In the extreme northwest of North America, the Alaska Peninsula is located, which makes up most of the territory of the northernmost and largest state in the United States. The state of Alaska is separated from the rest of the United States by the territory of Canada. It also has a sea border with Russia, passing through a small segment of the Bering Strait. The area of ​​Alaska is 1,717,854 km 2, which means that no other state can compare with it in this indicator. Such expanses open up unprecedented opportunities for the development of the economy, because the geological structure of the territory is diverse, which means that the minerals that lie under it are also diverse.

Alaska population

Southeast Alaska

There is no official division of Alaska into regions, however, geographers and environmentalists tend to distinguish several large geographical regions, each of which has both climatic and geological features. However, the geography of Alaska can be seen in terms of several major geographic regions. Each of these regions deserves special mention. The area of ​​Alaska is so large that geographical and climatic conditions can vary significantly in different parts of it.

The southeastern geographic region of the state is characterized by the closest proximity to the mainland of the United States. In addition, southeastern Alaska is the northern end of the so-called Inner Passage, which is a water artery of a complex trajectory, consisting of numerous channels, lakes, and canals.

This path was actively used by the Indians to move through the territory of the region parallel to the coast in relative safety. Later, this passage was used by gold miners during the Gold Rush for the development of coastal areas. Today, this route is very popular among tourists who choose organized travel on cruise ships, and among independent travelers who prefer regular ferries carrying passengers, road transport and cargo.

Alaska North Slope

On the North Slope of Alaska is the second largest administrative unit in the United States - the borough of North Slope. This administrative unit is so large that it is larger than the state of Minnesota and thirty-eight other American states. The North Slope has access to the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea.

The population of the district barely exceeds seven thousand people, but since 2000 there has been a steady steady growth, due not only to natural growth, but also to migration from other US states.

The largest city in the North Slow is the settlement of Barrow, named after the famous English politician and founder of the Royal Geographical Society. This small town, with a population of just over 4,000 in 2005, is the northernmost city in the United States, located 515 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle and 2,100 kilometers from the North Pole. The city is surrounded by dry tundra, and the soil freezes to a depth of four hundred meters.

Aleutian Islands

Absolutely special in all respects are the Aleutian Islands, which belong to the state of Alaska and serve as the natural southern boundary of the Bering Sea.

The archipelago, consisting of one hundred and ten islands and numerous rocks, stretches in an arc from the southwestern coast of Alaska to the shores of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Aleutian Islands are usually divided into five major groups:

• nearby islands.
• Rat Islands.
• Andreyanovsky Islands.
• Fox Islands.
• The four hill islands.

Since the islands are the product of volcanic activity, it is not surprising that they have twenty-five active volcanoes. The largest of them are the volcanoes Segula, Kanaga, Goreloy, Bolshoy Sitkin, Tanaga and Vsevidov. But the highest and most famous volcano is Shishaldin, located on the island of Unimak. It is generally accepted that the height of 2857 meters was first conquered by J. Petrson in 1932, however, given the peculiarities of the slope, it is possible that both Russians and indigenous people could climb to the top of the volcano.

Despite the fact that numerous eruptions were recorded on the volcano in the XX, it is nevertheless popular among lovers of extreme skiing. The length of the track is 1830 meters. The Alaska Natives call the volcano Haginak.

The islands are sparsely populated, and many of them are completely uninhabited. The total number of inhabitants is about eight thousand people, and the largest city is Unalaska with a population of 4283 inhabitants.

Inland Alaska

Most of the peninsula belongs to the region, which in the scientific literature is called Inner Alaska. The territory of the region is bounded by the Wrangel, Denali, Ray and Alaska Mountains.

The largest city in the geographic area is Fairbanks, which serves as the administrative center for the borough of Fairbanks-North Star. The population of the city exceeds 30 thousand people, which makes it the second largest city in Alaska.

The city has a special place on the map of the state also due to the fact that the University of Alaska is located there - the largest educational institution in the region, founded in 1917.

The city appeared on the US map at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Gold Rush was in full swing in the state. And the place of its construction was not chosen by chance. The city, which bears the name of US Vice President Charles Warren Fairbanks, is located in central Alaska, in the fertile valley of the Tanaka River, in which, despite the harsh climate, there is an opportunity to engage in agriculture.

Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

Special mention deserves such a natural phenomenon as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, formed as a result of the eruption of the Katmai volcano. The eruption was so strong that the volcano itself was completely destroyed, and a new one appeared in its place, called Novarupta.

The eruption is considered to be the strongest in the 20th century, since on an eight-point scale it is estimated at six points. The entire valley, in which there were dense forests, a river and numerous springs, was covered with a thick layer of ash, reaching a thickness of two hundred meters in places.

The valley got its name due to the numerous sources of steam that escaped from under the hardened tuff crust. To date, the ash has almost cooled down and the water below it has ceased to evaporate, so steam sources, also called fumaroles, are almost impossible to meet. But despite this, every year thousands of tourists come by sightseeing buses to the valley to see with their own eyes the consequences of one of the greatest natural disasters of the twentieth century.

Economy of Alaska

Having discussed in detail the geographical features of the state, it is worth talking about its economic situation, which, of course, is closely related to the natural resources located on the territory of the peninsula.

The land of the state is extremely rich in various natural resources such as oil, gold and natural gas. In terms of the number of proven gold reserves, the state is second only to Nevada. In addition, up to eight percent of all American silver is mined in the state, and the Red Dog mine has the largest reserves of zinc in all of the United States and supplies more than ten percent of this metal to the international market.

However, the foundation of the entire Alaskan economy is oil production, which forms the basis of the budget and the Future Generations Welfare Fund. About twenty percent of all oil in the United States is produced on the peninsula. Through oil pipelines built back in the 70s, oil from the fields is delivered to the large seaport of Valdiz, the population of which is involved not only in the transportation of oil, but also in fishing, which is carried out mainly by deep-sea trawling.

Alaska, which is considered to have a fairly high standard of living compared to many states, is considered one of the most socially oriented regions in the United States. As a result of a referendum held in 1976, it was decided to allocate 25% of the oil revenues received by the state government to a special fund from which all Alaskans receive an annual allowance. The maximum amount of such premium was $3269 in 2018, while the minimum payment was made in 2010 and was only $1281.

Anchorage. The largest city in the state

In 2014 the city celebrated its centenary. It was founded at a time when the Gold Rush was in full swing on the peninsula and the cities in the northernmost state of the country were growing and developing rapidly.

A hundred years later, Anchorage is home to 291,000 people, making it the northernmost city in the United States with a population of over 100,000. Special mention deserves the fact that more than forty percent of the state's population lives in the city.

The history of the city began with a small tent camp set up in the immediate vicinity of the mouth of the Ship Creek River. However, rather quickly, a small settlement turned into a strategically important city of great importance, both for the economy and for the security of the United States.

Since the Second World War, during which a large number of military installations appeared in the city, the population of the city has been steadily growing. The constant stable development of the city is connected not only with its strategic position, but also with the active development of minerals in the immediate vicinity of the city.

However, the history of the city also had its own catastrophes, which include, first of all, the strongest earthquake that happened in 1964 and destroyed a significant part of the city. The epicenter of the earthquake was located just a hundred and a few kilometers from the city center, which resulted in an amplitude of 9.2 points, which means that this earthquake was the strongest of all that were registered in the United States.

However, the tragedy was immediately followed by an unprecedented economic growth caused by the discovery of large oil deposits, which coincided with a rise in prices for this resource in the international commodity market. The city was rebuilt very quickly and its population increased. This period entered the history of the city and the entire state as an oil boom.

State capital

The state capital city of Juneau does not belong to the major cities of Alaska, since its population is only slightly more than thirty thousand people. The city got its name in honor of the gold digger, when several large gold deposits were discovered in Alaska. However, the city originally had a completely different name.

Like many other cities in Alaska, Juneau began as a campground in 1880. During the first year of its existence, the settlement was called Harrisburg, in honor of Richard Harris, but already in 1881 the miners themselves renamed it Juneau.

