The first Russian settlements appeared in Alaska in the 1760s. At the same time, a port was built, through which they traded in the fur of the Kalan. In 1784, the merchant Grigory Shelikhov led an expedition to Kadjak Island, and in 1799, on his initiative, a company for the development of Alaska, the Russian-American Company, was founded. Shelikhov's assistant, Alexander Baranov, founded several Russian settlements in Alaska.
In 1824, Russia signed a treaty with the United States and England that defined the borders of Russian possessions in North America at the state level.
But in 1856, Russia was defeated by Great Britain in the Crimean War. An English colony was located not far from Alaska, and Russia began to fear an armed conflict on American territory. In addition, the number of calanques had been greatly reduced by that time, and gold and oil had not yet been found in Alaska.
In 1857, Emperor Alexander II's brother Konstantin Nikolaevich first proposed selling Alaska to the United States. Negotiations lasted almost ten years, and in 1866 the emperor finally decided to sell, setting a minimum price of $5 million. The following year, a treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., under which Russia received $7 million 200 thousand in gold for Alaska.
Since 1867, Alaska has been under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of War and was called the District of Alaska, and on January 3, 1959, it became a state of the United States.
This northernmost and largest state is separated from the Chukchi Peninsula (Russia) by the Bering Strait. However, the civilizational gap between Alaska and Chukotka is infinitely wider. Today they seem like different planets.
Alaska is a dynamically developing state. Its population is constantly growing and its economy is developing. Chukotka, on the other hand, has become depopulated. In 1991, when the USSR collapsed, 148,000 people lived there; today, there are not even 48,000. The standard of living here is much lower than that of its American neighbors. The region's economy is almost entirely tied to gold mining (run by a Canadian firm) and coal mining (run by the Australians) and depends on meager handouts from Moscow.
The Chukotka outskirts are particularly bleak. The village of Provideniya, once a bustling port and naval base with a population of 10,000, has been depopulated to 2,000. A huge coal-fired power plant towers over the main street, which is dirty, broken and virtually deserted. Everything is old and the windows are broken.
The village-town of Ugolnye Kopy is the fourth largest in Chukotka by population. Here, 3,700 people still live among the abandoned and looted Soviet box houses.
The average life expectancy in Chukotka, according to various sources, ranges from 45 to 58 years. Russian media write that the locals live so little because... they are Chukchi. Although according to statistics, more than half of Chukotka's residents are Russians.
Alaska is home to 700 thousand people, with an average life expectancy of 72 years. Cities have developed infrastructure and attract tourists. About 940 thousand tourists come here a year. A lot of nature reserves and parks, well-thought-out programs for travelers attract people from all over the world.
The example of Alaska and Chukotka is a clear indication that where America comes, a prosperous civilization is created, and where Russia "rules", a miserable and impenetrable Leviathan is formed.
