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 Forklift Masts Alaska - Alaska is the biggest state in the United States by area. It is located in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Arctic Ocean to the north, Canada to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south and west, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 710,231 residents, according to the 2010 United States Census, reside within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska is the least densely populated state of the United States.
Alaska was purchased by the United States from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867. The price was $7.2 million, which is about $120 million in today's dollars. This worked out to roughly two cents for each acre ($4.74/km2). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an incorporated territory on May 11, the year 1912; and the 49th state of the United States on January 3, the year 1959.
The name "Alaska" was already introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was utilized only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed." It is likewise called Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word which came from the same root.
Ranking 45th within the United States, the GSP of Gross State Product in 2007 was $44.9 billion. During 2007, the per capita personal income ranks 15th in the US at approximately $40,042. The gas and oil trade dominates the economy of the state of Alaska, with over 80% of the state's revenues derived from petroleum extraction. The main export product other than natural gas and oil) of the state of Alaska is seafood, mainly salmon, cod, Pollock and crab.
Agriculture represents just a portion of the economy of Alaska. Agricultural production is mainly for consumption within the state and consists of dairy products, nursery stock, vegetables, and livestock. Manufacturing is limited, with most general goods and foodstuff imported from elsewhere.
Employment within the state is largely driven by jobs in government and industries such as natural resource extraction, transportation and shipping. The military bases in Anchorage and Fairbanks likewise provide a substantial component of the economy. Federal subsidies are also an important part of the economy, enabling the state of Alaska to keep taxes low. Its industrial outputs are crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, gold, precious metals, zinc and seafood processing, other mining, timber and wood products.
The state has large amounts of energy resources, with major reserves of oil and gas situated within both the Alaska North Slope (ANS) and Cook Inlet basins. Alaska ranks 2nd within the United States for crude oil production, based on the Energy Information Administration. Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope is the highest yielding oil field in the US and on North America, usually producing approximately 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m3/d).
Pumping upwards of 2.1 million barrels (330,000 m3) of crude oil each day, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline could transport more crude compared to any other oil pipeline in the United States. There are also many coal deposits situated in Alaska's sub-bituminous, bituminous, and lignite coal basins. The state of Alaska likewise offers some of the highest hydroelectric power potential within the country from its various rivers. Large swaths of the Alaskan coastline offer geothermal energy and wind potential as well.
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