Spruce Island (russian: Еловый остров) is an island in the

Kodiak Archipelago The Kodiak Archipelago (russian: Кадьякский архипелаг , translit = Kad'yakskiy arkhipelag) is an archipelago (group of islands) south of the main land-mass of the state of Alaska (United States), about by air south-west of A ...

of the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, ...

in the US state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. It lies just off the northeast corner of

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second larges ...

, across the Narrow Strait.

Demographics

Spruce Island has a land area of 46.066 km² (17.786 sq mi) and a population of 242 as of the 2000 census, mostly in its only city, Ouzinkie, in the southwestern part of the island.

History

From 1808 to 1818, Spruce Island was the hermitage of

Herman of Alaska Herman of Alaska ( rus, Преподобный Ге́рман Аляскинский, r=Prepodobny German Alaskinsky; 1756 – November 15, 1837) was a Russian Orthodox monk and missionary to Alaska, which was then part of Russian America. His g ...

, later glorified as a saint and considered the patron saint of the Orthodox Church in the Americas. It was called New Valaam (russian: Ново-Валаамский) by St. Herman. The island is a site of pilgrimages by Orthodox Christians. In 2008, researchers led by the mayor of the northern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

n city of

Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of ...

alleged that the island should legally still belong to the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

because the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

had no authority to sell the church's land as part of the

Alaska Purchase The Alaska Purchase (russian: Продажа Аляски, Prodazha Alyaski, Sale of Alaska) was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire. Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867, through a ...

.Tetraultfarber, G.
After Crimea, Russians Say They Want Alaska Back
. ''The Moscow Times''. April 1, 2014.

References

Islands of Alaska Islands of the Kodiak Archipelago {{KodiakIslandAK-geo-stub