- Kodiak Island
Infobox Islands
name = Kodiak
image caption =
image size = 300px
locator
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nickname = The Rock [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kodiak]
location =Pacific Ocean
coordinates = coord|57|28|N|153|26|W|region:US-AK_type:isle_scale:2000000|display=inline,title
archipelago =Kodiak Archipelago
total islands = 25
major islands =
area = convert|8975|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on
highest mount =
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country = United States
country admin divisions title = State
country admin divisions = flag|Alaska
country admin divisions title 1 = Borough
country admin divisions 1 = Kodiak Island
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country largest city = Kodiak
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ethnic groups =Alutiiq , European, Filipino
other Asian and Indigenous peoples,
Hispanics, including Filipino Hispanics
additional info =Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the
U.S. state ofAlaska , separated from the Alaska mainland by theShelikof Strait . The largest island in theKodiak Archipelago and at 8975 km² (3465 square miles) in area, it is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world. It is 160 km (100 miles) long and in width ranges from 16 to 96 km (10 to 60 miles). Kodiak Island is the namesake forKodiak Seamount , which lies off the coast at theAleutian Trench . The largest community on the island is The City of Kodiak.Kodiak Island is mountainous and heavily forested in the north and east, but fairly treeless on the south. The island has many ice-free, deep bays that provide sheltered anchorages for boats. The southwestern two-thirds of the island, like much of the Kodiak Archipelago, is part of
Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge .Kodiak Island is part of the Kodiak Island Borough and
Kodiak Archipelago of Alaska. The town of Kodiak is one of 6 communities and the island's main city. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline. Other settlements include the villages of Akhiok, Old Harbor, Karluk, Larsen Bay, Port Lions, and Ouzinkie. Kodiak is also home to the largest U.S. Coast Guard base, which includesIntegrated Support Command Kodiak , Air Station Kodiak, Communications Station Kodiak, and Aids to Navigation Station Kodiak.The
Kodiak Bear and theking crab are native to the island. Thefishing industry is the most important economic activity on the island; fisheries includePacific salmon ,Pacific halibut , andcrab . TheKarluk River is famous for its salmon run. Logging, ranching, numerous canneries, and some copper mining are also prevalent.An
antenna farm at the summit of Pillar Mountain above the city of Kodiak provides primary communications to and from the island.History
Kodiak is the ancestral land of the
Koniaga , anAlutiiq nation ofAlaska Natives . The original inhabitants subsisted by hunting, fishing, farming, and gathering. The first outsiders to settle on the island were Russian explorers underGrigory Shelikhov , who founded a Russian settlement on Kodiak Island at Three Saints Bay near the present-day village of Old Harbor in 1784. Following the 1867Alaska purchase the island became part of theUnited States ; Americans settled there and engaged in hunting and fox farming.The Koniagas had been studied by European explorers, who marveled at their practice of male concubinage: "A Kodiak mother will select her handsomest and most promising boy, and dress and rear him as a girl, teaching him only domestic duties, keeping him at women's work, associating him with women and girls, in order to render his effeminacy complete. Arriving at the age of ten or fifteen years, he is married to some wealthy man who regards such a companion as a great acquisition. These male concubines are called "Achnutschik" or "Schopans'" (
Richard Francis Burton in his "Terminal Essay", afterHolmberg ,Langsdorff ,Joseph Billings ,Choris ,Yuri Lisiansky andMarchand )Kodiak Island was explored in 1763 by Russian fur trader Stephan Glotov. The island was the location of the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska, founded by
Grigory Shelikhov , a fur trader, on Three Saints Bay in 1784. The settlement was moved to the site of present-day Kodiak in 1792 and became the center of Russian fur trading. In 1912 the eruption ofNovarupta on the mainland (erroneously attributed at one time to the more famousMount Katmai ) blanketed the island with volcanic ash, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. The island was also hit by the 1964Good Friday Earthquake and tsunami, which destroyed much of the town.Publications related to Kodiak Island Fishing
* [http://library.state.ak.us/asp/edocs/2007/04/ocn132733047.pdf Kodiak management area salmon daily and cumulative escapement counts for river systems with fish weirs, 1997-2006, and peak indexed escapement counts, 2006 / by Iris O. Caldentey.] Hosted by [http://library.state.ak.us/asp Alaska State Publications Program] .
References
External links
* [http://www.kodiak.org/ Official Kodiak Island website]
* [http://www.kodiaklocalnews.com Kodiak Alaska local news]
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