Alaska

... More >

down to latitude 54°40' north, with numerous fjords and islands. The most northerly point in the United States is Cape Barrow on the Arctic Ocean. Some two-thirds of the area of Alaska is under permafrost, with the soil frozen to depths of up to 1300 ft.

Geography Alaska is made up of three main regions: a narrow southern coastal strip, with the Panhandle to the south-east and the Aleutians to the south-west; the interior plains and tablelands; and the Arctic North.

The topography of south-eastern Alaska is dominated by the Coast Mountains, a range that suffered folding at a geologically recent period and is slashed by numerous tectonic faults. Rising to 8200 ft, it cuts off the Panhandle from Canada. Between Glacier Bay in the east and the Kenai Peninsula in the south numerous glaciers calve into the sea.

The Gulf of Alaska in enclosed by the Chugach Mountains (Mount Marcus Baker, 13,176 ft) and the Kenai Mountains, which extend into the Kodiak Peninsula. Other ranges of mountains striking further inland reach considerable heights: the St Elias Mountains (Mount Logan, 19,555 ft), the Wrangell Mountains (Mount Blackburn, 16,523 ft) and the mighty arc of the Alaska Range, with Mount McKinley (20,320 ft), the highest peak in the whole United States.

The whole of the south-west coast of Alaska forms part of the "Ring of Fire", the very active circum-Pacific volcanic and earthquake zone. This has been demonstrated by recent volcanic activity on Mount Redoubt and in the Katmai National Park.

The interior tablelands of Alaska, with their extensive plateaux and relatively low hills, are traversed by the 2000 mi. Yukon River, which rises in the Yukon Territory in Canada and flows into the Bering Sea in a wide delta.

The interior tablelands are bounded on the north by the 600 mi. Brooks Range, which rises from 4900 ft in the west to 9239 ft in Mount Michelson in the east.

Climate The coastal mountains have very high precipitations. The Yukon Basin, in the lee of the mountains, has a very cold and dry continental climate: an extreme temperature of 65°F has been recorded at Fort Yukon. The coasts on the Arctic Ocean are ice-bound almost all year round. The Bering Strait is ice free from June to October. Some two-fifths of Alaska is forest- covered, with hemlock, Sitka spruce, birch and willow most strongly represented. The Arctic tree-line is approximately on the 68th parallel. Beyond this and at higher altitudes the vegetation cover is that of the treeless tundra, characterised by dwarf pine, various shrubs, lichens and mosses.

History In 1741 Vitus Bering, a Dane in the Russian service, discovered the south coast of Alaska, then thinly peopled by Eskimos, Aleuts and Indians. Subsequently Spanish, British, Russian and American fur traders made their way into the territory, then administered by Russia. From 1799 the Russian-American Company had a monopoly of the fur trade in Alaska. In 1867 Russia sold the territory to the United States for 7.2 million dollars, and 17 years later, in 1884, it was given its own civil administration and a constitution modelled on that of Oregon. The discovery of gold on the Yukon River in 1897 led to an increase in population; and later the discovery of other raw materials, notably the deposits of oil found on the north coast in 1968, increased the economic importance of Alaska. In 1912 it became an independent territory. During the Second World War it was of strategic importance (construction of the Alaska Highway; United States military bases). In 1959 it became the 49th state of the Union.

Economy The economic wealth of Alaska lies in its enormous reserves of raw materials (timber, coal, copper, platinum, silver, oil). The extraction of oil and natural gas (since 1968) on the Arctic Ocean plays a major part in the economy of the state. Fishing and fish processing are also important sources of income. The timber industry is active mainly in the south-east of the territory. Agriculture, confined to small areas round Anchorage and Fairbanks, is in decline. Of interest to tourists is the magnificent landscape; there are also opportunities to observe animals, especially bears.