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Alaska's flag Capital: Juneau |
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Motto: North to the Future State
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song
"Alaska's Flag" (1955) |
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Nickname: The state is commonly called "The Last Frontier" or "Land of the Midnight Sun" Origin of name: Corruption of Aleut wort meaning "great land" or "that which the sea breaks against" 10 largest cities (2003 est.): Anchorage, 270,951;
Juneau, 31,187; Fairbanks, 30,970; Sitka, 8,876; Ketchikan, 7,453; Kenai,
7,347; Wasilla, 7,084; Kodiak, 6,302; Bethel, 5,983; Palmer, 5,742 State parks: more than 100 (3.5 million acres) Residents: Alaskan 2003 resident population est.: 648,818 See also Encyclopedia: Alaska. |
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Selected famous natives and residents:
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History of Alaska
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Vitus Bering, a Dane working for the Russians, and Alexei Chirikov discovered the Alaskan mainland and the Aleutian Islands in 1741. The tremendous land mass of Alaska -equal to one-fifth of the continental U.S.- was unesplored in 1867 when Secretary of State Willian Seward arranged for its purchase from the Russians for $7,200,000. The transfer of the territory took place on Oct. 18, 1867. Despite a price of about two cents an acre, the purchase was widely ridiculed as "Seward's Folly". The frist official census (1880) reported a total of 33,426 Alaskans, all but 430 being of aboriginal stock. The Gold Rush of 1898 resulted in a mass influx of more than 30,000 people. Since then, Alaska has contributed billions of dollars'worth of products to the U.S. economy. In 1968, a large oil and gas reservoir near Prudhoe Bay on the Artic Coast was found. The Prudhoe Bay reservoir, with an estimated recoverable 10 billion barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of gas, is twice as large as any other oil field in North America. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was completed in 1977 at a cost of $7.7 billion. Oil frows through the 800-mile-long pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. Other important industries are fisheries, wood products, furs, and tourism. Denali National Park and Mendenhall Glacier in North Tongass National Forest are of interes, as is the large totem pole colection at Sitka National Historical Park. The Katmai National Park includes the "Valley or Ten Thousand Smokes", and area of active volcanoes. The Alaska Native population includes Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts. About half of Alaska Natives are Eskimos. (Eskimo is used for Alaska Natives; Inuit is used for Eskimos living in Canada.) The two main Eskimo groups, Inupiat and Yupik, are distinguished by their language and geography. The former live in the northwest parts of Alaska and speak Inupiaq, while the latter live in the south and southwest and speak Yupik. |
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Tsunamis, like the one that devasted Alaska as a result
of the 1964 earthquake, can be Higher than a two story building. The
wave can speed toward the shore faster than a rececar. Everything in
Tsunamis path is crushed, broken, or washed out to sea. Kristina.
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When the Exxon Valdez oil tanker grounded on Bligh
Reef in Prince Willians sound due to pilot negligence 11.2 million gallons
of oil spilled. 1,300 miles of pristine coastline was destroyed. 2800
Sea Otters were killed. 50,000 birds died. Jasmine.
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When the aurora borealis, Northern Lights, are seen
during the winter months, the colors can be green, white, red, and,
sometimes, purple. This is caused by the solar wind moving over, and
igniting gasses, such as neon, helium, hydrogen, and argon in the earth's
outer-atmosphere, between 60 and 80 miles above Earth. Nitrogen and
oxygen molecules color shy with pink bands.
Other gases, such as neon, helium, hydrogen, and argon, also shine with different colors. |
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Wolves are plentiful in Alaska. Some people think
they are very cute because they like to bite and wrestle. Pups hide
from their enemies, because they try to eat the pups. Wolf pups are
not scared of much. Wolf pups play in water, but not too deep. Wolf
pups play a lot more than their moms and dads.
Wolves travel in groups known as packs. The leader of the group is the strongest male and is known as the Alpha-male. Rodnay. |
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Eskimos are famous for their many beautiful dances...
When they had no stores, they had to make there own knives and other
tools. At a Potlatch there is dancing, eating and singing of traditional
Eskimo songs. The Eskimo people eat sea, whale, fish, walrus and birds.
