阿拉斯加(Alaska)

美国五十州中面积最大的一州（1997年人口约609,000），位在北美洲西北角，面积591,004平方哩（1,530,700平方公里）。三面临海，西临白令海峡（Bering Strait）、白令海（Bering Sea），与西伯利亚（Siberia）对望。马金利山（Mount Mckinley）是北美大陆最高峰，首府为朱诺（Juneau）。原始居民为印第安人和爱斯基摩人（Eskimo），据说他们是从北极（Arctic）经白令陆桥（Bering Land Bridge）迁移到此。18世纪末由俄国的皮草商在科的阿克岛（Kodiak Esland）建立第一个欧洲人殖民地。哈得逊湾公司（Hudson's Bay Co.）的贸易商也对此区很有兴趣，俄国和加拿大的贸易竞争持续至19世纪。1867年苏华德（William Seward）负责和俄国交涉把阿拉斯加卖给美国的事宜，後来发现金矿，才促使美国人移民於此。1912年建立阿拉斯加准州。正式加入联邦是在1959年，成为美国第四十九州。经济主要仰赖石油和天然气，自1977年泛阿拉斯加输油管（Trans-Alaska Pipeline）运作後，阿拉斯加成为仅次於德州的美国原油产地。

English version：

Alaska

State (pop., 1997 est.: 609,000) of the U.S., lying at the extreme northwest of North America. It is the largest in area of the U.S. states and covers 591,004 sq mi (1,530,700 sq km), most of it in land. Facing Siberia across the Bering Strait and Sea to the west, it has the highest point on the continent, Mount McKinley. Its capital is Juneau. The original inhabitants, Indians and Eskimos, are thought to have migrated over the Bering Land Bridge as well as from the Arctic. The first European settlement was established in the late 18th century by Russian fur traders on Kodiak Island. Hudson's Bay Co. traders were also interested in the same area, and Russian-Canadian trade rivalry lasted well into the 19th century. In 1867 William Seward negotiated Alaska's sale from the Russians to the U.S., and the subsequent discovery of gold stimulated American settlement. Alaska was a U.S. Territory from 1912 until it was admitted as the 49th state in 1959. Its economy has become increasingly centered on oil and natural gas: since the opening of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in 1977, Alaska has become second only to Texas in the U.S. production of crude oil.

参考文章

• 美国阿拉斯加州的历史沿革专项地理