Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe, the Kahtnuht’ana Dena’ina, that inhabited the area, they called the Kenai Peninsula Yaghanen. The peninsula extends 150 miles southwest from the Chugach Mountains, south of Anchorage, it is separated from the mainland on the west on the east by Prince William Sound. Most of the peninsula is part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Gerasim Izmailov was the first European man to explore and map the peninsula in 1789, though Athabaskan and Alutiiq Native groups have lived on the peninsula for thousands of years; the glacier-covered Kenai Mountains, rising 7,000 feet, run along the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. Much of the range is within Kenai Fjords National Park; the northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is marshy, dotted with numerous small lakes.
Several larger lakes extend through the interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake. Rivers include the Kenai River, famous for its salmon population, as well as its tributary, the Russian River, the Kasilof River, the Anchor River. Kachemak Bay, a small inlet off the larger Cook Inlet, extends into the peninsula's southwest end, much of, part of Kachemak Bay State Park; the Kenai Peninsula has many glaciers in southern areas. It is home to both the Sargent Icefield and Harding Icefields and numerous glaciers that spawn off them; the peninsula includes several of the most populous towns in south central Alaska, including Seward on the Gulf of Alaska Coast, Kenai and Cooper Landing along the Cook Inlet and Kenai River, Homer, along Kachemak Bay, along with numerous smaller villages and settlements. Homer famously marks the terminus of the paved highway system of North America and is a popular destination for travelers who have driven to Alaska from the lower 48 states.
Seward is the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad. There are airports with scheduled flights in Kenai and Homer as well as smaller general aviation airports in Soldotna and Seward; the Seward Highway connects Seward to Anchorage, the Sterling Highway is the backbone of Kenai Peninsula connecting the larger towns to Anchorage. The peninsula has a coastal climate, mild, with abundant rainfall, it is one of the few areas in Alaska that allow for agriculture, with a growing season adequate for producing hay and several other crops. The peninsula has natural gas and coal deposits, as well as abundant commercial and personal-use fisheries. Tourism is guiding services for hunters and fishers; the Kenai Peninsula is known as "Alaska's Playground"
Marriage
Marriage called matrimony or wedlock, is a or ritually recognised union between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between those spouses, as well as between them and any resulting biological or adopted children and affinity. The definition of marriage varies around the world not only between cultures and between religions, but throughout the history of any given culture and religion, evolving to both expand and constrict in who and what is encompassed, but it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships sexual, are acknowledged or sanctioned. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity; when defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal. A marriage ceremony is known as a wedding. Individuals may marry for several reasons, including legal, libidinal, financial and religious purposes. Whom they marry may be influenced by gender determined rules of incest, prescriptive marriage rules, parental choice and individual desire.
In some areas of the world, arranged marriage, child marriage and sometimes forced marriage, may be practiced as a cultural tradition. Conversely, such practices may be outlawed and penalized in parts of the world out of concerns of the infringement of women's rights, or the infringement of children's rights, because of international law. Around the world in developed democracies, there has been a general trend towards ensuring equal rights within marriage for women and recognizing the marriages of interfaith and same-sex couples; these trends coincide with the broader human rights movement. Marriage can be recognized by a state, an organization, a religious authority, a tribal group, a local community, or peers, it is viewed as a contract. When a marriage is performed and carried out by a government institution in accordance with the marriage laws of the jurisdiction, without religious content, it is a civil marriage. Civil marriage recognizes and creates the rights and obligations intrinsic to matrimony before the state.