Talking about the geography of Alaska, it is impossible not to mention that the city of Juneau is located between the shores of the Gastineau Strait and the slopes of the Coast Range. The relative protection of the city from the harsh east winds makes its climate relatively comfortable for permanent residence, although the entire region has a pronounced continental climate. The temperature in July averages about eighteen degrees of heat, while in February, the coldest month, it can drop to thirty degrees below zero.

Like the rest of Alaska's industry, Juneau's industry is geared towards fishing, transportation, and resource processing. However, as is the case with other state capitals, the backbone of the city's economy is the public administration sector.

In addition to the raw material and public sector, the tourism sector is also important for the city's economy. Every year from May to September, numerous cruise ships call at the port of Juneau, bringing tourists from the mainland, and with them money to the city budget. But despite the rise in city tourism revenue, many city dwellers believe that the tourism boom of the past decade is more likely to harm the city, destroying the usual way of life. On the whole, however, Alaska's population, whose standard of living is rising thanks to tourism, looks favorably on the growing number of visitors from other American states and even foreign countries. But more travelers come from within the United States. As in all of Alaska, the nationalities of the population of Juneau are very diverse: here are Europeans, Hispanics, and indigenous people.

"Catherine, you were wrong!" - the refrain of a rollicking song that sounded in the 90s from every iron, and calls for the United States to "give back" the land of Alaska - that is, perhaps, all that is known today to the average Russian about the presence of our country on the North American continent. At the same time, this story concerns no one else but the people of Irkutsk - after all, it was from the capital of the Angara region for more than 80 years that all the management of this gigantic territory came. More than one and a half million square kilometers occupied the lands of Russian Alaska in the middle of the 19th century. And it all started with three modest ships moored to one of the islands. Then there was a long way of development and conquest: a bloody war with the local population, successful trade and extraction of valuable furs, diplomatic intrigues and romantic ballads. And an integral part of all this was for many years the activities of the Russian-American Company under the leadership of the first Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov, and then his son-in-law, Count Nikolai Rezanov. Today we invite you to take a brief excursion into the history of Russian Alaska. Let Russia not keep this territory in its composition - the geopolitical requirements of the moment were such that the maintenance of remote lands was more expensive than the economic benefits that could be obtained from being present on it. However, the feat of the Russians, who discovered and mastered the harsh land, still amazes with its greatness today.

History of Alaska

The first inhabitants of Alaska came to the territory of the modern US state about 15 or 20,000 years ago - they moved from Eurasia to North America through the isthmus that then connected the two continents in the place where the Bering Strait is today.

By the time the Europeans arrived in Alaska, several peoples inhabited it, including the Tsimshians, Haida and Tlingit, Aleuts and Athabaskans, as well as the Eskimos, Inupiat and Yupik. But all modern natives of Alaska and Siberia have common ancestors - their genetic relationship has already been proven.

Discovery of Alaska by Russian explorers

History has not preserved the name of the first European who set foot on the land of Alaska. But at the same time, it is very likely that it was a member of the Russian expedition. Perhaps it was the expedition of Semyon Dezhnev in 1648. It is possible that in 1732 members of the crew of the small ship "Saint Gabriel", who explored Chukotka, landed on the coast of the North American continent.

However, the official discovery of Alaska is July 15, 1741 - on this day, from one of the ships of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, the famous explorer Vitus Bering saw the land. It was Prince of Wales Island, which is located in the southeast of Alaska.

Subsequently, the island, the sea and the strait between Chukotka and Alaska were named after Vitus Bering. Assessing the scientific and political results of the second expedition of V. Bering, the Soviet historian A.V. Efimov recognized them as huge, because during the Second Kamchatka expedition, the American coast for the first time in history was reliably mapped as “part of North America”. However, the Russian Empress Elizabeth did not show any noticeable interest in the lands of North America. She issued a decree obliging the local population to pay a fee for trade, but did not take any further steps towards developing relations with Alaska.

However, the attention of Russian industrialists came to the sea otters living in coastal waters - sea otters. Their fur was considered one of the most valuable in the world, so sea otters were extremely profitable. So by 1743, Russian traders and fur hunters had established close contact with the Aleuts.

Development of Russian Alaska: North-Eastern Company

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in subsequent years, Russian travelers repeatedly landed on the islands of Alaska, fished for sea otters and traded with local residents, and even entered into skirmishes with them.

In 1762, Empress Catherine the Great ascended the Russian throne. Her government turned its attention back to Alaska. In 1769, the duty on trade with the Aleuts was abolished. The development of Alaska went by leaps and bounds. In 1772, the first Russian trading settlement was founded on the large island of Unalaska. Another 12 years later, in 1784, an expedition under the command of Grigory Shelikhov landed on the Aleutian Islands, which founded the Russian settlement of Kodiak in the Bay of Three Saints.

The Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov, a Russian explorer, navigator and industrialist, glorified his name in history by the fact that since 1775 he was engaged in the arrangement of commercial merchant shipping between the Kuril and Aleutian island ridges as the founder of the North-Eastern Company.

His associates arrived in Alaska on three galliots, "Three Saints", "St. Simeon" and "St. Michael". "Shelikhovtsy" begin to intensively develop the island. They subdue the local Eskimos (Konyags), try to develop agriculture by planting turnips and potatoes, and also conduct spiritual activities, converting the indigenous people to their faith. Orthodox missionaries made a tangible contribution to the development of Russian America.

The colony on Kodiak functioned relatively successfully until the early 90s of the XVIII century. In 1792, the city, which was named Pavlovsk Harbor, was moved to a new location - this was the result of a powerful tsunami that damaged the Russian settlement.

Russian-American company

With the merger of the companies of merchants G.I. Shelikhova, I.I. and M.S. Golikovs and N.P. Mylnikov in 1798-99, a single "Russian-American Company" was created. From Paul I, who ruled Russia at that time, she received monopoly rights to fur trade, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The company was called upon to represent and defend with its own means the interests of Russia in the Pacific Ocean, and was under the "highest patronage." Since 1801, Alexander I and the Grand Dukes, major statesmen have become shareholders of the company. The main board of the company was located in St. Petersburg, but in fact the management of all affairs was carried out from Irkutsk, where Shelikhov lived.

Alexander Baranov became the first governor of Alaska under the control of the RAC. During the years of his reign, the boundaries of Russian possessions in Alaska expanded significantly, new Russian settlements arose. Redoubts appeared in the Kenai and Chugatsky bays. The construction of Novorossiysk in Yakutat Bay began. In 1796, moving south along the coast of America, the Russians reached the island of Sitka.

The basis of the economy of Russian America was still the fishing of sea animals: sea otters, sea lions, which was carried out with the support of the Aleuts.

Russian Indian War

However, the indigenous people did not always meet the Russian settlers with open arms. Having reached the island of Sitka, the Russians ran into fierce resistance from the Tlingit Indians, and in 1802 the Russo-Indian War broke out. Control of the island and fishing for sea otters in coastal waters became the cornerstone of the conflict.

The first skirmish on the mainland took place on May 23, 1802. In June, a detachment of 600 Indians, led by the leader Katlian, attacked the Mikhailovsky fortress on the island of Sitka. By June, during the ensuing series of attacks, the 165-member Sitka Party had been completely crushed. The English brig Unicorn, which sailed into the area a little later, helped the miraculously surviving Russians to escape. The loss of Sitka was a severe blow to the Russian colonies and personally to Governor Baranov. The total losses of the Russian-American Company amounted to 24 Russians and 200 Aleuts.

In 1804, Baranov moved from Yakutat to conquer Sitka. After a long siege and shelling of the fortress occupied by the Tlingits, on October 8, 1804, the Russian flag was raised over the native settlement. The construction of a fort and a new settlement began. Soon the city of Novo-Arkhangelsk grew up here.

However, on August 20, 1805, the Eyak warriors of the Tlahaik-Tekuedi clan and their Tlingit allies burned Yakutat and killed the Russians and Aleuts who remained there. In addition, at the same time, in a distant sea crossing, they got into a storm and about 250 more people died. The fall of Yakutat and the death of Demyanenkov's party became another heavy blow for the Russian colonies. An important economic and strategic base on the coast of America was lost.

