KODIAK ISLAND

island, southern Alaska, U.S. It lies in the Gulf of Alaska and is separated from the Alaska Peninsula by Shelikof Strait. Kodiak Island is 100 miles (160 km) long and 1060 miles (1696 km) wide. It has an area of 3,588 square miles (9,293 square km). Heavily forested in the higher eastern regions and covered with grasses in lower areas, it is primarily hilly (exceeding 5,000 feet near the eastern coast). The Japan Current (Kuroshio) brings warm, moist weather. The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge (2,836 square miles [7,345 square km]), established in 1941, covers 75 percent of the island and is the habitat of the huge Kodiak, or Alaskan, brown bear. Main offshore islands are Afognak (north) and the Trinity Islands (south). Discovered in 1763 by Stephan Glotov, a Russian fur trader, and known as Kikhtak (Eskimo: Island), it was renamed Kadiak in 1890 and Kodiak in 1901. The first settlement was made in 1784 by Grigory Shelekhov (Shelikof) at Three Saints Bay, on the island's southeastern part. During the 19th century the island was a base for seal and sea otter hunting and whaling. Russian control ended in 1867 with the U.S. purchase of Alaska. In the early 1900s the U.S. Department of Agriculture established an experimental cattle station, but the eruption (1912) of Novarupta Volcano near Mount Katmai blanketed the island with ash and interrupted agricultural activities. In 1964 a violent earthquake lowered the island by 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m), resulting in seismic waves that caused widespread devastation. The island has since recovered, and dairying, sheep and cattle raising, fishing (based on numerous indented harbours) and canning, fur trapping, and copper mining are the main economic activities. The city of Kodiak is on Chiniak Bay (northeastern coast). Founded in 1792 by Aleksandr Andreyevich Baranov, manager in America for the Northeastern Company (later the Russian-American Company), it was first known as Pavlovsk Gavan or Paul's Harbor. Its replaced Three Saints Bay in commercial importance when it was chosen as the headquarters of the Russian fur-trading companies because of its good harbour. Prior to World War II, its economy was based upon cattle raising and herring and salmon fishing. After the war shellfish, the king crab, and dairying became additional economic assets. A Coast Guard station is located near the city. Pop. (1990) Kodiak island, 13,309; city, 6,365.