About Sitka

Sitka is a picturesque seaside town along the west coast of the Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska. It is often described as the large small city in the northeast corner of the Pacific Ocean. Large --- because it has a land area of 2,874 square miles (the largest, in fact, in the whole of United States!) and small -- because it has an estimated population of only 9,000 (probably around 10,000 in summer when tourists flock in).

Indeed, the city is a sight to behold with its majestic snow-capped mountains, abundant marine life and wildlife, and its rich cultural and historical heritage. Its calm channels never cease to beckon weary travelers to pause and dwell in its serenity and beauty.

Its dense rainforest -- part of the Tongass National Forest, the largest in the US -- which covers the whole Baranof Island is home to the brown bear and the Sitka black-tailed deer while bald eagles nest all over the place. The St. Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge in the northern part of the city hosts thousands of seabirds such as the tufted puffins, rhinoceros auklets, murres, and cormorrants. Sitka's waters also teem with abundant marine life from humpback whales to king salmon, from steller sea lions to halibut, from sea otters to trouts, from porpoises to shellfish.

Sitka's historical heritage is a mixture of native American and Russian influences. The ancient Sitka spruce trees in the Sitka National Historical Park bear witness to the struggles and triumphs of the Tlingit Indians who once dominated the islands for centuries until the Russians arrived in 1799. The Tlingits called their land, Shee Atika which means "people on the outside of Shee."

The Russians soon discovered the abundance of Sitka and drove the Tlingits out of their homeland using their military might. For almost 68 years, Sitka was a Russian stronghold with a flourishing fur trade that made the city an economic hub during the 1800s in the north Pacific. At the time, the Russians called Sitka, New Archangel. The St. Michael's Cathedral on Lincoln Street is a living monument of that period. In 1867, the Russians sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million, marking the end of the Russian occupation and a new beginning for Sitka.

To learn more about Sitka, check out http://sitka.net. Or if you want to check out sightseeing spots or activities, visit http://sitka.org.