Further confrontation continued until 1805, when a truce was concluded with the Indians and the RAC tried to fish in the waters of the Tlingit in large numbers under the cover of Russian warships. However, the Tlingits even then opened fire from guns, already at the beast, which made fishing almost impossible.

As a result of Indian attacks, 2 Russian fortresses and a village in Southeast Alaska were destroyed, about 45 Russians and more than 230 natives died. All this stopped the advance of the Russians in a southerly direction along the northwestern coast of America for several years. The Indian threat further fettered the RAC forces in the region of the Alexander Archipelago and did not allow the systematic colonization of Southeast Alaska to begin. However, after the cessation of fishing in the lands of the Indians, relations improved somewhat, and the RAC resumed trade with the Tlingit and even allowed them to restore their ancestral village near Novoarkhangelsk.

It should be noted that the complete settlement of relations with the Tlingit took place two hundred years later - in October 2004, an official peace ceremony was held between the Kiksadi clan and Russia.

The Russo-Indian War secured Alaska for Russia, but limited the further advance of the Russians deep into America.

Under the control of Irkutsk

Grigory Shelikhov had already died by this time: he died in 1795. His place in the management of the RAC and Alaska was taken by the son-in-law and legal heir of the Russian-American Company, Count Nikolai Petrovich Ryazanov. In 1799, he received from the ruler of Russia, Emperor Paul I, the right to monopoly the American fur trade.

Nikolai Rezanov was born in 1764 in St. Petersburg, but after some time his father was appointed chairman of the civil chamber of the provincial court in Irkutsk. Rezanov himself serves in the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment, and is even personally responsible for the protection of Catherine II, but in 1791 he was also assigned to Irkutsk. Here he was supposed to inspect the activities of Shelikhov's company.

In Irkutsk, Rezanov met "Columbus Rossky": that was how contemporaries called Shelikhov, the founder of the first Russian settlements in America. In an effort to strengthen his position, Shelikhov marries his eldest daughter, Anna, for Rezanov. Thanks to this marriage, Nikolai Rezanov received the right to participate in the affairs of the family company and became a co-owner of huge capital, and the bride from a merchant family - the family coat of arms and all the privileges of the titled Russian nobility. From that moment on, the fate of Rezanov is closely connected with Russian America. And his young wife (Anna was 15 years old at the time of marriage) died a few years later.

The activity of the RAC was a unique phenomenon in the history of Russia at that time. It was the first such a large monopoly organization with fundamentally new forms of doing business that took into account the specifics of the Pacific fur trade. Today, this would be called a public-private partnership: merchants, resellers and fishermen closely interacted with the state authorities. Such a need was dictated by the moment: firstly, the distances between the areas of fishing and marketing were huge. Secondly, the practice of using equity capital was approved: financial flows from people who had no direct relation to it were involved in the fur trade. The government partly regulated these relations and supported them. The fortunes of merchants and the fate of people who went to the ocean for "soft gold" often depended on his position.

And in the interests of the state was the speedy development of economic relations with China and the establishment of a further path to the East. The new Minister of Commerce N.P. Rumyantsev presented two notes to Alexander I, where he described the advantages of this direction: “The British and Americans, delivering their junk from Notki-Sund and Charlotte Islands directly to Canton, will always prevail in this trade, and this until the Russians themselves pave the way to Canton.” Rumyantsev foresaw the benefits of opening trade with Japan "not only for American villages, but for the entire northern region of Siberia" and proposed using a round-the-world expedition to send "an embassy to the Japanese court" led by a person "with abilities and knowledge of political and commercial affairs" . Historians believe that even then he meant Nikolai Rezanov as such a person, since it was assumed that upon completion of the Japanese mission, he would go to survey Russian possessions in America.

Around the world Rezanov

Rezanov knew about the planned expedition already in the spring of 1803. “Now I am preparing for a campaign,” she wrote in a private letter. - Two merchant ships, bought in London, are given to my superiors. They are equipped with a decent crew, guard officers are assigned to the mission with me, and in general an expedition has been set up for the journey. My journey from Kronstadt to Portsmouth, from there to Tenerife, then to Brazil, and, bypassing Cape Horn, to Valpareso, from there to the Sandwich Islands, finally to Japan, and in 1805 to spend the winter in Kamchatka. From there I will go to Unalaska, to Kodiak, to Prince William Sound and go down to Nootka, from which I will return to Kodiak and, loaded with goods, I will go to Canton, to the Philippine Islands ... I will return around the Cape of Good Hope.

In the meantime, the RAC took on the service of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern and entrusted two ships, called Nadezhda and Neva, to his "bosses". In a special supplement, the board announced the appointment of N.P. Rezanov as the head of the embassy to Japan and authorized "his full master's face not only during the voyage, but also in America."

“The Russian-American company,” reported the Hamburg Vedomosti (No. 137, 1802), “is zealous about the expansion of its trade, which in time will be very useful for Russia, and is now engaged in a great enterprise, important not only for commerce, but also for the honor of the Russian people, namely, she equips two ships that will be loaded in Petersburg with food, anchors, ropes, sails, etc., and should sail to the northwestern shores of America in order to supply the Russian colonies on the Aleutian Islands with these needs, load there with furs, exchange them in China for its goods, establish a colony on Urup, one of the Kuril Islands, for the most convenient trade with Japan, go from there to the Cape of Good Hope, and return to Europe. Only Russians will be on these ships. The emperor approved the plan, ordered to select the best naval officers and sailors for the success of this expedition, which will be the first Russian trip around the world.

The historian Karamzin wrote the following about the expedition and the attitude of various circles of Russian society towards it: “Anglomans and Gallomaniacs, who wish to be called cosmopolitans, think that the Russians should trade locally. Peter thought differently - he was Russian at heart and a patriot. We stand on the ground and on Russian land, we look at the world not through the glasses of taxonomists, but with our natural eyes, we also need the development of the fleet and industry, enterprise and daring. In Vestnik Evropy, Karamzin printed letters from officers who had gone on a voyage, and all of Russia awaited this news with trepidation.

On August 7, 1803, exactly 100 years after the founding of St. Petersburg and Kronstadt by Peter, the Nadezhda and the Neva weighed anchor. The circumnavigation has begun. Through Copenhagen, Falmouth, Tenerife to the coast of Brazil, and then around Cape Horn, the expedition reached the Marquesas and by June 1804 - the Hawaiian Islands. Here the ships separated: "Nadezhda" went to Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka, and "Neva" went to Kodiak Island. When Nadezhda arrived in Kamchatka, preparations began for an embassy to Japan.

Reza new in Japan

Leaving Petropavlovsk on August 27, 1804, Nadezhda headed southwest. A month later, the shores of northern Japan appeared in the distance. A great celebration took place on the ship, the participants of the expedition were awarded silver medals. However, the joy turned out to be premature: due to the abundance of errors in the charts, the ship embarked on the wrong course. In addition, a severe storm began, in which the Nadezhda was badly damaged, but, fortunately, she managed to stay afloat, despite serious damage. And on September 28, the ship entered the port of Nagasaki.

However, here again difficulties arose: a Japanese official who met the expedition stated that the entrance to the Nagasaki harbor was open only to Dutch ships, and for others it was impossible without a special order from the Japanese emperor. Fortunately, Rezanov had such permission. And despite the fact that Alexander I secured the consent of the Japanese "colleague" 12 years ago, access to the harbor for the Russian ship, albeit with some bewilderment, was open. True, "Nadezhda" was obliged to issue gunpowder, cannons and all firearms, sabers and swords, of which only one can be provided to the ambassador. Rezanov knew about such Japanese laws for foreign ships and agreed to hand over all weapons, except for the swords of officers and the guns of his personal guard.

However, several more months of sophisticated diplomatic treaties passed before the ship was allowed to come close to the Japanese coast, and the envoy Rezanov himself was allowed to move to land. The team, all this time, until the end of December, continued to live on board. An exception was provided only for astronomers who made their observations - they were allowed to land on the ground. At the same time, the Japanese vigilantly watched the sailors and the embassy. They were even forbidden to send letters to their homeland with a Dutch ship leaving for Batavia. Only the envoy was allowed to write a brief report to Alexander I about a safe voyage.

