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Alaska is a state of the United States of America, located in the extreme northwest portion of the North American continent. It is the largest U.S. state in terms of area (by a substantial margin), along with being one of the wealthiest and most racially diverse. The area that became Alaska was purchased from Russian interests on October 18 1867, with the territory becoming the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Alaska" is derived from the Aleut Alaskax, alternately spelled Alyeska, meaning "Land that is not an island."
History
Alaska was first inhabited by people who came across the Bering Land Bridge. Eventually, Alaska became populated by the Inupiaq, Inuit and Yupik Eskimos, Aleuts, and a variety of Native American groups. Most, if not all, of the pre-Columbian population of the Americas probably took this route and continued further south and east. (see Models of migration to the New World)
Spaniards explored the coast and made some settlements during the 18th century. Remains of this early period are Spanish names such as Cordova and Valdez. The news of the British North America Act, 1867, was nervously received in Washington, DC. It would create, on July 1, 1867, "one dominion under the name of Canada", and this led to expressions of "grave misgivings on the establishment of a monarchical state to the north" in what Canadians then called "the republic to the south". (See McNaughton's Short History of Canada.) U.S. Secretary of State William Seward thus urged, and the United States Senate thus approved, the treaty authorizing the purchase of Alaska from Imperial Russia for US$7,200,000 on April 9, 1867. The United States took possession and the American flag was raised over Alaska on October 18, which is commemorated as Alaska Day. Russia still used the Julian Calendar in 1867, and the world had not yet been divided into standard time zones; thus, there was no International Date Line, and the day began in the morning instead of starting at midnight. So, while the American day now ends with sunset in western Alaska, the Russian day then started with sunrise in "eastern" Alaska. Thus, Friday, October 6, 1867, the day before the physical transfer of ownership, was followed by Friday, October 18, 1867—which was Saturday, October 7, 1867 in Russia. The change in date was due to America bringing the Gregorian Calendar to Alaska, while the lack of change in day resulted from Alaska's shift from being the starting point of the Russian day to being the ending point of the American day. The purchase was unpopular in the United States, where it became known as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox". Alaska celebrates the purchase each year on the last Monday of March, calling it Seward's Day. Supposedly, the first American administrator of Alaska was Polish immigrant Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski. However, the Anchorage Daily News was unable to find any conclusive information to support or disprove this claim. Upon purchase, the area was called the Department of Alaska. Between 1884 and 1912 it was called the District of Alaska. Alaska was granted territorial status in 1912. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act on July 7, 1958, and Alaska formally became a state on January 3, 1959. The Good Friday Earthquake on March 27, 1964, one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history at magnitude 9.2, struck 120 km (85 miles) east of Anchorage. A total of 131 Alaskans lost their lives, most of them from the resultant tsunami that destroyed two coastal towns and several native villages on the south coast. In 1976, the people of Alaska amended the state's constitution, establishing the Alaska Permanent Fund. The fund invests a portion of the state's mineral revenue, including revenue from the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System, "to benefit all generations of Alaskans." In March 2005, the fund's value was over $30 billion. Prior to 1983, the state lay across four different time zones—Pacific Standard Time (UTC -8 hours) in the southeast panhandle, a small area of Yukon Standard Time (UTC -9 hours) around Yakutat, Alaska–Hawaii Standard Time (UTC -10 hours) in the Anchorage and Fairbanks vicinity, with the Nome area and most of the Aleutian Islands observing Bering Standard Time (UTC -11 hours). In 1983 the number of time zones was reduced to two, with the entire mainland plus the inner Aleutian Islands going to UTC -9 hours (and this zone then being renamed Alaska Standard Time as the Yukon Territory had several years earlier (circa 1975) adopted a single time zone identical to Pacific Standard Time), and the remaining Aleutian Islands were slotted into the UTC −10 hours zone, which was then renamed Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time. Over the years, various vessels have been named USS Alaska, in honor of the state. World War IIDuring World War II, two of the outer Aleutian Islands — Attu, and Kiska — were occupied by Japanese troops. Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese aircraft struck at U.S. Army and Navy installations at Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island. In the evening of June 3 1942, Kate (Nakajima B5N) bombers from the carriers Junyō and Ryūjō attacked Dutch Harbor. Two days of aerial bombardment left over one hundred civilians and servicemen dead and wounded; barracks, fuel tanks, and other structures set ablaze. On 6-7 June, 1942, the Japanese followed the Dutch Harbor raid with an invasion of American soil. After months of reconnaissance, they landed on Kiska and Attu Islands in the Western Aleutians, over 1600 kilometers (994 miles) from Dutch Harbor. On Kiska, they took a small Naval weather crew captive; on Attu, they took the whole village hostage, later shipping them back to Japan as prisoners of war. Timeline
Population History
Note: Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867, with essentially its present boundaries. It was made a territory in 1912 and admitted as a State on January 3, 1959. Census coverage of Alaska began in 1880. For the censuses of 1930 and 1940, Alaska actually was enumerated in the fall of the preceding year (1929, 1939).. Alaska has no counties; the names, boundaries, and designations of the subdivisions reported in the census have evolved considerably over recent decades. In 1990 and 1980, most of the population of the State lived in entities designated as Boroughs; the remainder was reported by Census Areas (sometimes abbreviated C.A.). In 1970, the census was reported by Census Divisions, some of which corresponded to boroughs. In 1960, the census was reported by 24 Election Districts. The table in Part III lists areas that existed in 1990 with their 1990 names and designations. In both the table and the notes, areas listed without any designation had ceased to exist by 1990, when all areas were either Boroughs or Census Areas.. For areas that existed in 1960, 1970, or 1980 but not in 1990, the notes specify the areas of which they became part. (Small portions may have come from or gone to other areas not specified.) No designations appear in the table for these extinguished areas; in 1980 they were Census Areas, in 1970 Census Divisions, and in 1960 Election Districts. Research Tips
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