The port of Nome, situated some 500 mi. west of Fairbanks on the Seward Peninsula (Bering Sea), can be reached only by air. Founded by gold-diggers about 1900, during the gold rush, it is the economic and commercial centre of north-western Alaska; gold panning is now only a show for tourists. Nome is the end point of the 1049 mi. Iditarod dog
-sled race from Anchorage, lasting anything from two to four weeks, which is run annually in March. The Eskimo villages in the surrounding area can be visited either by air or by hired car.