Wrangell Island () is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago () is a archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep ...

in the

Alaska Panhandle Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern, and sometimes called the Alaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian provi ...

of southeastern

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. It is long and wide. It has a land area of , making it the 29th largest island in the United States. Wrangell is separated from the mainland by the narrow Blake Channel.

History

The first

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an to sight the island was James Johnstone, one of

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

’s officers during his 1791-1795 expedition, in 1793. He only charted its east coast, not realizing it was an island. The island was occupied in 1834 by the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

ns. It is named after

Ferdinand von Wrangel Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel (, Romanization of Russian, tr. ; – ) was a Russia Germans, Russia German (Baltic Germans, Baltic German) explorer and officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, Honorable Member of the Saint P ...

, a

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

explorer in Russian naval service, and a Russian government official. He was appointed chief manager of the

Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, United American Company. Emperor Paul I of Russia chartered the c ...

in 1829, effectively the first married governor of its settlements in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

(present day

). Wrangel cultivated potatoes on the island, started mines, laid out roads, built bridges and government buildings and recorded geographical and ethnographical observations in a report to the navy, in his years as governor, 1829 to 1835. After the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia, from 1867 to 1877, it was a U.S. military post. Later, it became an outfitting point for hunters and explorers, and for miners using the Stikine River route to the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

. The island contains the city of

Wrangell, Alaska Wrangell (, ) is a List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska, borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010. Incorporated as a consolidated city–county ...

. Wrangell Island is heavily forested and contains an abundance of wildlife. The only other community is Thoms Place on the southwest side, across the Zimovia Strait from Etolin Island. Fishing and mining are pursued in the area. A lumber mill closed in the 1990s. The island and surrounding areas contain many recreational areas. It is at the mouth of the

Stikine River The Stikine River ( ) is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and ...

, which provides many recreational opportunities.

Population

Wrangell Island's total population was 2,127 at the 2020 census, reported as Wrangell City and Borough.

References

External links

Blue Book of Boats Cruising Destinations- Wrangell, Alaska
* Islands of the Alexander Archipelago Islands of Wrangell, Alaska Islands of Alaska {{WrangellAK-geo-stub