The envoy and the persons of his retinue had to live in honorable imprisonment for four months, until the very departure from Japan. Only occasionally Rezanov could see our sailors and the director of the Dutch trading post. Rezanov, however, did not waste time: he diligently continued his studies in Japanese, simultaneously compiling two manuscripts (“A Concise Russian-Japanese Manual” and a dictionary containing more than five thousand words), which Rezanov later wanted to transfer to the Navigation School in Irkutsk. Subsequently, they were published by the Academy of Sciences.

Only on April 4, Rezanov's first audience with one of the high-ranking local dignitaries took place, who brought the Japanese Emperor's response to the message of Alexander I. The answer read: “The ruler of Japan is extremely surprised by the arrival of the Russian embassy; the emperor cannot accept the embassy, ​​and does not want correspondence and trade with the Russians and asks the ambassador to leave Japan.

Rezanov, in turn, noted that, although it is not for him to judge which of the emperors is more powerful, he considers the response of the Japanese ruler to be impudent and emphasized that the offer of trade relations between countries from Russia was, rather, a mercy "out of common philanthropy." The dignitaries, embarrassed by such pressure, proposed to postpone the audience until another day, when the envoy would not be so excited.

The second audience was quieter. The dignitaries denied in general any possibility of cooperation with other countries, including trade, as forbidden by the fundamental law, and, moreover, explained it by their inability to undertake a reciprocal embassy. Then a third audience took place, during which the parties undertook to provide each other with written answers. But this time, too, the position of the Japanese government remained unchanged: referring to formal reasons and tradition, Japan firmly decided to maintain its former isolation. Rezanov drew up a memorandum to the Japanese government in connection with the refusal to establish trade relations and returned to Nadezhda.

Some historians see the reasons for the failure of the diplomatic mission in the ardor of the count himself, others suspect that the intrigues of the Dutch side, who wanted to maintain their priority in relations with Japan, were to blame for everything, but after almost seven months in Nagasaki on April 18, 1805, the Nadezhda weighed anchor and went out to the open sea.

The Russian ship was forbidden to continue to approach the Japanese shores. However, Kruzenshtern nevertheless devoted another three months to the study of those places that La Perouse had not previously studied enough. He was going to clarify the geographical position of all the Japanese islands, most of the coast of Korea, the western coast of the island of Iessoy and the coast of Sakhalin, describe the coast of the Aniva and Patience bays and conduct a study of the Kuril Islands. A significant part of this huge plan was carried out.

Having completed the description of Aniva Bay, Kruzenshtern continued his work on marine surveys of the eastern coast of Sakhalin to Cape Patience, but would soon have to turn them off, as the ship encountered large accumulations of ice. Nadezhda with great difficulty entered the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and a few days later, overcoming bad weather, returned to the Peter and Paul harbor.

The envoy Rezanov transferred to the vessel of the Russian-American company "Maria", on which he went to the main base of the company on the island of Kodiak, near Alaska, where he had to streamline the organization of local management of colonies and fisheries.

Rezanov in Alaska

As the "owner" of the Russian-American company, Nikolai Rezanov delved into all the subtleties of management. He was struck by the fighting spirit of the Baranovites, the tirelessness, efficiency of Baranov himself. But there were more than enough difficulties: there was not enough food - famine was approaching, the land was infertile, there were not enough bricks for construction, there was no mica for windows, copper, without which it was impossible to equip the ship, was considered a terrible rarity.

Rezanov himself wrote in a letter from Sitka: “We all live very closely; but our purchaser of these places lives the worst of all, in some kind of plank yurt, filled with dampness to the point that every day the mold is wiped off and in the local heavy rains it flows like a sieve from all sides. Wonderful person! He cares only about the quiet room of others, but about himself he is careless to the point that one day I found his bed floating and asked if the wind had torn off the side board of the temple somewhere? No, he answered calmly, apparently it had flowed towards me from the square, and continued his orders.

The population of Russian America, as Alaska was called, grew very slowly. In 1805, the number of Russian colonists was about 470 people, in addition, a significant number of Indians depended on the company (according to Rezanov's census, there were 5,200 of them on Kodiak Island). The people who served in the company's institutions were mostly violent people, for which Nikolai Petrovich aptly called the Russian settlements a "drunken republic."

He did a lot to improve the life of the population: he resumed the work of the school for boys, and sent some of them to study in Irkutsk, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. A school for girls for one hundred pupils was also established. He founded a hospital, which could be used by both Russian employees and natives, and a court was established. Rezanov insisted that all Russians living in the colonies should learn the language of the natives, and he himself compiled dictionaries of the Russian-Kodiak and Russian-Unalash languages.

Having familiarized himself with the state of affairs in Russian America, Rezanov quite correctly decided that the way out and salvation from hunger was in organizing trade with California, in the foundation of a Russian settlement there, which would supply Russian America with bread and dairy products. By that time, the population of Russian America, according to the Rezanov census, carried out in the Unalashkinsky and Kodiaksky departments, was 5234 people.

"Juno and Avos"

It was decided to sail to California immediately. For this, one of the two ships that arrived in Sitka was purchased from the Englishman Wolfe for 68 thousand piastres. The ship "Juno" was purchased along with a cargo of provisions on board, the products were transferred to the settlers. And the ship itself under the Russian flag sailed for California on February 26, 1806.

Upon arrival in California, Rezanov subdued the commandant of the fortress Jose Dario Arguello with court manners and charmed his daughter, fifteen-year-old Concepción. It is not known whether the mysterious and beautiful 42-year-old foreigner confessed to her that he had already been married once and would become a widow, but the girl was smitten.

Of course, Conchita, like many young girls of all times and peoples, dreamed of meeting a handsome prince. It is not surprising that Commander Rezanov, a chamberlain of His Imperial Majesty, a stately, powerful, handsome man easily won her heart. In addition, he was the only one from the Russian delegation who spoke Spanish and talked a lot with the girl, clouding her mind with stories about the brilliant St. Petersburg, Europe, the court of Catherine the Great ...

Was there a tender feeling on the part of Nikolai Rezanov himself? Despite the fact that the story of his love for Conchita became one of the most beautiful romantic legends, contemporaries doubted it. Rezanov himself, in a letter to his patron and friend Count Nikolai Rumyantsev, admitted that the reason that prompted him to propose a hand and heart to a young Spaniard was more good for the Fatherland than a warm feeling. The same opinion was shared by the ship's doctor, who wrote in his reports: “One would think that he fell in love with this beauty. However, in view of the prudence inherent in this cold man, it would be more cautious to admit that he simply had some diplomatic views on her.

One way or another, a marriage proposal was made and accepted. Here is how Rezanov himself writes about this:

“My proposal struck down her (Conchita’s) parents, raised in fanaticism. The difference of religions and ahead of separation from their daughter were a thunderous blow for them. They resorted to the missionaries, they did not know what to decide on. They took poor Concepsia to church, confessed her, persuaded her to refuse, but her determination finally calmed everyone.

The holy fathers left the permission of the See of Rome, and if I could not finish my marriage, I made a conditional act and forced us to be engaged ... how my favors also demanded it, and the governor was extremely surprised, amazed, seeing that he assured me at the wrong time of the sincere dispositions of this house and that he himself, so to speak, found himself visiting me ... "

In addition, Rezanov got a cargo of “2156 pounds” very cheaply. wheat, 351 pounds. barley, 560 pounds. legumes. Fat and oils for 470 pounds. and all sorts of things for 100 pounds, so much so that the ship could not set off at first.

Conchita promised to wait for her fiancé, who was supposed to deliver a cargo of supplies to Alaska, and then was going to St. Petersburg. He intended to secure the Emperor's petition to the Pope in order to obtain official permission from the Catholic Church for their marriage. This could take about two years.

A month later, full provisions and other cargo "Juno" and "Avos" arrived in Novo-Arkhangelsk. Despite diplomatic calculations, Count Rezanov had no intention of deceiving the young Spaniard. He immediately goes to St. Petersburg in order to ask permission to conclude a family union, despite the mudslide and the weather that is not suitable for such a trip.