Here are some Eskimo words: Aana ........ Grandmother Aniu ............... Snow Ataata ........... Father Ava ......... Grandfather Iglu ......... Snow house Ini ................ Wood Ulu ....... Woman's knife Qimugun ............. Gun Sienna and Rachel |
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In 1925 a sled dog team went to go get medicine for
a diptheria outbreak. They had to bring the medicine from Nenana to
Nome, where the people were suffering. Every year in March there is
a dog mushing race from Anchorage to Nome; it is called the Iditarod,
and it commemorates that famous mission.
Sled dogs run in pairs. The first two dogs are called leaders. They are usually the smartest and most experienced to follow the trail. The lead dogs make sure they don't make the sled tip over or run into a tree. The trail to Nome is tough because there are mountain rages and huge mountains on the way to Nome. Dog mushing is still a necessity in many parts of Alaska, not just a sport. Brittany |
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Once, in Fairbanks, an early snowfall caused a power
outage. The early snowfall came in September.
The Yukon Quest, Alaska's other famous dog race begins or ends in Fairbanks depending on the year. The distance covered is 1,000 miles, and it ends or bgins in Whitehorse, Canada in the Yukon Province. Gold was discovered in Fairbanks in 1903, and so began the development of Fairbanks as "The Golden Heart City". Kenneth |
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Did you know that brown bears can weigh more then
1,000 pounds. Brown Bears can also be 10 feet tall. Did you know that
there is a species called Cinnamom bear? Male bears are called boars.
Bears try to eat as much as they can to get fat. So when their food
is hard to catch they live off their fat. By Gabriela
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Most glacial ice is in the earch's polar regions.
The polar region is inside the Artic circle. Most glaciers are found
near oceans. Alaskan glacier's are a mixture of ice and rock that moves
down hill. The glaciers in the states of Washington, Wyoming, Montana,
Oregon, California, Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada, all of these glaciers
could not even equal the area of the Alaska valley glacier system. By
Ryan and Dj.
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The 5 longest rivers in Alaska are:
Yukon: 1,875 miles (about 1,400 in Alaska). Porcupine: 555 miles (about 185 miles in Alaska). Koyukuku: 554 miles. Kusokwim: 540 miles. Tanana: 531 miles. |
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In 1942 there were only 100 tourist who came to visit Denali National Park, but in 2000 there were 364,000 tourist!! People lived in the Far North Region for thousands of years. Barow is the largest city in the region. The weather is harshly could. In this region the sun sets at the end of November and rises again at the end of January. Conversely, the sun is up 24 hours a day from around the end of May to the middle of July. The largest city in Alaska is Anchorage, and it's the oldest city in Alaska that didn't start off mining, fishing or from other discoveries of natural resources. The first Eskimos lived cook Intet Basin about 2,000 years ago. In Tooksook Bay, like many other remote Alaskan vilages where there are no roads, people travel by airplane. In the winter they travel by snowmachines. In the Western Region there is lots of tundra. The Yukon Delta Wildlife Refuge is the biggest Wildlife Reserve in the United States of America. Around Bristol Bay and Kodiak there are Brown bears. Brown bears are the largest of any bear species, except Polar bears. In 1912 a volvano went off in Katmai. People were taken to safety by a cutter. In the Southeast Region, where there are many islands, some students get to school by a school boat. The weather in Southeast is mostly rainy. If the bay is to rough to cross they stay at their house and receive school work by CB radio, or telephone. The highest point in North America is a mountain we Alaskans call Denali, meaning: "High One". Mount McKinley, as it is known to most of the world, at 20,320 feet, is the tallest mountain in North America. Alaska has 39 mountain ranges containing 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States. |
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But only small amounts of these gases are found in the atmosphere, and the colors they give off are rarely seen. Megan Eskimos make legends up about Northern Lights are "Night Spirits" playing a game. You can see the Northern Lights much better outside of town where the lights of the city will not obscure them. Howard Wild Salmon are plentiful in Alaska and form the backbone of the Alaska's most important industries: fishing. Some fish like Coho, Silvers, usually weight about 8 to 12 pounds. Although other species like King Salmon can wigh between 40-78 pounds. Fish can be big and small, 24-30" long to 4 feet long. Breannah, Kelly, and Santiago. |
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For acces to more great Alaskan facts
and photos, go to: www.state.ak.us/local/kids/wildvids.shtml
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