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 Forklift Attachments Anchorage - The city of Anchorage is situated within the state of Alaska's south central area. The city is the United States northernmost major city and was officially known as the Municipality of Anchorage. The number of inhabitants, based on 2010 census numbers, totals around 292,000. When combining Anchorage with its neighboring community of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, there were 374,553 residents in this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Over 40 percent of the total population of Alaska resides within the city of Anchorage, making it the biggest city within the state. Only New York has a higher percentage of people who live in the state's largest city out of the 50 American states.
There was a big Russian presence within south central Alaska throughout the 19th century. The US brokered a deal to purchase the land of Alaska from the debt-ridden Imperial Russia. The price of $7.2 million, which worked out to approximately 2 cents an acre, was secured by William H. Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State. Political rivals lampooned the idea and nicknamed it "Seward's Icebox, Seward's Folly and Walrussia." Gold was discovered along the Turnagain Arm in 1888.
With the construction of a railroad port for the Alaska Engineering Commission, the city of Anchorage grew immensely during 1914. The Alaska Railroad as it was referred to continued to be constructed until it was completed in 1923. A tent city emerged at the region nearby the mouth of Ship Creek where the railroad headquarters were situated.
The largest economic sectors within Anchorage include tourism, transportation, state, municipal and federal government, resource extraction, military and corporate head office including regional head offices for multinational companies. Anchorage's geographical site and surrounding natural resources account for a huge part of the local economy.
The city has traditionally enjoyed steady growth, though not as much as the cities situated in the lower 48 states. The city of Anchorage does not experience as much catastrophe in economic downturns, with the exception of a real estate related crash during the mid to late 1980s.
The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport or TSAIA is the third busiest cargo airport, surpassed by the airports in Hong Kong and Memphis. This abundance in traffic is connected to the city's location along the "great circle," referring to routes between Asia and between the lower 48 states. As well, the airport has a big source of jet fuel from the Alaskan refineries located in Kenai and the North Pole. There is rail and pipeline service to transport the jet fuel to the Port of Anchorage.
The most visible industry in the city of Anchorage is the resource sector, largely petroleum. There are numerous high rise buildings in the city which bear the logos of large multi-national businesses like for example ConocoPhillips and BP. Most administration and offices are located in Anchorage. Field operations are centered on the South Slope of Anchorage around the Alaska North Slope and around the Cook Inlet.
Alaska's tallest building is situated in the cities downtown core and is ConocoPhillips Alaska's headquarters. This corporation is a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips. Other companies like CH2M HILL and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation provide oilfield support services and likewise have headquarters outside of Anchorage but maintain a substantial presence within the city of Anchorage.
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