Crossing the rivers on horseback, on thin ice, he fell into the water several times, caught a cold and lay unconscious for 12 days. He was taken to Krasnoyarsk, where he died on March 1, 1807.

Concepson never married. She did charity work, taught the Indians. In the early 1840s, Donna Concepción entered the third Order of the White Clergy, and after founding in 1851 in the city of Benicia the monastery of St. Dominica became its first nun under the name Maria Dominga. She died at the age of 67 on December 23, 1857.

Alaska after le Rezanov

Since 1808, Novo-Arkhangelsk has become the center of Russian America. All this time, the management of the American territories has been carried out from Irkutsk, where the main headquarters of the Russian-American Company is still located. Officially, Russian America is included first in the Siberian General Government, and after its division in 1822 into Western and Eastern, - in the East Siberian General Government.

In 1812, Baranov, the director of the Russian-American Company, established a southern representative office of the company on the shores of California's Bodidge Bay. This representative office was named Russian Village, now known as Fort Ross.

Baranov retired from the post of director of the Russian-American Company in 1818. He dreamed of returning home - to Russia, but died on the way.

Naval officers came to the management of the company, who contributed to the development of the company, however, unlike Baranov, the naval leadership was very little interested in the trading business itself, and was extremely nervous about the settlement of Alaska by the British and Americans. The management of the company, in the name of the Russian Emperor, banned the invasion of all foreign ships for 160 km into the water area near the Russian colonies in Alaska. Of course, such an order was immediately protested by Great Britain and the United States government.

The dispute with the United States was settled by an 1824 convention that determined the exact northern and southern boundaries of Russian territory in Alaska. In 1825, Russia also came to an agreement with Britain, also defining the exact eastern and western borders. The Russian Empire gave both sides (Britain and the USA) the right to trade in Alaska for 10 years, after which Alaska completely passed into the possession of Russia.

Sale of Alaska

However, if at the beginning of the 19th century Alaska generated income through the fur trade, by the middle of the 19th century it began to appear that the costs of maintaining and protecting this remote and vulnerable, from a geopolitical point of view, territory outweighed the potential profit. The area of ​​the territory subsequently sold was 1,518,800 km² and was practically uninhabited - according to the RAC itself, at the time of the sale, the population of all Russian Alaska and the Aleutian Islands numbered about 2,500 Russians and up to about 60,000 Indians and Eskimos.

Historians assess the sale of Alaska ambiguously. Some are of the opinion that this measure was forced because of Russia's conduct of the Crimean campaign (1853-1856) and the difficult situation on the fronts. Others insist that the deal was purely commercial. One way or another, the first question about the sale of Alaska to the United States before the Russian government was raised by the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Count N. N. Muravyov-Amursky in 1853. In his opinion, this was inevitable, and at the same time would allow Russia to strengthen its position on the Asian coast of the Pacific in the face of the growing penetration of the British Empire. At that time, her Canadian possessions extended directly to the east of Alaska.

Relations between Russia and Britain were sometimes openly hostile. During the Crimean War, when the British fleet tried to land troops in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the possibility of a direct confrontation in America became real.

In turn, the American government also wanted to prevent the occupation of Alaska by the British Empire. In the spring of 1854, he received a proposal for a fictitious (temporarily, for a period of three years) sale by the Russian-American Company of all its possessions and property for 7,600 thousand dollars. The RAC entered into such an agreement with the American-Russian Trading Company in San Francisco, controlled by the US government, but it did not enter into force, since the RAC managed to negotiate with the British Hudson's Bay Company.

Subsequent negotiations on this issue took another ten years. Finally, in March 1867, a draft agreement was agreed upon in general terms for the purchase of Russian possessions in America for $7.2 million. It is curious that this is how much the building cost, in which the contract for the sale of such a vast territory was signed.

The signing of the treaty took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. And already on October 18, Alaska was officially transferred to the United States. Since 1917, this day has been celebrated in the United States as Alaska Day.

The entire Alaska Peninsula (along the line running along meridian 141° west of Greenwich), a coastal strip 10 miles south of Alaska along the western coast of British Columbia passed to the USA; Alexandra archipelago; Aleutian Islands with Attu Island; the islands of the Middle, Krys'i, Lis'i, Andreyanovsk, Shumagin, Trinity, Umnak, Unimak, Kodiak, Chirikov, Afognak and other smaller islands; islands in the Bering Sea: St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribylov Islands - St. George and St. Paul. Together with the territory, all real estate, all colonial archives, official and historical documents related to the transferred territories were transferred to the United States.

Alaska today

Despite the fact that Russia sold these lands as unpromising, the United States did not lose out on the deal. Already 30 years later, the famous gold rush began in Alaska - the word Klondike became a household word. According to some reports, more than 1,000 tons of gold have been exported from Alaska over the past century and a half. At the beginning of the 20th century, oil was also discovered there (today, the region's reserves are estimated at 4.5 billion barrels). Coal and non-ferrous metal ores are mined in Alaska. Thanks to the huge number of rivers and lakes, the fishing and seafood industries flourish there as large private enterprises. Tourism is also developed.

Today Alaska is the largest and one of the richest states in the United States.

Sources

• Commander Rezanov. Website dedicated to Russian explorers of new lands
• Abstract "History of Russian Alaska: from discovery to sale", St. Petersburg State University, 2007, the author is not specified

It was the Russians who were the first Europeans in Alaska - on August 21, 1732, members of the St. Gabriel" under the command of the surveyor Gvozdev and the navigator Fedorov. And the first settlement was also founded by our fur traders and whalers on Kodiak Island in 1784. However, the authorities considered that it would be beyond the means of the treasury to maintain and protect vast territories from the encroachments of Great Britain, so they decided to sell the land. The official handover ceremony of Alaska to the United States took place in Novoarkhangelsk(now Sitka).

An area of ​​1,519,000 square meters was sold for $7.2 million in gold, that is, $4.74 per km². For comparison, at the same time, a single three-story county courthouse in downtown New York, built by the Tweed Gang, cost the New York State Treasury more than all of Alaska to the US government.

After 30 years, gold deposits were discovered there, the famous “gold rush” began, and in the 20th century large oil and gas deposits were discovered with total reserves of 100-180 billion dollars. Today it is the largest and one of the richest states, due in large part to its natural resources.

Gold, diamonds

The Klondike and the "gold rush" formed the basis of many literary works and films. It is estimated that almost 1,000 tons of gold have been exported from Alaska since then to the present day. This is mainly placer gold, although vein gold has also been found if it came to the surface. In the 70s of the last century, gold mining enterprises were put into operation. Geologists have discovered rich deposits of diamonds, platinum, tantalum, and palladium here. In 1996, the Fort Knox gold mining plant was put into operation. It currently produces 500,000 ounces (14 tons) of gold per year. And there are many such large giants.

Ores of non-ferrous metals

In addition to gold ores, Alaska also has non-ferrous ores. The Red Dog deposit, with reserves of 25 million zinc, is the largest in the world. The ore here contains 19% zinc, 6% lead and 100 g/t of silver, i.e., its quality exceeds the ores of all known deposits by 2-3 times.

Coal

Fuel, which used to be the main one, has now faded into the background. Nevertheless, the demand for coal remains quite high, and besides, there are a number of industries where it is indispensable. The reserves of coal in the United States at the current rate of its consumption should be enough for several hundred years. Almost 1.5 million tons of coal is mined annually in Alaska. A potential source of energy is methane contained in coal seams.

Oil

Alaska's economy relies heavily on oil production. About 80% of the state's annual income comes from the oil industry. About 25% of all oil produced in the United States of America is produced in the land of "white silence". A large pipeline stretching almost 1300 kilometers from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Alaska passes through the territory of Alaska. Since 1977, 10.5 thousand cubic meters of oil have passed through it every hour.

