"Imagine the hostile, frozen desert of the Earth's last great ice invasions," (Dedera 17). That place is Alaska, filled with beauty and richer than any man, woman, or child. "The Great Land," or Alaska, has charming history, wildlife, geography, and today, has more potential than any other frontier in the United States of America.
Alaska has an excellent, but simple history. Alaska wasn't always home to so many different people and heritages. In 1741 it had nearly seventy thousand natives living in Alaska (Alaska 1). There was an outstanding amount of natural resources and Russia, Great Britain and the U.S. started competing for land and trade (Alaska 1). Things finally changed in 1867. The U.S. bought Alaska for 7.2 million dollars (Alaska 1). This land was very rich filled with Klondike gold. In 1896 there were people coming to Alaska in search for the gold. What nobody thought about was how long this gold would last. By 1920 it was very low on gold and World War I had convinced the settlers to move on (Alaska 1). There greatest year to Alaskan Americans is probably in 1959 when Alaska became the forty-ninth state of the United States of America (Alaska: I.H. ix). That was relief to Americans and to the young country. Gaining Alaska meant gaining a land of beauty and of remarkable history. .
Today, Alaska is just as beautiful, "and no one who has visited Alaska will ever forget this Great White Land" (Hoke 5). Alaska is a young, but growing state with many expectations. Alaska has over 550,043 people, which is 36.9% more than 1980 (Encarta 3). Imagine only having an average of one person for every square mile; that is less than any other state. When there is a low number of people who live in an area, there is little need for many schools. In Alaska there is about 207 elementary and secondary schools (Encarta 4). 5,000 people attend private schools (Encarta 4). There are only 8 institutions of higher education and the enrollment number is a low 28,600 (Encarta 4).
