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with Canada lies a bit (or rather, a lot, judging by the size of
it) of Uncle Sam's land. Alaska is somewhat of a forgotten
American state. It is also the last one. Lands that are mostly
in the Artic Circle, mountains as high as the Himalayas, Alaska
is an ice-paradise on Earth.
Alaska is the 49th state of the USA. It was incorporated on
January 3, 1959. The Alaskan population is 626,932 according to
the 2000 US census. "Alaska" derives from the Aleut Alyeska
('greater land'). Its borders meet British Columbia and the
Yukon Territory to the east, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of
Alaska to the south, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait and Chukchi
Sea to the west, and the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea to
the north. Alaska is the largest state in the United States
area-wise and the 18th largest territory on the planet.
The first Alaskan inhabitants came across the Bering Land
Bridge. This extinct stretch of land used to link Russia to
Alaska during the Ice Age, but today it is submerged. Its first
settlers were the Inuit, Yupik Eskimos, Aleuts, Inupiaq, and
many other American Indian tribes. This route is widely believed
to be the one taken by all pre-Columbian settlers of America.
Alaska over the centuries became part of Russia. On April 9,
1867, the US Senate purchased it from Russia for around seven
Set Sail with the Right Cruise for YouYou have just seen what seems to be the one thousandth picture
of your neighbor s recent cruise. With your eyes and ears on
autopilot, you start to daydream about taking a cruise too. If
anything, it would give you the opportunity to take your own
thousand pictures to parade in front of your neighbor!
Where would I want to go? Which cruise line do I choose? How
much is this going to cost me? Deciding the right cruise for you
can seem a bit mystifying at first, but if you sit down and
brainstorm on what you want, you can find a cruise line that
closely fits your requirements.
For ..
million dollars at the time (around 134 million today counting
inflation).
Alaska is not bordered by any other US state. A land stretch of
500 miles of Canadian soil separate Alaska from its homeland.
Alaska is, again, the largest state in area in the USA with its
570,374 square miles. Its also has the longest coastline of the
other 49 states. Since it has many islands, its shoreline is
very tidal. There are some areas that have a 35-foot difference
between high and low tide. Alaska is also a very wet state. It
has three-and-a-half million lakes just counting the ones that
are 20 or more acres large. There are also enormous marshland
and wetland permafrost areas, all covering 188,320 square miles,
mostly in the northern, western, and south western lowlands.
Sixteen thousand square miles of the land are in the form of
frozen water, or glacier ice.
Alaska's main export is seafood. Agriculture there is only a
fraction of the industry. It mostly attends to its internal
needs within the state as it is difficult for Alaskans to import
food from mainland USA. This difficulty comes from the poor
transportation infrastructure to and within Alaska. This makes
food prices soar compared to the food prices in mainland USA.
There is also a strong military pole that grosses high on
Cruising Alaska by Ferry Here s an all-Alaskan suggestion for cruisers who would like to:
* travel at their own own pace;
* choose their own ports-of-call;
* lay over in any port for as many days as they desire;
* share their travel with Alaskan locals;
* have the option to bring along the family RV or auto; and
* cruise to Alaska one way and drive home by highway.
If this sounds good to you, Alaska s state-owned ferries may be
just the ticket for one of life s most memorable cruise
vacations. The Alaska Marine Highway System, as it is called, is
composed of 11 modern ferryliners, all with ..
Alaskan income. They industrialize crude petroleum, natural gas,
coal, gold, precious metals, etc.
The alcoholism rate is very high in Alaska. People there tend to
get depressed due to the intense cold and isolation. There is
also a high suicide, domestic abuse, and violent crime rate
probably due to the alcohol. There is also something called
"brain-drain". When students achieve recognition in the academic
field they usually flee to mainland USA and never go back,
leaving behind the not-so-successful students. Nevertheless, the
University of Alaska has been successful in taking care of this
problem. It offers the best 10 percent of high school graduates
a four-year scholarship.
So you see, Alaska grows year by year in the tourism field due
to the magic of its arctic land. Don't let the downside of it
keep you away from seeing the beautiful side of it! You might
die without ever seeing the Aurora Borealis!
About the author:
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to
href="http://alaska.guide-to.info/">Alaska
Michael RussellAlaska - A Freezing Adventure
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