Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state of the United States, and the largest state of the Union. It occupies the extreme northwestern region of the North American continent and is separated from Asia by the 82-km-wide Bering Strait. Alaska has belonged to the United States since 1867, when it was bought from Russia by Secretary of State William H. Seward. The United States paid Russia $7.2 million for the rights of the Russian American Company in Alaska. By 1900 Alaska had become a land of golden opportunity as one gold discovery followed another and prospectors arrived by the tens of thousands. Although the gold rush was over within a few years, many people settled in Alaska, and fishing developed as an important industry. Alaska's strategic importance became apparent during World War II (1939—1945) with the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor and occupation of Atta and Kiska and with the American desire to send military aid, particularly aircraft, through Alaska to Russia. During the 1940s and 1950s, the large influx of immigrants helped to give renewed impetus to its movement for statehood. On January 3, 1959, Alaska was admitted to the Union as the 49th state.
Alaska is a rugged, wild, beautiful land of majestic mountains and deep, high-walled fjords; of slow-moving glaciers and still-active volcanoes; of dense, coniferous forests and desolate, treeless islands; of hot springs and icy streams. It is a land of contrasts, with extremes of wind and sun, snow and rain, heat and cold. More detailed information can be found at the following website http://www.state.ak.us/.
2. timber wolfAlso known as the gray wolf, it is the largest member of the wild dog family, one of only two species of wolves known in the world. The only other wolf species is the red wolf of the southeastern United States. Gray wolves that live in the treeless plains of the Arctic are called Arctic wolves, and those found in wooded, sub-arctic regions are known as timber wolves or eastern timber wolves.
The gray wolf has become a symbol of endangered animals. Gray wolves were once the most widespread of all large mammals other than humans, with a range that extended over much of the Northern Hemisphere. Today, gray wolves remain numerous in northern Europe, Asia, Alaska, and Canada; however, in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, their range has been reduced to pockets of wilderness. For more information about the timber wolf, please visit websites http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/ and http://www.timberwolfresort.com/.