When a marriage is performed with religious content under the auspices of a religious institution it is a religious marriage. Religious marriage recognizes and creates the rights and obligations intrinsic to matrimony before that religion. Religious marriage is known variously as sacramental marriage in Catholicism, nikah in Islam, nissuin in Judaism, various other names in other faith traditions, each with their own constraints as to what constitutes, who can enter into, a valid religious marriage; some countries do not recognize locally performed religious marriage on its own, require a separate civil marriage for official purposes. Conversely, civil marriage does not exist in some countries governed by a religious legal system, such as Saudi Arabia, where marriages contracted abroad might not be recognized if they were contracted contrary to Saudi interpretations of Islamic religious law. In countries governed by a mixed secular-religious legal system, such as in Lebanon and Israel, locally performed civil marriage does not exist within the country, preventing interfaith and various other marriages contradicting religious laws from being entered into in the country, civil marriages performed abroad are recognized by the state if they conflict with religious laws.
The act of marriage creates normative or legal obligations between the individuals involved, any offspring they may produce or adopt. In terms of legal recognition, most sovereign states and other jurisdictions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples and a diminishing number of these permit polygyny, child marriages, forced marriages. In modern times, a growing number of countries developed democracies, have lifted bans on and have established legal recognition for the marriages of interfaith and same-sex couples; some cultures allow the dissolution of marriage through annulment. In some areas, child marriages and polygamy may occur in spite of national laws against the practice. Since the late twentieth century, major social changes in Western countries have led to changes in the demographics of marriage, with the age of first marriage increasing, fewer people marrying, more couples choosing to cohabit rather than marry. For example, the number of marriages in Europe decreased by 30% from 1975 to 2005.
In most cultures, married women had few rights of their own, being considered, along with the family's children, the property of the husband. In Europe, the United States, other places in the developed world, beginning in the late 19th century and lasting through the 21st century, marriage has undergone gradual legal changes, aimed at improving the rights of the wife; these changes included giving wives legal identities of their own, abolishing the right of husbands to physically discipline their wives, giving wives property rights, liberalizing divorce laws, providing wives with reproductive rights of their own, requiring a wife's consent when sexual relations occur. These changes have occurred in Western countries. In the 21st century, there continue to be controversies regarding the legal status of married women, legal acceptance of or leniency towards violence within marriage, traditional marriage customs such as dowry and bride price, for
Soldotna, Alaska
Soldotna is a home rule city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, in the U. S. state of Alaska. At the 2010 census the population was 4,163, up from 3,759 in 2000, it is the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Soldotna is located in the Southcentral portion of Alaska on the central-western portion of the Kenai Peninsula; the city limits span 7 square miles along the Kenai River, which empties into the Cook Inlet in the nearby city of Kenai. The Kenai River was selected by CNN Travel as one of the "World's 15 Best Rivers for Travelers," due to its fishing and hunting opportunities. Soldotna is located on the western edge of the vast Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area spanning nearly 2 million acres and home to bears, caribou and many fish and bird species; the city is located at the junction of the Sterling Highway and the Kenai Spur Highway, which has enabled Soldotna to develop as a service and retail hub for the Central Peninsula as well as for travelers between Anchorage and Homer.
The Central Peninsula Hospital serves the medical needs of the region's tourists. The Kenai Peninsula College, a branch of the University of Alaska Anchorage, operates the Kenai River Campus in Soldotna. Additionally, the headquarters of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District are located in the city. In 1947, after World War II, the United States government withdrew a number of townships along Cook Inlet and the lower Kenai River from the Kenai National Moose Range, opening up the area to settlement under the Homestead Act. Veterans of the United States armed services were given a 90-day preference over non-veterans in selecting land and filing for property. In that year, the Sterling Highway right-of-way was cleared of trees from Cooper Landing to Kenai; the location of present-day Soldotna was selected as the site for the highway's bridge crossing the Kenai River. The construction of the Sterling Highway provided a link from the Soldotna area to the outside world.
More homesteads were taken and visitors came to fish in the area. The Soldotna Post Office opened in 1949 and other businesses opened in the next few years. Oil was discovered in the Swanson River region in 1957, bringing new economic development to the area. In 1960, Soldotna was incorporated as a fourth class city with a population of 332 and an area of 7.4 square miles. Seven years in 1967, Soldotna was recognized as a first class city. In 1964, the Kenai Peninsula College, the Kenai Peninsula Borough government, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District were formed; the city experienced rapid population growth in the 1960s through the 1990s as a result of its location at the intersection of two major highways and due to development of the oil industry on the Kenai Peninsula. As the City and the oil industry have matured, population growth has somewhat slowed, although the city experienced more growth from 2000-2010 than during the previous decade. Soldotna is located at 60°29′12″N 151°4′31″W.
