Alaska (1737)

In 1959 Alaska became the 49^th state of the USA. When the peninsula was purchased from Russia in 1867, most Americans had little interest in "the land of icebergs and polar bears". Now Alaska, the "Last Frontier", is America's largest state, but very few people live there.

Arctic Alaska has been the home of the Eskimos for many centuries. It is believed that the Eskimos moved there from Mongolia or Siberia along the Bering Strait. The Eskimos and the American Indians of south-eastern Alaska are the state's earliest known inhabitants.

The gold was discovered in the Canadian Yukon. Thousands Americans rushed into Alaska. Some never left Alaska, and some returned there from the Canadian gold fields.

After fishing, Alaska's chief industry is lumber and paper production. There are also large deposits of coal, copper, and other important minerals.

Climatic conditions vary in Alaska. Near Juneau, the capital of Alaska, a relatively moderate maritime climate prevails. The inland is characterized by short, hot summers and long, bitterly cold winters. Although snowy in winter, continental Alaska is relatively dry. In those parts which lie above the Arctic Circle, Alaska still is a land of icebergs and polar bears. Ice masses lie buried in the earth, which is permanently frozen to a depth of several hundred feet. From early May until early August, the midnight sun never sets on this flat, treeless region, but it cannot melt the icy soil more than two thirds of a meter down. The currents of the Pacific warm Alaska, and the Arctic chills it. Alaska lies between 71 and 56 degrees north latitude, stretching southward from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This immense tongue of land is sharply divided into three distinct regions. In the north, Arctic Alaska reaches from the Arctic Ocean to the rough mountains of Brooks Range. Central Alaska lies between Brooks Range and Alaska Range, where Mt. McKinley rises – the highest peak in North America. From the western face of Alaska Range, another block of territory slopes down toward the Bering Sea and Russia.

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