state is Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia (specifically, Siberia) further west across the Bering Strait. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 4th least populous and the least densely populated of the 50 United States. Approximately half of Alaska's 731,449[4] residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the oil, natural gas, and fishing industries, resources which it has in abundance. Tourism is also a significant part of the economy. Although it had been occupied for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, from the 18th century onward, European powers considered the territory of Alaska ripe for exploitation. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia on March 30, 1867, for $ million ($120 million adjusted for inflation) at approximately two cents per acre ($²). 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 on January 3, 1959.[6] The name "Alaska" (Аляска) had been introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was used to refer to the peninsula. It is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or, more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[7] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other states combined.[8] It is the only non-contiguous state on continental North America; about 500 miles (800 km) of British Columbia (Canada) separates Alaska from Washington state. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States, possibly the largest exclave in the world. It is technically part of the continental , but is often not included in c
Size: 4287px × 2848px
Location: Skagway ,Juneau, Ketchikan, Alaska
Photo credit: © Amilcar Abreu / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -contiguous, .., 18th, 449, 4th, 50, 500, 731, abreu, abundance., alas, alaska, america, amilcar, anchorage, approximately, area, area., bering, century, coastline, combined., considered, continental, densely, dominated, eagles, economy, economy., european, exclave, fishing, gas, indigenous, industries, largest, live, longer, metropolitan, miles, natural, north, occupied, oil, onward, part, peoples, populated, populous, possibly, powers, residents, resources, salmon, separates, significant, state, state., states, states., strait., territory, thousands, tourism, united, usa, wales, washington, west, years
