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 Forklift Attachments Alaska - The state of Alaska is the biggest state within the Union by total land area. Alaska is located within the far northwest part of the North American continent. Canada lies to the east, while Russia lies towards the west. The Arctic Ocean provides the northern border, whereas the Pacific Ocean provides the western and southern border. Approximately half of Alaska's 710,231 people, as per the 2010 United States Census, live in the Anchorage metropolitan area. The state of Alaska is the least densely populated state of the U.S.
Alaska was acquired from the Russian Empire on March 30, the year 1867, for $7.2 million ($113 million in today's dollars) at approximately two cents for each acre ($4.74/km2). The land went through some administrative changes before becoming an incorporated territory on May 11, the year 1912; and the 49th state of the U.S. on the 3rd of January, the year 1959.
The name "Alaska" was already introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, that means "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed." It is also called Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.
Ranking 45th within the nation, the GSP of Gross State Product during 2007 was $44.9 billion. In the year 2007, the per capita personal income ranks 15th in the United States at around $40,042. The gas and oil business dominates the Alaskan economy, with more than 80% of Alaska's revenues coming from from petroleum extraction. Alaska's main export product other than oil and natural gas is seafood, mainly salmon, cod, Pollock and crab.
Agriculture represents only a fraction of the Alaskan economy. Agricultural production is mainly for consumption in the state and comprises dairy products, nursery stock, livestock and vegetables. Manufacturing is limited, with most foodstuffs and general goods imported from somewhere else.
Employment in the state of Alaska is mostly driven by jobs in government and industries such as natural resource extraction, transportation and shipping. The military bases within Fairbanks and Anchorage also provide a substantial element of the economy. Federal subsidies are likewise an important part of the economy, allowing the state to be able to keep taxes low. Its industrial outputs are crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, gold, zinc, precious metal and other mining, seafood processing, timber and wood products.
The state has huge amounts of energy resources, with major reserves of gas and oil located within both the Alaska North Slope (ANS) and Cook Inlet basins. Alaska ranks 2nd in the US for production of crude oil, according to the Energy Information Administration. Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope is the highest yielding oil field in the United States and on North America, usually producing roughly 400,000 barrels each and every day (64,000 m3/d).
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline could pump and transport up to 2.1 million barrels (330,000 m3) of crude oil per day, more than any other crude oil pipeline in the country. Moreover, substantial coal deposits are situated in Alaska's bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite coal basins. Alaska likewise offers some of the highest hydroelectric power potential within the nation from its various rivers. Large swaths of the Alaskan shore offer wind and geothermal energy potential also.
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