The
Alexander Archipelago is a three-hundred-mile-long
archipelagoAn archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. The word archipelago is directly derived from the Greek arkhon and pelagos...
, or group of islands, off the southeastern coast of
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
. Deep channels and fjords separate the islands and cut them off from the mainland. The northern part of the
Inside PassageThe Inside Passage of the Alaska Panhandle and coastal British Columbia is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a series of passages between the mainland and the coastal islands. Ships using the route can avoid some of the bad weather in the open ocean, and visit the many isolated...
is sheltered by the islands as it winds its way among them.
The islands have irregular, steep coasts and dense
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
and
temperate rain forestTemperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive high rainfall.-Definition:For temperate rain forests of North America, Alaback's definition is widely recognized:...
s.
The largest islands are
Chichagof IslandChichagof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Alaska Panhandle. At long and wide, it has a land area of , making it the fifth largest island in the United States and the 109th largest island in the world. There was a 2000 census population of 1,342 persons...
,
Admiralty IslandAdmiralty Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska, at . It is
145 km long and
56 km wide with an area of
, Baranof IslandBaranof Island, also sometimes called Baranov Island, Shee or Sitka Island, is an island in the northern Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. The name Baranof was given in 1805 by Imperial Russian Navy captain U. F. Lisianski to honor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov...
, Wrangell IslandWrangell Island is in the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle of southeastern Alaska. It is 48 km long and 8–23 km wide. It has a land area of 544.03 km² , making it the 29th largest island in the United States. Wrangell is separated from the mainland by the narrow Blake...
, Revillagigedo IslandRevillagigedo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km north-south and 48 km east-west, it is 2,754.835 km² in area, making it the 12th largest island in the United States...
, Kupreanof IslandKupreanof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska at . The island is 84 km long and 32 km wide with a total land area is 2,802.84 km² , making it the 13th largest island in the United States and the 170th largest island in the world...
, Dall IslandDall Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago off the southeast coast of Alaska, just west of Prince of Wales Island and north of Canadian waters. Its peak elevation is 2,443 feet above sea level. Its land area is 254.02 square miles , making it the 28th largest island in the United States...
and Prince of Wales IslandPrince of Wales Island is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. It is the 4th largest island in the United States and the 97th largest island in the world....
.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Alexander Archipelago' Start a new discussion about 'Alexander Archipelago' Answer questions from other users |
The
Alexander Archipelago is a three-hundred-mile-long
archipelagoAn archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. The word archipelago is directly derived from the Greek arkhon and pelagos...
, or group of islands, off the southeastern coast of
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
. Deep channels and fjords separate the islands and cut them off from the mainland. The northern part of the
Inside PassageThe Inside Passage of the Alaska Panhandle and coastal British Columbia is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a series of passages between the mainland and the coastal islands. Ships using the route can avoid some of the bad weather in the open ocean, and visit the many isolated...
is sheltered by the islands as it winds its way among them.
The islands have irregular, steep coasts and dense
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
and
temperate rain forestTemperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive high rainfall.-Definition:For temperate rain forests of North America, Alaback's definition is widely recognized:...
s.
The largest islands are
Chichagof IslandChichagof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Alaska Panhandle. At long and wide, it has a land area of , making it the fifth largest island in the United States and the 109th largest island in the world. There was a 2000 census population of 1,342 persons...
,
Admiralty IslandAdmiralty Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska, at . It is
145 km long and
56 km wide with an area of
, Baranof IslandBaranof Island, also sometimes called Baranov Island, Shee or Sitka Island, is an island in the northern Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. The name Baranof was given in 1805 by Imperial Russian Navy captain U. F. Lisianski to honor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov...
, Wrangell IslandWrangell Island is in the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle of southeastern Alaska. It is 48 km long and 8–23 km wide. It has a land area of 544.03 km² , making it the 29th largest island in the United States. Wrangell is separated from the mainland by the narrow Blake...
, Revillagigedo IslandRevillagigedo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km north-south and 48 km east-west, it is 2,754.835 km² in area, making it the 12th largest island in the United States...
, Kupreanof IslandKupreanof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska at . The island is 84 km long and 32 km wide with a total land area is 2,802.84 km² , making it the 13th largest island in the United States and the 170th largest island in the world...
, Dall IslandDall Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago off the southeast coast of Alaska, just west of Prince of Wales Island and north of Canadian waters. Its peak elevation is 2,443 feet above sea level. Its land area is 254.02 square miles , making it the 28th largest island in the United States...
and Prince of Wales IslandPrince of Wales Island is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. It is the 4th largest island in the United States and the 97th largest island in the world....
. All the islands are rugged, densely forested, and have an abundance of wildlife.
The TlingitThe Tlingit are an Indigenous people of northwestern America. Their name for themselves is Lingít "people"...
and Kaigani Haida people are native to the area. The TsimshianThe Tsimshian are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Tsimshian translates to Inside the Skeena River. Their communities are in British Columbia and Alaska, around Terrace and Prince Rupert and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. There are approximately...
people found on Annette IslandAnnette Island is an island in Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean on the southeastern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is at . It is about 18 km long and about 18 km wide. The land area is 332.573 km²...
are not originally from the area, having immigrated to the region from British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
in the late 19th century.
KetchikanKetchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, and the southeasternmost sizable city in that state. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2007, it is the fifth most populous city in the state....
on Revillagigedo Island and Sitka
on Baranof Island are the largest towns on the islands. The largest town of the region, JuneauThe City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-Alaska Territory was moved from Sitka...
, is actually on the mainland and hence not part of the archipelago.
Tourism, fishing, and logging are the main industries of the islands.
The archipelago was visited by the Russians in 1741 and was later explored by Britain, Spain, and the United States. Control of the islands passed from Russia to the United States with the Alaska PurchaseThe Alaska Purchase, historically also referred to as Seward's Folly, was the purchase of Alaska by the United States from the Russian Empire in 1867. The purchase, done at the behest of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained 586,412 square miles of new United States territory...
in 1867.
According to Donald Orth's Dictionary of Alaska Place Names (p.64), the Alexander Archipelago received its name from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1867. The island chain is named for Tsar Alexander of Russia.
On an 1860 map of Russian America (Alaska), the island group is called the King George III Archipelago.
See also
- Catherine Island
Catherine Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, USA. It is part of the City and Borough of Sitka and lies just off the northeast corner of Baranof Island, separated from it by Portage Arm. Catherine Island has a land area of 86.936 km² and no resident...
- British Columbia Coast
The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
- Boundary Ranges
The Boundary Ranges, also known in the singular and as the Alaska Boundary Range, are the largest and most northerly subrange of the Coast Mountains...