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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS (possibly from Chukc...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 544 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ALEUTIAN ISLANDS (possibly from See also:

Chukchi aliat, " See also:island ") , a See also:chain of small islands situated in the See also:Northern Pacific Ocean, and extending about 1200 m. westward from the extremity of the Alaskan See also:peninsula toward the peninsula of See also:Kamchatka; they constitute See also:part of the See also:District of See also:Alaska, U.S.A. The islands, of which an alternative collective name is the See also:Catherine See also:Archipelago, comprise four groups—the See also:Fox, Andreanof, See also:Rat and Near Islands. They are all included between 52° and 550 N. See also:lat. and 172° E. and 163° W. See also:long. The See also:axis of the archipelago near the mainland of Alaska has a S.W. trend, but near the 129th See also:meridian its direction changes to the N.W. This See also:change of direction corresponds to a See also:curve in the See also:line of volcanic fissures which have contributed their products to the See also:building of the islands. Such curved chains are repeated about the Pacific Ocean in the Kurile Islands, the See also:Japanese chain, the Philippines, &c. The See also:general See also:elevation is greatest in the eastern islands and least in the western. The island chain is really a western continuation of the Aleutian Range on the mainland. The See also:great See also:majority of the islands See also:bear evident marks of volcanic origin, and there are numerous volcanic cones on the See also:north See also:side of the chain, some of them active; many of the islands, however, are not wholly volcanic, but contain crystalline or sedimentary rocks, and also See also:amber and beds of See also:lignite. The coasts are rocky and surf-worn and the approaches are exceedingly dangerous, the See also:land rising immediately from the coasts to steep, bold mountains. The See also:climate of the islands is oceanic, with moderate and fairly See also:uniform temperatures and heavy rainfall. Fogs are almost See also:constant.

The summers are much cooler than on the mainland at See also:

Sitka (q.v.), but the See also:winter temperature of the islands and of See also:south-eastern Alaska is very nearly the same. The mean See also:annual temperature for Unalaska, the most important island of the See also:group, is about 38° F. ; being about 30° for See also:January and about 52° for See also:August. The highest and lowest temperatures recorded on the islands are 78° and 5°. The See also:average annual amount of rainfall is about 8o in., and Unalaska, with about 250 See also:rainy days per See also:year, is said to be the rainiest See also:place within the territory of the See also:United States. The growing See also:season lasts about 135 days, from See also:early in May till See also:late in See also:September, but See also:agriculture is limited to the raising of a few vegetables. With the exception of some stunted willows the islands are practically destitute of trees, but are covered with a luxuriant growth of 'herbage, including See also:grasses, sedges and many flowering See also:plants. On the less mountainous islands the raising of See also:sheep and See also:reindeer is believed to be practicable. The See also:principal occupations of the natives have always been fishing and See also:hunting, and the See also:women weave basketry of exquisite fineness. From the end of the 18th See also:century the See also:Russian See also:fur traders had settlements here for the See also:capture of the See also:seal and the See also:sea See also:otter and the See also:blue and the See also:Arctic fox. Under the See also:American regime seal fishing off the Aleutians See also:save by the natives has.never been legal, but the depletion of the Pribilof See also:herd, the almost See also:complete extinction of the sea otter, and the rapid decrease of the foxes and other fur animals, have threatened the Aleuts (as the natives are commonly called) with See also:starvation. In See also:recent years enterprising traders have raised foxes by culture and by especially protecting certain small islands, and this has furnished employment to whole communities of natives.

See also:

Fish and sea-See also:fowl are extremely abundant. The natives are rather See also:low in stature, but plump and well shaped, with See also:short necks, swarthy faces, See also:black eyes and long black See also:hair. They are a See also:branch of the Esquimauan See also:family, but differ greatly from the See also:Eskimo of the mainland in See also:language, habits, disposition and See also:mental ability. They were See also:good fighters until they were cowed by the treatment of the Russians, who practically reduced them to See also:slavery. Sporadic efforts to Christianize the Aleuts were made in the latter See also:half of the 18th century, but little impression was made before the arrival in 1824 of See also:Father See also:Ivan Venyaminov, who in 184o became the first See also:Greek See also:bishop of Alaska. While the missionaries of the Greek See also:Church have nominally converted the natives to See also:Christianity, See also:white adventurers have more effectually converted them to various See also:bad habits. In See also:dress and mode of See also:life they have adopted outwardly civilized customs. From the position of the Aleutian islands, stretching like a broken See also:bridge from See also:Asia to See also:America,some ethnologists have supposed that by means of them America was first peopled. Raised See also:shore-lines, occasional earthquakes, and slow measurable elevation of the land about active volcanoes, indicate that elevation is now in progress, but the See also:geological See also:evidence shows no sign of former submergence of a connecting See also:isthmus. There is See also:granite at the core of the Shaler range of mountains in See also:southern Unalaska. It is stated that before the See also:advent of the Russians there were 25,000 Aleuts on the archipelago, but that the barbarities of the traders eventually reduced the See also:population to one-tenth of this number. The number of Aleuts in 1890 was reported as 968; the See also:total population of the archipelago in 1900 was 2000.

The principal settlements are on the Unalaska Island. Of these Iliuliuk (also called Unalaska), the See also:

oldest, settled in 176o-1775, has a See also:custom See also:house, a Russian-Greek Church, and a Methodist See also:Mission and orphanage, and is the headquarters for a considerable See also:fleet of United States See also:revenue cutters which See also:patrol the sealing grounds of the Pribilofs; adjacent is Dutch Harbor (so named, it is said, because a Dutch See also:vessel was the first to enter it), which is an important See also:port for See also:Bering Sea See also:commerce. The See also:volcano Makushin (5691 ft.) is visible from Iliuliuk, and the volcanic islets Bogoslof and Grewingk, which See also:rose from the sea in 1796 and 1883 respectively, See also:lie about 30 M. W. of the See also:bay. The latter is still active; in 1906 a new See also:cone rose between the two earlier islets, and in 1907 still another: these were nearly demolished by an explosive eruption on the 1st of September 1907. The population of Unalaska Island in 1900 was 575 Aleuts and 66 whites. The See also:Commander Islands group near the See also:Asiatic See also:coast is geographically, but since the acquisition of the Russian possessions in America not politically, a part of the Aleutian See also:system. In 1741 the Russian See also:government sent out See also:Vitus Bering, a Dane, and Alexei Chirikov, a Russian, in the See also:ships " See also:Saint See also:Peter " and " Saint See also:Paul " on a voyage of See also:discovery in the Northern Pacific. After the ships were separated by a See also:storm, Chirikov discovered several eastern islands of the Aleutian group, and Bering discovered several of the western islands, finally being wrecked and losing his life on the island of the Commander, group that now bears his name. The survivors of Bering's party reached Kamchatka in a See also:boat constructed from the wreckage of their See also:ship, and reported that the islands were See also:rich in fur-bearing animals. Siberian fur hunters at once flocked to the Commander Islands and gradually moved eastward across the Aleutian Islands to the mainland. In this manner See also:Russia gained a foothold on the north-western coast of North America.

The Aleutian Islands consequently belonged to Russia, until that See also:

country in 1867 transferred to the United States all its possessions in America. During his third and last voyage, in 1778, See also:Captain See also:James See also:Cook surveyed the eastern portion of the Aleutian archipelago, accurately determined the position of some of the more important islands and corrected many errors of former navigators. Some preliminary surveys have been made by the United States government with a view to establishing a See also:naval station on the island Kiska, in the western part of the Aleutian Chain.

End of Article: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS (possibly from Chukchi aliat, " island ")

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