Soldotna is located on the banks of the Kenai River on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. It is named after nearby Soldotna Creek. There are multiple theories explaining the origin of the word "Soldotna". According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.4 square miles, of which 6.9 square miles of it is land and 0.5 square miles of it is water. As with much of Southcentral Alaska, Soldotna has a moderate subarctic climate due to the cool summers, though the diurnal temperature variation is larger than most locations in the region. Winters are snowy, long but not cold considering the latitude, with January featuring a daily average temperature of 13.4 °F. There are 46 nights of sub-0 °F lows annually, the area lies in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 4, indicating an average annual minimum in the −20 to −30 °F range. Summers are cool due with 12 days of 70 °F + highs annually. Soldotna first appeared on the 1960 U. S. Census as an unincorporated village, it formally incorporated in 1967.
As of the US Census of 2010, there were 4,163 people residing in 1,720 households in the city. The population density was 563 people per square mile; the racial makeup of the city was 86 percent White, 0.3 percent Black or African American, 4.3 percent Native American, 1.6 percent Asian, 0.3 percent Pacific Islander, 0.8 percent from other races, 6.8 percent from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of all races comprised 3.9 percent of the population. There were 1,720 households out of which 30.1 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44 percent were married couples living together, 11.9 percent had a female householder with no husband present, 38.7 percent were non-families. Of all households, 32 percent were made up of individuals living alone, 9.2 percent of whom were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.02. The age distribution of the population shows 26 percent under the age of 18 and 13 percent age 65 or older.
The median age was 34.6 years. The 2012 estimated median income for a household in the city was $44,805, the median income for a family was $56,208; the per capita income for the city was $30,553. About 3 percent of families and 6.1 percent of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9 percent of those under age 18 and 8.3 percent of those age 65 or over. Soldotna is home to the Kenai Peninsula College’s Kenai River Campus, a division of the University of Alaska Anchorage
Peter Micciche
Peter A. Micciche is an American politician and a Republican member of the Alaska Senate since January 15, 2013 representing District O. Micciche was the mayor of Soldotna, a member of its city council. Micciche earned his AA from Kenai Peninsula College at the University of Alaska and his BA in business management from Alaska Pacific University. Micciche challenged long-time incumbent Senator Tom Wagoner for the District O August 28, 2012 Republican Primary and won with 3,963 votes. Micciche was unopposed for the November 6, 2012 General election and won with 12,947 votes against write-in candidates. Official page at the Alaska Legislature Official Alaska Senate Majority page Profile at Vote Smart Peter Micciche at 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature
Per capita income
Per capita income or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita income is national income divided by population size. Per capita income is used to measure an area's average income and compare the wealth of different populations. Per capita income is used to measure a country's standard of living, it is expressed in terms of a used international currency such as the euro or United States dollar, is useful because it is known, is calculable from available gross domestic product and population estimates, produces a useful statistic for comparison of wealth between sovereign territories. This helps to ascertain a country's development status, it is one of the three measures for calculating the Human Development Index of a country. In the United States, it is defined by the U. S. Census Bureau as the following: "Per capita income is the mean money income received in the past 12 months computed for every man and child in a geographic area."
Critics claim that per capita income has several weaknesses in measuring prosperity: Comparisons of per capita income over time need to consider inflation. Without adjusting for inflation, figures tend to overstate the effects of economic growth. International comparisons can be distorted by cost of living differences not reflected in exchange rates. Where the objective is to compare living standards between countries, adjusting for differences in purchasing power parity will more reflect what people are able to buy with their money, it does not reflect income distribution. If a country's income distribution is skewed, a small wealthy class can increase per capita income while the majority of the population has no change in income. In this respect, median income is more useful when measuring of prosperity than per capita income, as it is less influenced by outliers. Non-monetary activity, such as barter or services provided within the family, is not counted; the importance of these services varies among economies.
