Kenai Peninsula

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Kenai Peninsula

The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of Landform that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paeninsula : paene, almost + insula, island....
jutting from the southern coast of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States 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....
in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The name Kenai is possibly derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
, which borders the peninsula to the west.

peninsula extends approximately 150 miles (240 km) southwest from the Chugach Mountains

Chugach Mountains

The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America....
, south of Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is a consolidated city-Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 279,671 municipal residents in 2007 , it is Alaska's largest city and constitutes more than 40 percent of the state's total population....
.

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Encyclopedia

The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula

Peninsula

Alaska

United States

Cook Inlet

Geography

The peninsula extends approximately 150 miles (240 km) southwest from the Chugach Mountains

Chugach Mountains

The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America....
, south of Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska

Cook Inlet

Prince William Sound

Prince William Sound is a Sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula....
. Most of the peninsula is part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough

Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska

Kenai Peninsula Borough is a Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska with a population of 49,700 as of the United States Census 2000. The borough seat is Soldotna, Alaska, its third-largest incorporated community....
. Gerasim Izmailov

Gerasim Izmailov

Gerasim Grigoryevich Izmailov was a Russian navigator involved in the Russian colonization of the Americas and in the establishment of the colonies of Russian America in Alaska....
was the first to explore and map the peninsula in 1789.

The glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large, slow-moving mass of ice, formed from compacted layers of snow, that slowly deforms and flows in response to gravity and high pressure....
-covered Kenai Mountains

Kenai Mountains

The Kenai Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Alaska. They extend 192 km northeast from the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula to the Chugach Mountains....
(7,000 ft/2,130 m) run along the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska

Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found....
. Much of the range is within Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords National Park is a United States National Park established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The park covers an area of approximately 1,760 mi2 on the Kenai Peninsula in southcentral Alaska near the town of Seward, Alaska....
. The northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is flatter and marshy, dotted with numerous small lakes such as Bear Lake

Bear Lake (Alaska)

Bear Lake is near the town of Seward, Alaska and Resurrection Bay, in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula in the United States state of Alaska....
. Several larger lakes extend through the interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake

Skilak Lake

Skilak Lake is a large lake on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The lake is part of the Kenai River system but is also comprised of glacial runoff. The water is exceptionally clear with a mostly rocky bottom, relatively free of aquatic vegetation....
and Tustumena Lake

Tustumena Lake

Tustumena Lake is a lake on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula in southern Alaska, about 65 km west of Seward, Alaska, at about . The lake is 37 km long and 3 km wide and receives drainage from Tustumena Glacier....
. Rivers include the Kenai River

Kenai River

The Kenai River is a river in the Kenai Peninsula of south central Alaska. It runs 132 km westward from Kenai Lake in the Kenai Mountains, through the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and Skilak Lake to its outlet into the Cook Inlet of the Pacific Ocean near Kenai, Alaska....
, famous for its salmon population, as well as the Russian River

Russian River (Alaska)

For the river in California, see Russian River .The Russian River is a 13-mile-long river on the Kenai Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska....
, the Kasilof River

Kasilof River

The Kasilof River is a river on the western Kenai Peninsula in southern Alaska at about . It begins at Tustumena Lake and flows northwest to Cook Inlet near Kasilof, Alaska....
, and Anchor River. Kachemak Bay

Kachemak Bay

Kachemak Bay is a 64-km-long arm of Cook Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Homer, Alaska, Halibut Cove, Alaska, Seldovia, Alaska, Nanwalek, Alaska, Port Graham, Alaska, and Kachemak, Alaska are on the bay as well as three Old Believer settlements in the Fox River, Ala...
, a small inlet off the larger Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
, extends into the peninsula's southwest end, much of which is part of Kachemak Bay State Park

The Kenai Peninsula has many glaciers in its eastern and southern areas. It is home to both the Sargent Icefield

Sargent Icefield

The Sargent Icefield is a large icefield located on the eastern portion of the Kenai Peninsula bordering Prince William Sound in Alaska. The ice field has numerous outflow glaciers including the Chenega Glacier, Princeton Glacier, and Ellsworth Glaciers....
and Harding Icefield

Harding Icefield

The Harding Icefield is an expansive ice field located in the Kenai Mountains of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. It is also partially located in Kenai Fjords National Park....
s and numerous glaciers that spawn off them.

Towns and cities

The peninsula includes several of the most populous towns in southern Alaska, including Seward

Seward, Alaska

Seward is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,016....
on the Gulf of Alaska Coast, Soldotna

Soldotna, Alaska

Soldotna is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 United States Census the population was 3,759. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 4,087....
and Kenai

Kenai, Alaska

Kenai is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 7,464....
along the Cook Inlet, and Homer

Homer, Alaska

Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364....
, along Kachemak Bay in the south. Across Kachemak Bay from Homer

Homer, Alaska

Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364....
, on the steeper and more remote end of the peninsula are the villages of Seldovia

Seldovia, Alaska

Seldovia is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Alaska, United States. The population was 286 at the 2000 United States Census....
, Nanwalek

Nanwalek, Alaska

Nanwalek , formerly English Bay, is census-designated place in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Alaska, United States that contains a traditional Alutiiq village....
, and Port Graham

Port Graham, Alaska

Port Graham is a census-designated place in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 United States Census the population was 171....
.

Transportation

Homer famously marks the terminus of the paved highway system of North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
and is a popular destination for travelers who have driven to Alaska from the lower 48 states

Contiguous United States

The term contiguous United States refers to the 48 contiguous U.S. states located on the North American continent south of the border with Canada, plus the Washington, D.C.....
. Seward is the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad

Alaska Railroad

The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward, Alaska and Whittier, Alaska, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks, Alaska, and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state....
.

Climate

The peninsula has a coastal climate that is relatively mild, with abundant rainfall. It is one of the few areas in Alaska that allows for agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
, with a growing season adequate for producing hay and several other crops.

Natural resources and economy

The peninsula also has natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills....
, petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
, and coal

Coal

Coal is a readily combustion black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The harder forms, such as anthracite, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure....
deposits, as well as abundant commercial and personal-use fisheries. Tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from...
is a major industry, along with outfitting and guiding services for hunters and fishers.