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Juneau,
Alaska Amazing scenery, rich
cultural amenities and unlimited outdoor
recreation bring people to Juneau. Is it a
great place to retire? The State of
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state in
the United States and is just a hop, skip and a jump from Russia,
which is just on the other side of the Bering Straight. The
U.S. purchased the land from Russia in 1867, and it became a
U.S. territory in 1912. In 1959, Alaska joined the Union.
The least populated state in the nation, Alaska is
500 miles from its nearest U.S. neighbor, Washington state, and it
has a coastline longer than all other U.S. states combined.
It is twice the size of Texas and is comprised of six general
regions: the North Slope, the Southeast, the Aleutian
Islands, the Southwest, the Interior and the South Central, which
is the most populous area. The state is the least religious
in the country, and it is home to 22 indigenous language
Alaska's vast energy reserves led to the
establishment of the Permanent Fund in 1976 as a way to manage the
surplus in the state's petroleum revenues. Since 1982,
dividends from the fund's annual growth have been paid out each
year to every eligible Alaskan man, woman and child. The
amount has varied from the initial $1,000 in 1982 to a high
of $3,269 in 2008.
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