Probably there is no such person in the world who would not hear about Alaska. After all, this is a very interesting region, where every year tourists are increasingly seeking. But if you ask the name of the capital of Alaska, one out of a hundred will hardly answer. And the capital of Alaska is the city of Juneau. The city of Juneau was founded in the middle of the 19th century and at first it was called Harrisburg, then some time Rockwell, and only in 1881 it was named Juneau, in honor of the gold miner, who first found gold in these places.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States. This is not only the peninsula itself, but also a large area in northwestern North America, plus the Aleutian Islands and the islands of the Alexander Archipelago. The area of Alaska is 1,717,854 km, and the population is just over 700 thousand people. The population density is only 0.4 people per square kilometer. In fact, 99% of the state of the state is wild, overgrown with taiga mountains without any population, and indeed traces of civilization.
Actually, initially the capital of Russian Alaska was Sitka, it was founded by whalers and miners of valuable fur-bearing animals, the main thing that Alaska was rich at that time.
But whaling and hunting fell into disrepair, everything that was possible in these parts was shot and caught, the people began to move from there and the city as such lost its former meaning. And in 1906, the state administration moved to Juneau as a more promising area, making it in fact a new capital of Alaska.
Long before the appearance of Europeans in these regions, the Indians of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshians inhabited these places. Here their descendants still live: Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos. And for the first time these lands were Russian explorers Semyon Dezhnev and Fyodor Popov back in 1648. But only in 1742 by Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov were these places mapped.
And the first Russian settlement was founded in the 1780s. In 1799, a joint Russian-American company was established with rights to use the minerals and crafts of this region. For 68 years, Alaska with the nearby islands was under the jurisdiction of Russia. But in 1867, on March 30, this entire area of 1 million 519 thousand km was sold to the United States for only 7.2 million dollars in gold. Preserved pictures of the signing of the agreement on the sale of Alaska
And already in 1880, the first nuggets of gold were found in these places. During the years of the so-called gold rush in Alaska, more than a thousand tons of gold were mined. Gold in Alaska and now mined in huge quantities, this is the main place where the States draw their gold reserves.
But besides this, oil, gas, coal, copper, iron, and zinc are being extracted in the north. Developed fishing and growing reindeer. Logging and hunting are conducted. The region is quite prosperous and the standard of living here as a whole is even higher than in other states. Small towns look quite respectable. In Alaska, there are only four cities with a population of 10 to 100 thousand. These are: Fairbanks, Wasilla, College and the capital of the state of Juneau. And in such cities as Ketchikan, Sitka, Kenai, Kodiak, Palmer, Bethel live in less than 10 thousand. And there are only twenty-two such cities. And only one city of Alaska has a population of more than 100 thousand people and this is not the capital at all, but the city of Anchorage.
After the state administration moved here, Juneau remained a small village for a long time and only in 1929 began its development. In 1931 it was already a real small town. And after Alaska received state status in 1959, Juneau rightfully became its capital. Since it is located on the border itself, the question of the transfer of the capital to Anchorage was repeatedly raised, but Juneau remains the center today. This is also due to the fact that in the central regions of Alaska there is a rather harsh climate, and here on the coast of the Pacific Ocean is much warmer. In January, and often the temperature is above zero, in summer the average temperature is around 20 ° C. In general, this is quite a modern, very well equipped and clean city.
As in all states of the United States, in Juneau is located all state management, ministries, universities and health care facilities. Juneau is a port city. Here, compared to other states, a fairly high level of income per capita, more than 30 thousand dollars. In the urban economy, fishing and tourism play an important role, although the locals are not particularly pleased with the large influx of tourists, because crowds of tourists violate their usual way of life.
The main transport linking Alaska with the “mainland” is – air. At 11 km from the city is the airport, from where there are regular flights to the mainland, as well as Anchorage, Sitka and other locations in Alaska. More than 600,000 passengers a year use air transport services.
