Some infoboxes about the Canadian province of Alaska in my mini-TL
God Save The FSA:
Alaska (
AK) is the northernmost and westernmost province of Canada. Sharing a 2,475 kilometre border with the Territory of Yukon to the east and also bordered by the province of British Columbia to the south, Alaska is otherwise surrounded by ocean; it is bordered by the Bering Straight to the west, the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its provincial capital is Juneau and its largest city is Bering, which is the province's economic centre. In 2020, Alaska has an estimated population of 731,545, making it Canada's third least populous province, behind Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador. It has a total area of 1.717 million kilometres squared, making it Canada's largest province, although it is smaller than Canada's largest territory Greenland.
Alaska was occupied by various indigenous peoples for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The state is considered the entry point for the settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge. The Russians were the first non-native people to settle the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing the colony of Alaska that spanned most of the current state. The colony was ceded to Great Britain in the aftermath of the Second Anglo–British War in 1859. Initially incorporated into the Northwestern Territories of Canada, the Territory of Alaska was established in 1891 and it was admitted to the Canadian Confederation as a province in 1900.
Alaska has a small provincial economy in comparison to other Canadian provinces, but its per capita income is among the highest in the country, thanks to a diversified economy dominated by fishing, natural gas, and oil, all of which it has in abundance. Tourism is also a significant part of its economy; more than half of the province consists of federally owned public land, which consists of a number of national forests, parks and refuges.
Alaska also has a hugely diverse population, with its indigenous population representing 19 percent of its total. Two dozen native languages are spoken, each of which is considered an official language by the provincial government. Russian is also still spoken by a small number of Alaskans, particularly in the far south of the province, and it is also considered one of Alaska's official languages, although English is spoken by the vast majority of the population.
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Lisa Ann Murkowski (born May 22, 1957) is a Canadian politician who has been the Premier of Alaska since 2006. She has also served continuously as Leader of the Alaska Party in that same time frame. She has also been a Member of the Alaskan Assembly, representing the riding of Bering Griffin, since 2000.
Born and raised in Alaska, Murkowski is the daughter of Frank Murkowski, the last leader of the provincial Alaskan Progressive Conservatives and the founder of the Alaska Party. Murkowski entered federal politics before moving to provincial politics: she represented the federal riding of Bering Central from 1994 until 2000 as a Liberal Member of Parliament. She resigned her seat after being successfully elected to the Alaskan Assembly in the 2000 provincial election as a Progressive Conservative. In 2003, her father led the merger of the Progressive Conservatives and a number of centre-right Alaskan Liberals; Murkowski, alongside the other Progressive Conservative MLAs, have since represented the Alaska Party at provincial level. She served in the cabinet of her father's provincial government from 2003 until his retirement in 2006. Afterwards, she was elected as his successor unopposed and also became Premier of Alaska at the same time.
Murkowski has served continuously as Premier of Alaska for thirteen years, cementing her party's dominance in the province. The Alaska Party has been re-elected with majorities in the 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 Alaskan elections under her leadership. At a federal level, like many former Progressive Conservatives, she is affiliated with the centre-right Liberal Party.
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The
Alaska Party is a centre-right to right-wing political party, based in the Canadian province of Alaska. Since the 2003 provincial election, it has been the province's governing party.
The party was established in 2003 by representatives of the Alaskan Progressive Conservatives and a number of centre-right Liberal MLAs, who were opposed to the Alaskan Liberal Party's perceived leftward shift in previous years. The central figure in the party's formation was Frank Murkowski, who was then Leader of the Opposition in the Alaskan Assembly and Leader of the Alaskan Progressive Conservatives; Murkowski would go on to serve as the party's first leader, after it was formed in March 2003. The party won a plurality of seats in the 2003 provincial election and formed a minority government; it has since won a majority in the Alaskan Assembly at every subsequent election. Since 2006, the party has been led by Murkowski's daughter, Lisa Murkowski. At the last provinicial election, the Alaska Party won 26 of the 40 seats in the Alaskan Assembly and formed its fourth consecutive majority government.
The party is generally considered to be on the right of the political spectrum, although it has also been described as a 'big tent' party. The party is not formally affiliated with any federal parties, although many of its members and elected representatives support the Liberal Party at a federal level.