The state of Alaska, part of the United States, is larger, in terms of land area, than any other state, with a massive 663,000 square miles, or 1.7 million square kilometers. That makes it more than twice as large as the state of Texas. Although its land size is enormous, its population is quite miniscule – it has a population of around 740,000 people, and a little less than half of that population, about 300,000, live in the city of Anchorage. add
In Alaska’s pre-history, it is said that during the last ice age, some 12-15,000 years ago, the sea levels were lower, and this provided a land bridge between Alaska and Siberia, now part of Russia, and it was this land bridge that brought the first peoples from Siberia and other parts of Asia into North America. These people became the Native American and First Nation tribes that eventually inhabited all of the Americas, North and South, within a few thousand years after their first arrival.
Before Alaska became part of the United States, it was occupied by Russia, who established settlements along its coast. Although it is speculated that the Russians began exploring Alaska in the 17th century, the most famous exploratory expedition was the one in 1741 led by Virus Bering, for whom the Bering Strait is named. It is said that the first permanent Russian settlement in the area was founded in 1784. By the middle of the 19th century, there were Russian settlements all along the northern Pacific coast of North America, particularly in what became Alaska – their only European rival was the Spanish, who settled farther south along the Pacific coast, in what later became part of Mexico, and later became the U.S. state of California.
Two years after the end of the American Civil War, the U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward, purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. At the time, it was believed to be a huge waste of money because the land was considered a vast unusable cold landscape not useful for any purposes – for that reason Alaska was known as Seward’s Folly. Of course, today we know it was a good investment because of the large amount of untapped resources that are to be found, including oil, natural gas, and fish.
After Alaska came under United States possession, it was controlled by the U.S. military, becoming an official military district in 1884. In 1912, it was organized as Alaska Territory, and eventually became a state in 1959 – it was the 49th state. Today, as it was said earlier, the state has a population of over 700,000 people.
If you ever get a chance, visit Alaska to view its breathtaking beauty, including its mountains, forests, rivers and streams, as well as its glaciers.
