Wayne Wheelwright - 50 Quick Facts about Alaska

Title Page

50 QUICK FACTS ABOUT ALASKA

By

Wayne Wheelwright

Publisher Information

50 Quick Facts about Alaska

Published in 2013 by Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Copyright 2013 Wayne Wheelwright

The right of Wayne Wheelwright to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Facts

1. Alaska is the furthest north state of the United States. It borders Canada to its East. To Alaskas north is the Arctic Ocean and it has the Pacific Ocean on its west and south. The Bering Strait is the waterway 82 kilometres wide that stretches between Cape Dezhnev in Russia and Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska.
2. By land area Alaska is the largest of the 50 states with an area of 663,268 square miles. Alaska is 2,261 miles wide and 1,420 miles long. Despite its excessive amount of land Alaska is the fourth least populated state and easily the least densely populated with around half of the states population living within the Anchorage metropolitan area.
3. Alaska has the longest coastline of all the United States and if you added all the coastlines of the other 49 states together it still wouldnt add up to the amount of coastline Alaska has. Alaska is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on continental America with it being 500 miles away from its nearest neighbour Washington state.
4. As Alaska stretches in to the Eastern hemisphere it is technically both the westernmost and the easternmost state of the United States, as well as being the northernmost. Only 18 sovereign nations are larger than the state of Alaska which is over twice as large as Texas.
5. South Central Alaska is the southern coastal region where much of Alaskas population is situated. The most populated city of Alaska, Anchorage is located here as well as towns such as Palmer and Wasilla.
6. The Alaska Panhandle which is sometimes known as Southeast Alaska is where the state capital Juneau is located and lies west from the northern half of British Columbia of Canada. Most of Southern Alaskas area forms part of the Tongass National Forest whoch is the largest national forest of the United States.
7. Southwest Alaska includes a huge area of relatively unknown terrain. Much of the region is coastal but it still contains thousands of square miles of varying terrain such as forests, swamplands and highlands. Southwest Alaska includes the Pribilof islands, Nunivak Island and other Bering Sea islands which are west of the Alaska coast.
8. Most of Alaskas territory is situated in the Alaska Interior. Most of the Alaska Interior is wilderness but it does contain Alaskas second largest city, Fairbanks. It also includes the town North Pole as well as Eagle, Delta Junction and Cantwell amongst others. Also in the Alaska Interior are some of the states most famous mountains including Mount McKinley, the Wrangell Mountains and the Ray Mountains.
9. The Alaska North Slope is the region of Alaska that sits on the northern slope of the Brooks Range of mountains. This region is home of the National Petroleum Reserve which according to an assessment by the United States Geological Survey has only 10% of the amount of oil that was originally believed to be there.
10. There are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 57 smaller islands that make up the Aleutian Islands that mark the line between the Bering Sea and the Pacific ocean. This stretch of islands is the westernmost part of the United States. Nearly all of the chain of islands belongs to the state of Alaska and is sometimes known as the Alaskan Bush. The Aleutian Islands are in the Pacific Ring of Fire which is a region where around 90% of the worlds earthquakes occur and is also subject to many volcanic eruptions.
11. Unimak Island which is the largest of the Aleutian Islands in the state of Alaska is the ninth largest island in the United States and is home to Mount Shishaldin which is one the worlds ten most active volcanoes. Mount Shishaldin is the most symmetrical cone shaped large mountain on Earth. According to the 2000 census Unimak Island has a population of 64 all living in the city of False Pass.
12. Alaska has over three million lakes. Just over 3,200 of these are officially named natural lakes. Alsaka also has 67 named artificial reservoirs and 167 named dams. As well as all that Alaska is home to 43 officially named waterfalls and over 12,000 rivers. According to the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System Alaska contains around 9,700 named rivers,creeks and streams.
13. Due to its vast land area the climate of the state of Alaska is high variable. The southeast of Alaska tends to be the wettest and warmest part of Alaska and is the only region of Alaska where the average daytime temperature is agove freezing. The south central Alaska region is subject to some of the milder conditions Alaska has to offer due to its coastal proximity. The Western Alaska climate is especially variable with some parts getting less than 10 inches of rain annually whilst others get 100 inches per year. The climate of the Alaskan Interior is extreme. In the summer temperatures exceed 90 degrees fahrenheit whilst in the winter they can sink as low as -60 degrees fahrenheit. The north of Alaska has an Arctic climate with long, cold winters and snow can fall any month of the year.
14. Before the arrival of European people to Alaska it was home to many indigenous people. The Tlingit people which means people of the tides were a hunter-gatherer culture that used to reside in the rainforest of the southeast Alaska coastal area. The Haida nation had people in Canada and Alaska and are known for their art which is often expressed in ornate jewellery or totem poles. Alaska was also home to peoples such as the Tsimshian, the Aleut and the Alutiiq.
15. The Inuit are the people many people most associate with Alaska. In the United States the term Eskimo is more commonly used to describe the Inuit. This group contains the Yupik and the Inupiat peoples even though Inuit is not an accepted term for the Yupik. Inuit in American mainly speak English but many also speak Danish. Famously the husky breed comes from Inuit breeding of dogs and wolves for transportation using sleds.
16. The United States acquired Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million in 1867. Russia fearing war with Britain that would allow Britain to take Alaska with Russiia receiving no compensation, wanted to sell it. The purchase of Alaska was negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward to mixed reactions with opponents naming it Sewards Folly.
17. Alaska was known as the Department of Alaska until its admission to the Union in 1959.
18. During the late 19 th century gold rushes bought thousands of settlers to Alaska. With its growing population Alaska was incorporated as an organised territory 1912 and moved its capital to Juneau from its previous home of Sitka. The three Aleutian Islands Atttu, Agattu and Kiska were invaded and occupied by Japanese troops during World War II and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor became a major base for the U.S. Army Corps and Navy.
19. On March 27 th , 1964 the Good Friday Earthquake which was the third most powerful earthquake ever recorded killed 133 people and destroyed several villages and large parts of coastal communities mainly caused by the resulting landslides and tsunamis. The Good Friday Earthquake had a moment magnitude of 9.2 which is over a thousand times more powerful than the San Francisco earthquake of 1989.