Vickipedia

AMERICA, russian, the name long given to what is now a territory of the United States, called Alaska, and which was purchased from the Russian government in 1867 for 7,200,000 dollars. It forms the north-western extremity of the American continent, and is bounded N. by the Arctic Ocean, E. by British America, W. and S. by the Pacific. It was discovered by a Russian expedition conducted by Behring (q. v.), which sailed from Kamtchatka in 1741. It is little better than a vast hunting-ground, and was long held by the Imperial Fur Company, which differed but little from the imperial government itself. Its only town, or rather village, worthy of the name, is New Archangel (now called Sitka), on the island of Sitka. The most noticeable points in geography are Cape Prince of Wales, on Behring’s Strait; Kotzebue’s Sound, Norton’s Sound, peninsula of Alaska, Cook’s Inlet, and Mount St. Elias.