Movers Directory of Moving Companies in Alaska
 About Alaska The state has an extremely interesting beginning: the huge land mass of Alaska—equal to one-fifth of the continental U.S.—was unexplored in 1867 when Secretary of State William Seward arranged for its purchase from the Russians for $7,200,000! Thus began the transfer of the territory which 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 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. Because a major part of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle, where the population is small and spread out, most of Alaska’s consumer goods supplies have to be shipped which makes the cost of living higher. However, to make life easier, there is the Alaska General Fund. This fund collects the royalties of oil produced in the state and each year, sends every Alaskan a check for their share - usually somewhere on the order of $1000. Now that you are relocating to Alaska, remember these interesting facts about the state: • 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 Katmai National Park includes the “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes,” an area of active volcanoes. • The Alaska Native population includes Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts. About half of all Alaska Natives are Eskimos. (Eskimo is used for Alaska Natives; Inuit is used for Eskimos living in Canada.) • About a third of Alaska Natives are American Indians. • Important industries are fisheries, wood and wood products, furs, and tourism. • The state is commonly called “The Last Frontier” or “Land of the Midnight Sun” • The name of the state originated from a corruption of Aleut word meaning “great land” or “that which the sea breaks against” • The state capital is Juneau. Alaska's population is 626,932. • Juneau is the only state capital in the U.S. which is only accessible by air or sea. • Alaska's state flag was designed by a 13 year old from Cognac, Alaska. • Gold is Alaska's official state mineral. Discovered by Joe Juneau in 1880, this triggered off a memorable gold rush. • Mount McKinley, in Alaska's backcountry, is the tallest mountain in the U.S. It is 20,320 feet tall. • In Fairbanks, Alaska, never feed a moose with any alcoholic beverage. It is considered illegal. |
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