*** Welcome to piglix ***

Russian America

Russian America
Русская Америка
Russkaya Amerika
Colony of the Russian Empire

1784, 1796–1867
Flag Coat of arms
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Russian America
Russian America in 1860
Capital New Archangel
Emperor
 •  1784–1796 Catherine the Great
 •  1796–1801 Paul I
 •  1801–1825 Alexander I
 •  1825–1855 Nicholas I
 •  1855–1867 Alexander II
History
 •  Company Charter[a] 8 July 1784, 1796
 •  Alaska Purchase 18 October 1867
Today part of  United States
a. ^ The Russian-American Company was chartered by the Emperor in 1799, to govern Russian possessions in North America on behalf of the Russian Empire.
Flag of Alaska
History of Alaska
Prehistory
Russian America (1733–1867)
Department of Alaska (1867–1884)
District of Alaska (1884–1912)
Territory of Alaska (1912–1959)
State of Alaska (1959–present)
Other topics

Russian America (Russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name of the Russian colonial possessions in North America from 1733 to 1867. Settlements spanned parts of what are now the US states of California, Alaska, and two ports in Hawaii. Formal incorporation of the possessions by Russia did not take place until the Ukase of 1799 which established a monopoly for the Russian–American Company and also granted the Russian Orthodox Church certain rights in the new possessions. Many of its possessions were abandoned in the 19th century. In 1867 Russia sold its last remaining possessions to the United States for $7.2 million ($120 million in 2013 dollars).

The earliest written accounts indicate that the first Europeans to reach Alaska came from Russia. In 1648 Semyon Dezhnev sailed from the mouth of the Kolyma River through the Arctic Ocean and around the eastern tip of Asia to the Anadyr River. One legend holds that some of his boats were carried off course and reached Alaska. However, no evidence of settlement survives. Dezhnev's discovery was never forwarded to the central government, leaving open the question of whether or not Siberia was connected to North America. In 1725, Tsar Peter the Great called for another expedition.

As a part of the 1733-1743 second Kamchatka expedition, the Sv. Petr under the Dane Vitus Bering and the Sv. Pavel under the Russian Alexei Chirikov set sail from the Kamchatkan port of Petropavlovsk in June 1741. They were soon separated, but each continued sailing east.


...
Wikipedia

...