A fish

Alaska is one of the few states that is independent of manufacturing. The largest branches of private business activity are fishing and the seafood industry. There are over 3 million lakes and 3,000 rivers in Alaska. The Yukon River is the 3rd longest in the US. Alaska actively exports fish and seafood, such as crabs, salmon, pollock, halibut, shrimp. The local seafood is considered environmentally friendly and is appreciated by gourmets around the world.

BULLETIN OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, vol. 78, no. 10, 2008

Modern problems of the development and development of the mineral resource base in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug are generated not so much by objective reasons (among them the geological underexploration of the territory, unfavorable physiographic, socio-economic, infrastructural conditions), but by subjective factors determined by the will of people. The main among them is the inattention of the federal authorities to the development of the outlying Far Eastern territories of the country, ignoring their strategic significance and uniqueness - geopolitical, raw materials, natural and geographical.

The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug still remains one of the geologically promising regions of the country, where, unfortunately, the search, exploration and production of many minerals is being curtailed. We can say that the market did not get along with the harsh conditions of this polar region. The stagnation of the geological study of the subsoil led to a massive outflow of specialists from the geological service from the district.

If before 1990 up to 4,000 people worked in geological exploration, today there are only 200-250 people. The State Geological Service, represented by a single enterprise (FSUE "Region"), employs 40-50 employees.

Added to this is the "non-competitiveness" of the Chukotka deposits in comparison with similar deposits in other regions of Russia. This applies to placer deposits of gold and tin, as well as to primary deposits of tin, tungsten, uranium, copper, and polymetals. The same can be said about some ore gold deposits located in the distributed fund of subsoil plots, whose subsoil users (mainly foreign companies) are in no hurry to start production, not to mention reaching the possible annual capacity. According to the data of the territorial agency for subsoil use, in 2007 gold production in the ChAO decreased to the lowest level in the last decade and amounted to only 4.4 tons, against 15 tons in 1990.

As a result, in Chukotka there is:

• depopulation of the territory;
• abandoned settlements;
• the desire to develop the territory on a rotational basis;
• elimination of a significant part of social privileges;
• a sharp drop in real incomes of the population;
• extremely slow rates of geological and search and exploration works;
• the destruction of many branches of the economy;
• the decline of the Northern Sea Route;
• the shortsightedness of the policy of attracting foreign capital to the exploitation of the wealth of the region;
• ignoring the threat of external expansion.

Speaking frankly, the state policy towards the region cannot be called otherwise than slurred.

Brief description of the state of Alaska (USA)

As you know, Alaska was discovered in the 17th century. Russian explorers who founded a number of settlements there. During the Crimean War of 1853-1856. the tsarist government of Russia did not have the necessary forces and means to defend the Russian settlements in North America, and in 1867 Alaska was sold to the United States for 7.2 million dollars.

Now Alaska is a US state located in the northwest of North America, separated from the main part of the country by the territory of Canada. The area is 1519 thousand km2, the indigenous population is Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos. The administrative center is the city of Juneau. Most of the population is concentrated in the southern and southeastern parts of Alaska. The most significant cities are Anchorage, Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka. In the northern and central regions, the climate is cold, winter lasts 6-8 months. The southern, southwestern, and southeastern regions are seaside, with numerous islands and convenient ice-free bays.

A large number of airfields, air force and naval bases have been built on the territory of Alaska. More than 12,200 miles of public roads cross the state of Alaska. Two-thirds of the electricity consumed here is generated by gas-fired power plants, 14% by hydroelectric power plants, 13% by fuel oil, 7% by coal, and 3.6% by other sources.

The population of the state is growing steadily: in 1980, 402 thousand people lived in Alaska, in 2000 -627 thousand, in 2006 - 640 thousand. According to forecasts, the annual increase will be 0.8% in 2001-2010, and in 2010-2025 gg. - 1.7%. For 30 years (1970-2000), the number of Alaska natives has doubled, there are now about 100 thousand of them. This makes us positively assess the US national-ethnic policy in the North.

Alaska is the only US state where the incomes of the poor are growing faster than those of the rich. When comparing the periods 1978-1980 and 1996-1998. it turns out that in the US as a whole, the incomes of the poorest (one-fifth) part of the population decreased by 6.5%, while in Alaska they increased by 17%, while the incomes of the richest fifth of the population increased by 33% and 2%, respectively.

Funds that ensure the stable development of the state economy are received through the redistribution of income from the basic raw materials industries. In total, according to G.A. Agranata, in Alaska, firms deduct at least 40-50% of their profits to the federal and regional treasuries, as well as to social needs through other channels (in particular, to support the indigenous population), which is significantly more than in other American states, especially in Russia. The burden of helping the state thus shifts from the federal treasury to private firms. This does not mean at all that the central authorities have abandoned their active policy towards the northern state. The population of Alaska enjoys certain privileges, special programs are being implemented here, and infrastructure is being successfully developed. Central and regional authorities were able to force firms to pay adequately for the exploitation of natural resources. In essence, we are talking about the redistribution of natural resource rent, which is much talked about in Russia, but so far nothing has been done.

An important role in the economy of Alaska is played by the so-called Permanent Fund - a reserve credit fund created by deductions from the income of the extractive industry, primarily the oil industry. Similar funds arose at about the same time in other countries specializing in raw materials - Canada, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and later in Norway. In 2006, the Alaska Permanent Fund was worth $33.7 billion—an impressive amount for a small population. In the words of Alaskan economists, in the event of "accident flights" the fund provides a "soft landing". The main expense item of the fund is the annual distribution of deposit interest from its main capital to the population.

Here is how W. Hickle, during whose governorship the Permanent Fund was created in Alaska, describes what has been achieved: “The new idea is that the people of the Earth themselves own the largest part of the natural heritage. Our future depends on how we use this heritage - for the benefit of all or for a few. Here, in the Far North, we are building our state on the basis of this concept. It is the only such state in the world. The people of Alaska, through their government, own most of the natural wealth, land, forests, and subsoil. Without using either classical capitalism or socialism, we paved the way to prosperity, relying on the common ownership of resources ”(cited in ). In essence, the governor was not afraid to force the monopolies to generously share their profits from the exploitation of the nation's natural wealth with the state and the population. W. Hickle admits that monopolies, preoccupied with corporate interests, cannot seriously care about solving the problems of Alaska, of which he says that “Alaska, the North is a child who requires many years of unpaid care, but, becoming an adult, will repay the loan, if not parents, then society.

The oil and gas industry is the largest component of the Alaska economy. About 85% of the state's budget comes from oil revenues. Oil was discovered in Prudhoe Bay, on the Arctic coast, in 1968. In 1974, construction began on an oil pipeline, completed in 1977. The 800-mile (1,280 km) oil pipeline is the largest privately financed project in history. Pipe diameter is 48 inches (1 m 22 cm), oil moves at a speed of 5.5 miles (8.8 km) per hour; it takes six days for it to arrive from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. About 7,600 Alaskans are employed in the oil and gas industry, earning 30% of the total personal income of Alaskans.

Alaska contains half of the US coal reserves and their largest silver and zinc mines. Currently, more than 1.5 million tons of low-sulfur coal are produced here annually. Approximately half of this amount is supplied as fuel to power plants in the state of Alaska, and the rest is exported to South Korea under a long-term contract.

Since 1990, Alaska has been exporting products worth about $3 billion annually. This is one of the most trade-oriented states in the US, exports are more important than for most other states, making up its economy. In terms of exports per capita, Alaska ranks third among US states, and seventh in terms of total state product (the sum of all goods and services produced in a year).

Alaska's largest foreign market is Japan, which consumes nearly half of the peninsula's exports ($1.3 billion a year). The South Korean and Canadian markets are ranked second (18%) and third (9%), respectively, followed by China, Belgium, Taiwan, Germany, the Netherlands, England and Mexico. Equally distant from Northeast Asia, North America and Europe, Alaska is the crossroads for these three major economic regions of the world. Over the past 10 years, air cargo traffic across Alaska has more than doubled. Anchorage and Fairbanks airports receive 500 international cargo planes a week.

The experience of Alaska can be considered a very instructive example of the development of resource regions. He showed the possibility of effectively solving the local political, socio-economic, as well as cultural problems of such territories. This is a reproach from Russia, which underestimated its own socialist practice of the recent past, which Alaska picked up.