Per capita income does not consider whether income is invested in factors to improve the area's development, such as health, education, or infrastructure. List of countries by average wage List of countries by GDP per capita—GDP at market or government official exchange rates per inhabitant List of countries by GDP per capita—GDP calculated at purchasing power parity exchange per inhabitant List of countries by GNI per capita List of countries by GNI per capita List of countries by income equality Total personal income
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U. S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 298,192 residents in 2016, it is Alaska's most populous city and contains more than 40 percent of the state's total population. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016, which accounts for more than half of the state's population. At 1,706 square miles of land area, the city is the fourth largest city by land in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, at 1,212 square miles. Anchorage is in the south-central portion of Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south; the city limits span 1,961.1 square miles which encompass the urban core, a joint military base, several outlying communities and all of Chugach State Park. Due to its location equidistant from New York City and Tokyo, Anchorage lies within 9 1⁄2 hours by air of nearly 90% of the industrialized world.
For this reason, the Anchorage International Airport is a common refueling stop for many international cargo flights and home to a major FedEx hub, which the company calls a "critical part" of its global network of services. Anchorage has won the All-America City Award four times: in 1956, 1965, 1984–85, 2002, by the National Civic League, it has been named by Kiplinger as the most tax-friendly city in the United States. Russian presence in south-central Alaska was well-established in the 19th century. In 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from Imperial Russia for $7.2 million, or about two cents an acre. His political rivals lampooned the deal as "Seward's folly," "Seward's icebox," and "Walrussia." In 1888, gold was discovered along Turnagain Arm. Alaska became an organized incorporated United States territory in 1912. Anchorage, unlike every other large town in Alaska south of the Brooks Range, was neither a fishing nor mining camp; the area surrounding Anchorage lacks significant economic metal minerals.
A number of Dena'ina settlements existed along Knik Arm for years. By 1911 the families of J. D. "Bud" Whitney and Jim St. Clair lived at the mouth of Ship Creek and were joined there by a young forest ranger, Jack Brown, his bride, Nellie, in 1912; the city grew from its happenstance choice as the site, in 1914, under the direction of Frederick Mears, of a railroad-construction port for the Alaska Engineering Commission. The area near the mouth of Ship Creek, where the railroad headquarters was located became a tent city. A townsite was mapped out on higher ground to the south of the tent city noted in the years since for its order and rigidity compared with other Alaska town sites. In 1915, territorial governor John Franklin Alexander Strong encouraged residents to change the city's name to one that had "more significance and local associations". In the summer of that year, residents held a vote to change the city's name. However, the territorial government declined to change the city's name.
Anchorage was incorporated on November 23, 1920. Construction of the Alaska Railroad continued until its completion in 1923; the city's economy in the 1920s and 1930s centered on the railroad. Col. Otto F. Ohlson, the Swedish-born general manager of the railroad for nearly two decades, became a symbol of residents' contempt due to the firm control he maintained over the railroad's affairs, which by extension became control over economic and other aspects of life in Alaska. Between the 1930s and the 1950s, the city experienced massive growth as air transportation and the military became important. Aviation operations in Anchorage commenced along the firebreak south of town, which residents used as a golf course. An increase in air traffic led to clearing of a site directly east of town site boundaries starting in 1929. However, Merrill Field still sees a significant amount of general aviation traffic. Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson were constructed in the 1940s, served as the city's primary economic engine until the 1968 Prudhoe Bay discovery shifted the thrust of the economy toward the oil industry.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process led to the combining of the two bases to form Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. On March 27, 1964, the magnitude 9.2 Good Friday earthquake hit Anchorage, killing 115 people and causing $116 million in damages. The earth-shaking event lasted nearly five minutes, it was the world's second-largest earthquake in recorded history. Rebuilding dominated the remainder of the 1960s. In 1968, ARCO discovered oil in Prudhoe Bay on the Alaska North Slope, the resulting oil boom spurred further growth in Anchorage. In 1975, the City of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Area Borough merged into the geographically larger Municipality of Anchorage The city continued to grow in the 1980s, capital projects and an aggressive beautification campaign took place. During this time Anchorage became known as the "Gree
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is a principal agency of the U. S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy; the Census Bureau is part of the U. S. Department of Commerce and its director is appointed by the President of the United States; the Census Bureau's primary mission is conducting the U. S. Census every ten years, which allocates the seats of the U. S. House of Representatives to the states based on their population; the Bureau's various censuses and surveys help allocate over $400 billion in federal funds every year and it helps states, local communities, businesses make informed decisions. The information provided by the census informs decisions on where to build and maintain schools, transportation infrastructure, police and fire departments. In addition to the decennial census, the Census Bureau continually conducts dozens of other censuses and surveys, including the American Community Survey, the U. S. Economic Census, the Current Population Survey.
