ABSTRACT
Alaska is distinct from all other states of the US in its subarctic and polar climate, the ethnic characteristics of its rural population, and the makeup of its rural economy. This chapter shows that Alaska represents a special case of rural development and change under conditions of advanced capitalism of the late twentieth century. The harsh climate has been a powerful obstacle to settlement in Alaska, especially as it concerns rural settlement. Although rural Alaska comprises nearly 85 percent of the 1.5 million square km area of Alaska, only about 25 percent of the 402,000 residents of the state live there. The natural resources which can sustain life are not easily obtainable or evenly distributed in rural Alaska. Alaska’s aboriginal population settled the land mass in pursuit of large sea and land mammals which migrated from Siberia. Rural Alaska once meant exclusively “Native Alaska,” for the residents of the region were primarily Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts.