The experience of Alaska is of exceptional importance for solving the problem of rent. Actually, the approach to this problem is the essence of American policy in this territory, although this is not always publicly emphasized. However, in many documents and scientific papers, the economy of Alaska is directly called "rent".

The value of income from the exploitation of natural resources for Russia is much greater than for the United States. According to the calculations of Academician D.S. Lvov, the natural resource potential of our country is measured at 320-380 trillion. USD per capita is 2.5 million dollars, which, according to various estimates, is 2-3 or even 4-5 times more than in the United States. Moreover, approximately 60-70% of the country's raw materials potential is in the North.

However, the economy of Chukotka against the backdrop of Alaska looks, to put it mildly, unattractive. First of all, the fundamental difference is obvious: the Americans see Alaska as a progressively developing region, a historical link in a continuous civilizational process, while our state seeks to obtain the wealth of the North at a low price, acting as a temporary worker.

Mineral resources of Alaska and Chukotka

The climatic conditions of Alaska are very similar to those of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, from which it is separated by a narrow strait. However, in economic terms, as has been shown, these territories are not comparable.

The recent successes in the economic development of Alaska are primarily due to the discovery and development of several large oil and gas fields, a group of polymetallic deposits in the Red Dog region, as well as a number of large gold deposits associated with intrusions in the Tentin region (Fort Knox, Pogo, Dublin Gulch, etc. ).

Alaska produces 25% of the oil produced in the United States, and the two richest fields in the United States (Prudhoe and Kuporak) are located here. 30% of the total US proven oil reserves are located in Alaska: its continental shelf contains 41% of natural gas and 29% of oil. In the 1990s, Alaska produced approximately 1.8 million barrels of oil and 1.25 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. The pipeline transports oil to the seaport of Valdez and then by tankers to the mainland of the United States.

According to the Division of Oil and Gas 2006 Annual Report, at the end of 2005 the Prudhoe and Kuporak fields were producing 900,000 barrels of oil per day. This level of production will continue in the area for the next five years. The Kuk Intel field, which provided 205,000 barrels of oil per day in the 1980s, produced only 19,500 barrels of oil per day in 2005. Oil production in the area will continue until 2025 from the Weaver Creek field and others. Exploratory drilling continued in 2005 in 27 licensed areas in the federal waters of the Biofort Basin. As a result, four new deposits were found: Kuvlum, Hamerhead, Sandpiper and Tim Island/Liberty. The State of Alaska is developing new licensing programs to attract investors to further explore oil and gas fields. The reserves of hydrocarbonate raw materials are being calculated. In 2005, the state issued four oil and gas prospecting and exploration licenses covering a total area of ​​1.66 million acres. In addition, applications have been submitted for three more new areas.

According to the latest research by the Fraser Institute (Canada), Alaska is in seventh place in the world among 45 regions that are promising in terms of mining. Suffice it to recall the "gold rush" of the beginning of the last century, when crowds of gold diggers poured onto the peninsula. It is estimated that almost 1,000 tons of gold have been mined from the depths of Alaska since then to the present. This is mainly placer gold, although vein gold was also mined if it came to the surface. In the 1990s, enterprises for the extraction of non-ferrous metal ores and gold were put into operation.

In 1996, the Fort Knox gold ore plant was put into operation. The mine daily produces 42 thousand tons of ore. Since 1996, 2 million ounces (56.6 tons) of gold have been produced here. Gold reserves in ore with a gold grade of less than 1 g/t are estimated at 3.8 million ounces. The enrichment of ore is carried out by purely gravitational methods. The extraction of gold by sorption on activated carbon takes only 67 g of cyanide per ton of pulp. Currently, the plant produces 500 thousand ounces (14 tons) of gold per year. This is a good example of the successful exploitation of a gold deposit with poor but easily enriched ores.

The Pogo gold mine is located 90 miles east of Fort Knox. The mine is expected to produce 500,000 ounces of gold per year and employ 385 people. "Tails" of enrichment are planned to be laid in the mined-out area in order to reduce environmental damage. Capital investments in the construction of the complex are estimated at 250 million US dollars.

The reserves of the Donlin Creek deposit are estimated at 22.9 million ounces with a gold grade in some areas up to 5.2 g/t, and an average of 3 g/t. According to preliminary calculations, the capacity of the complex at this field can reach 1 million ounces per year. The amount of capital investment will be $380,600 million, and the cost of gold will be $241 per ounce. Recently, a detailed exploration of the deposit was completed here, which revealed additional ore reserves.

In addition to gold ores, Alaska also has non-ferrous ores. The Red Dog deposit with reserves of 25 million tons of zinc is the largest in the world. The ore here contains 19% zinc, 6% lead and 100 g/t of silver, that is, the quality exceeds the ores of all known deposits by 2-3 times. The Green Creek field is in second place in terms of the cost of production. Explored and proven reserves of ore containing 0.13 oz/t gold, 16.7 oz/t silver, 4.6% lead and 11.6% zinc amounted to 7.6 million tons by the middle of 2002. It should be noted that after 10 years of operation, the reserves increased by 25% thanks to searches.

In 2006, the Red Dog mine on the Arctic coast (located approximately 90 miles north of Kotzebue) produced over 600,000 tons of zinc, representing over 60% of Alaska's mineral production. The Green Creek Mine, located on Admiralty Island, which produces silver, gold, zinc and lead, provided approximately 14%. The Fort Knox gold mine, 15 miles northeast of Fairbanks, contributed 11%. The total production of minerals in Alaska and its value are shown in Table 1.

In 2005, a record $348 million was spent on the development of the mining industry in Alaska. Most of the funds went to the construction of the Pogo and Kensington gold mines near Juneau. At the same time, mining companies allocated significant funds in 2006 - $176.5 million - for search and exploration work: 23 prospecting projects cost more than $1 million, and 40 projects - $100,000. In terms of investment, copper-molybdenum-porphyry gold-bearing objects rank first, gold deposits associated with intrusions rank second, gold-quartz and gold-silver vein deposits rank third, polymetallic deposits rank fourth, and copper-nickel deposits rank fifth. platinum-metal deposits and further - uranium, tin, diamonds, placers, coal, industrial materials, etc.

In 2005, more than 5,300 new applications were made for license areas, covering almost 752,000 acres of state land and more than 400 applications for 8,200 acres of federal land. In the same year, mining companies paid over $37 million in state and local taxes, up 40% from 2004.

As practice shows, investments in the search and extraction of minerals justify themselves. In 2004, in Alaska, within the antimony-mercury metallogenic zone of Kuskokwim, a super-large gold-arsenic-sulfide deposit of disseminated ores Donlin Creek was discovered, showing a striking similarity with the Maiskoye deposit of Central Chukotka. An analysis of the published data showed a discrepancy between the economic estimates used to calculate the reserves of gold-arsenic-antimony disseminated ores from deposits in Alaska and Chukotka. In Alaska, at the Donlin Creek deposit, cut-off grades of 0.7 g/t were taken for calculations and reserves of more than 880 tons of gold were calculated. The annual productivity of the mine can reach 33 tons.

And at the Mayskoye field, on the contrary, in 2001 the reserves were recalculated downward compared to those approved in 1980 by the State Reserves Commission (GKZ). To do this, the cut-off content of inclusions was increased from 3 to 6 g/t. Almost 100 tons of gold are classified as off-balance reserves (average grade 8 g/t). If we apply in domestic practice the estimated parameters adopted in Alaska, we can significantly increase the reserves of the explored deposits of the ChAO (Mayskoye, Tumannoye, Elvineyskoye, etc.). This is confirmed by the well-known example of reducing the cut-off grade to 0.4 g/t, which made it possible to increase the reserves of the Natalka deposit by almost an order of magnitude.

The Canadian company Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd continued to explore the Pebble porphyry copper deposit in Alaska, located 380 km southwest of Anchorage. The resource potential (the sum of reserves and resources) of gold in the West Pebble alone reaches 1307 tons, and the resource potential of the entire Pebble deposit is 2003 tons of gold, 22177 thousand tons of copper and 1308 thousand tons of molybdenum. Thus, the Pebble deposit acquires the features of a world copper-gold giant.