Furthermore and foreign trade indicators released by the federal government contain data produced by the Census Bureau. Article One of the United States Constitution directs the population be enumerated at least once every ten years and the resulting counts used to set the number of members from each state in the House of Representatives and, by extension, in the Electoral College; the Census Bureau now conducts a full population count every 10 years in years ending with a zero and uses the term "decennial" to describe the operation. Between censuses, the Census Bureau makes population projections. In addition, Census data directly affects how more than $400 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education and more; the Census Bureau is mandated with fulfilling these obligations: the collecting of statistics about the nation, its people, economy. The Census Bureau's legal authority is codified in Title 13 of the United States Code.
The Census Bureau conducts surveys on behalf of various federal government and local government agencies on topics such as employment, health, consumer expenditures, housing. Within the bureau, these are known as "demographic surveys" and are conducted perpetually between and during decennial population counts; the Census Bureau conducts economic surveys of manufacturing, retail and other establishments and of domestic governments. Between 1790 and 1840, the census was taken by marshals of the judicial districts; the Census Act of 1840 established a central office. Several acts followed that revised and authorized new censuses at the 10-year intervals. In 1902, the temporary Census Office was moved under the Department of Interior, in 1903 it was renamed the Census Bureau under the new Department of Commerce and Labor; the department was intended to consolidate overlapping statistical agencies, but Census Bureau officials were hindered by their subordinate role in the department. An act in 1920 changed the date and authorized manufacturing censuses every two years and agriculture censuses every 10 years.
In 1929, a bill was passed mandating the House of Representatives be reapportioned based on the results of the 1930 Census. In 1954, various acts were codified into Title 13 of the US Code. By law, the Census Bureau must count everyone and submit state population totals to the U. S. President by December 31 of any year ending in a zero. States within the Union receive the results in the spring of the following year; the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau regions are "widely used...for data collection and analysis". The Census Bureau definition is pervasive. Regional divisions used by the United States Census Bureau: Region 1: Northeast Division 1: New England Division 2: Mid-Atlantic Region 2: Midwest Division 3: East North Central Division 4: West North Central Region 3: South Division 5: South Atlantic Division 6: East South Central Division 7: West South Central Region 4: West Division 8: Mountain Division 9: Pacific Many federal, state and tribal governments use census data to: Decide the location of new housing and public facilities, Examine the demographic characteristics of communities and the US, Plan transportation systems and roadways, Determine quotas and creation of police and fire precincts, Create localized areas for elections, utilities, etc.
Gathers population information every 10 years The United States Census Bureau is committed to confidentiality, guarantees non-disclosure of any addresses or personal information related to individuals or establishments. Title 13 of the U. S. Code establishes penalties for the disclosure of this information. All Census employees must sign an affidavit of non-disclosure prior to employment; the Bureau cannot share responses, addresses or personal information with anyone including United States or foreign government