Within the Alaska Range, new discoveries follow one after another. The American company "Nevada Star Resource Corp" announced the results of exploration work within its own copper-gold project "MAN Alaska" in the central part of the Alaska Range (Alaska Range). Piper Capital Inc. announced the results of completed drilling at the Golden Zone gold project in the same area, AngloGold Ashanti published the results of work on epithermal gold (Terra project) in the western Alaska Range. The veins of the Terra site are described as banded, epithermal type with coarse-grained, well-defined gold and anomalous contents of arsenic, bismuth, and tellurium.

An analysis of Table 2 shows that the same industrial types of gold deposits have been identified in the compared regions. To date, there are no commercial gold and silver deposits in Alaska, such as in Chukotka (Kupol, Valunistoye), however, there are promising areas with the same type of mineralization within the Alaska Range. Now gold mining in Alaska is 3.5 times higher than in Chukotka.

It should be noted that, on the whole, the average content at six commercial deposits in Alaska (5.3 g/t) is 2.5 times lower than in Chukotka (13.5 g/t). At the same time, mines are already operating at three fields in Alaska (Fort Knox, Pogo, Kensington) (more than 17 tons in 2006), and the rest are planned to be commissioned in the next five years (estimated production will be about 70 tons per year) . Chukotka currently has two small mines at the Valunistoye (0.8 tpa) and Dvoinoye (0.2 tpa) deposits; however, it is planned to start work at the Kupol mine (14.5 tons per year) and resume work at the Karalveem mine (about 1 ton per year) in the near future.

Comparison of very similar deposits of the same type Donlin Creek and Maiskoye and Fort Knox deposits shows that if we apply the estimated parameters adopted in Alaska in domestic practice, then we can significantly increase the reserves of known deposits of the ChAO (Mayskoye, Tumannoye, Elvineiskoye, Strong, Sovinoye, Kekkura, Palyangay and etc.). In the Baimsky region of Chukotka, further study of the known gold-bearing copper-molybdenum-porphyry deposits Peschanka, Nakhodka, etc., results comparable to those of the Pebble deposit can be obtained. The porphyry copper deposits of the ChAO are still in the unallocated fund.

conclusions

The authors fully agree with A.G. Agranat in the fact that, as the experience of Alaska has shown, there is no need to be afraid of one-sided specialization of the territory in raw materials, that the dilemma "government and / or business" must be categorically resolved in favor of the authorities, that in the northern regions a broad, sometimes non-market approach to efficiency, long-term payback is justified. investment. In this regard, we should not forget that Russian geologists and entrepreneurs began to actively explore the natural resources of the region at the beginning of the past and even in the century before last. In 1909, the region was generally closed to foreign capital.

A powerful breakthrough in its development, as already noted, was made in the difficult for our country 30s of the last century. The creation of the Northern Sea Route proved to be a good stimulus for the development of Chukotka. It all started with the development of rich tin and tungsten deposits, which played an important role during the war years. The largest Chukotka placers of gold, discovered and developed in the 50-70s, prevented the fall of gold mining in the Magadan region. Later, structures were identified in the region that control unique gold and silver deposits, and then - potential pools of hydrocarbon raw materials.

It is necessary to remember the heroic work of the pioneers of the region, to appreciate the huge intellectual and physical contribution of geologists and miners to the development of its wealth for the benefit of the Motherland. In our time, having excellent domestic specialists, one should not trust the search and evaluation of raw materials to foreign specialists: their interests can hardly coincide with our national ones, as, indeed, with the interests of the population of Chukotka.

You should be aware that as soon as the first hydrocarbon deposits are discovered in the ChAO, the value of all its other natural resources will increase many times over. This means that, subject to wise and prudent management of the region and its resources, it will be possible to set a goal to achieve the level of socio-economic well-being that can now be observed among neighbors, in the once wild and poor Alaska.

This work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 08-05-00135) and program no. 2 of the ONZ RAS.

Volkov A.V., Sidorov A.A.

LITERATURE

1. Nokleberg WJ, Bundtzen T.K., Grybeck D., Koch RD, Eremin RA, Rosenblum IS., Sidorov AA, By-alobzhesky SG, Sosunov GM, Shpikerman VI, Goro-dinsky ME, 1993. Metallogenesis of mainland Alaska and the Russian Northeast: US Geological Survey Open-File Reports 93-339, 222 pages, 1 map, scale 1: 4000000; 5 maps, scale 1: 10000000.

2. Volkov A.V., Goncharov V.I., Sidorov A.A. Birthplace of gold and silver in Chukotka. Magadan: SVKNII FEB RAN, 2006.

3. Kiselev A.A., Ogorodnikov A.V. Mineral raw material base of gold in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Prospects for development and development // Mineral Resources of Russia. 2001. No. 1.

4. Agranat G.A. Alaska - a new model for the development of a resource region // EKO. 2003. No. 6.

5. Krasnopolsky B.Kh. Legal regulation of investments in a permanent (stabilization) fund: the experience of the state of Alaska, USA. Real estate and investments // Legal regulation. 2006. No. 1-2 (26-27).

7. Szumigala D.J., Hughes R.A. Alaska's mineral industry 2006: a summary. Information circular 54. Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. 2007. March.

8. Goldfarb R.J., Ayuso R., Miller M.L. et al. The Late Cre-taceous Donlin Creek Gold Deposit, Southwestern Alas-ka: Controls on Epizonal Ore Formation // Econ. geol. 2004. V. 75. No. 4.

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Tanya Marchant

Alaska

In the original: Alaska
Capital: Juno ( Juneau)
Joined the USA: January 3, 1959
Area: 1530.7 thousand sq. km
Population: 698.4 thousand people (July 2009)
Largest cities: Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, Sitka, Ketchikan, Kenai, Kodiak, Bethel, Wasilla, Barrow.

Alaska is the largest state in the US and is located in the northwestern part of North America. The Bering Strait separates Alaska from Asia by only 82 km (51 miles).

The lands of Alaska became part of the United States in 1867, when the Russian Empire sold this coast to the Union of American States. On the American side, this sale and purchase agreement was signed by Senate Secretary William H. Seward. Under this agreement, the United States paid $7.2 million for Alaska lands.

In 1900, gold-bearing springs were discovered in Alaska. The gold rush swept the continent, and thousands of thousands of prospectors flowed into Alaska, hoping to find gold on these lands and get rich.

A few years later, the excitement of the "gold rush" subsided, but the people who had settled down on these lands by that time did not leave Alaska.

Now this region is the most important in the US fishing industry.

During the Second World War (1939-1945) Alaska was one of the main strategic regions of the country. It was through Alaska that the United States sent military aircraft with help for Russia. During the war, Japanese troops attacked Dutch Harbor, occupied the cities of Atta and Kiska.

From 1940 to 1950, a huge influx of foreign emigrants to the lands of Alaska contributed to the industrial revival and development of these lands. And on January 3, 1959, Alaska became part of the United States as an independent state - the 49th in a row, the state of the union of American states.

Alaska is a land of primeval, wild beauty of Nature. Indented by fiords, and shot up to the clouds with the enchanting beauty of snowy mountains.

Land of glaciers and seething volcanoes; forest jungles and bare islands of the tundra; hot spring and icy winds of winter cold.

Alaska is a realm of natural contrasts: piercing winds and scorching sun, rain and snow, heat and cold. Alaska is a land that is still subject to global tectonic landscape changes.

Until now, its lands are considered the richest sources of mineral and fuel resources. This state is now a self-sufficient area, the stability of the economy of which is based on the richest natural resources, including oil and gas.

Today's Alaska is a harmonious combination of old and new.

On these lands, one can still meet trappers - sea animal hunters who travel on dog sleds, and modern cities connected with the industry of the whole world by the most modern means of communication.

There is an assumption that Alaska got its name from its indigenous people - the Aleuts. In their language, Alaska (Alaska Peninsula) was called the great land located on the border territories of Earth and Night.

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