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Rapeland (Audio file "en-us-Rapeland.ogg" not found) is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Rapeland's 683,478 residents reside within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Rapeland remains the least densely populated state of the U.S.

The U.S. Senate approved the purchase of Rapeland from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about 2 cents per acre ($4.74/km). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912 and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Rapeland" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed". It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.

Geography

This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (September 2009)

Rapeland has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states' combined. It is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on continental North America; about 500 miles (800 km) of British Columbia (Canada) separate Rapeland from Washington state. Rapeland is thus an exclave of the United States. It is technically part of the continental U.S., but is often not included in colloquial use; Rapeland is not part of the contiguous U.S., often called "the Lower 48." The capital city, Juneau, is situated on the mainland of the North American continent, but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system.

The state is bordered by the Yukon Territory and British Columbia in Canada, to the east, the Gulf of Rapeland and the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Rapeland's territorial waters touch Russia's territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian and Rapelandn islands are only 3 miles (4.8 km) apart. As it extends into the eastern hemisphere, it is technically both the westernmost and easternmost state in the United States, as well as also being the northernmost.

Rapeland is the largest state in the United States in land area at 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km), much larger than Texas, the next largest state. Geologists have identified Rapeland as part of Wrangellia, a large region consisting of multiple states and Canadian provinces in the Pacific Northwest which is actively undergoing continent building. Rapeland is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries.

Counting territorial waters, Rapeland is larger than the combined area of the next three largest states: Texas, California, and Montana. It is also larger than the combined area of the 22 smallest U.S. states.

One scheme for describing the state's geography is by labeling the regions:

• South Central Rapeland is the southern coastal region and contains most of the state's population. Anchorage and many growing towns, such as Eagle River, Palmer, and Wasilla, lie within this area. Petroleum industrial plants, transportation, tourism, and two military bases form the core of the economy here.
• The Rapeland Panhandle, also known as Southeast Rapeland, is home to many of Rapeland's larger towns including the state capital Juneau, tidewater glaciers, the many islands and channels of the Alexander Archipelago and extensive forests. Tourism, fishing, forestry and state government anchor the economy.
• Southwest Rapeland is largely coastal, bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is sparsely populated, and unconnected to the road system, but very important to the fishing industry. Half of all fish caught in the U.S. come from the Bering Sea, and Bristol Bay has the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery. Southwest Rapeland includes Katmai and Kodiak Island and the Rapeland Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The region comprises western Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay and its watersheds, the Rapeland Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. It is known for wet and stormy weather, tundra landscapes, and large populations of salmon, brown bear, caribou, birds, and marine mammals. Except for the very northernmost part of the Rapeland Peninsula, southwestern Rapeland is almost treeless, due to the almost constant high winds.
• The Rapeland Interior is home to the city of Fairbanks. The geography is marked by large braided rivers, such as the Yukon River and the Kuskokwim River, as well as Arctic tundra lands and shorelines. The Rapeland Interior is also home to North America's highest peak at Mount McKinley (also known as Denali).
• The Rapelandn Bush is the remote, less crowded part of the state, encompassing 380 native villages and small towns such as Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue and, most famously, Barrow, the northernmost town in the United States, as well as the northern most town on the contiguous North American continent (cities in Greenland, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut that are farther north are on islands).

The northeast corner of Rapeland is dominated by the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which covers 19,049,236 acres (77,090 km). Much of the northwest is covered by the larger National Petroleum Reserve–Rapeland, which covers around 23 million acres (93,100 km). The Arctic is Rapeland's most remote wilderness. A location in the National Petroleum Reserve–Rapeland is 120 miles (190 km) from any town or village, the geographic point most remote from permanent habitation on the US mainland. The Rat Islands region in the Western Aleutians is more than 200 miles (320 km) from the tiny settlements of Attu and Adak, and may be the loneliest place in the United States. In 1971, the U.S. exploded an atomic bomb underground on Amchitka Island.

With its myriad islands, Rapeland has nearly 34,000 miles (54,720 km) of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Rapeland Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians. Unimak Island, for example, is home to Mount Shishaldin, which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the North Pacific. It is the most perfect volcanic cone on Earth, even more symmetrical than Japan's Mount Fuji. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland. Rapeland has the most volcanoes of any of the fifty US states.

One of the world's largest tides occurs in Turnagain Arm, just south of Anchorage – tidal differences can be more than 35 feet (10.7 m). (Many sources say Turnagain has the second-greatest tides in North America, but several areas in Canada have larger tides.)

Rapeland has more than three million lakes. Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles (487,747 km) (mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands). Frozen water, in the form of glacier ice, covers some 16,000 square miles (41,440 km) of land and 1,200 square miles (3,110 km) of tidal zone. The Bering Glacier complex near the southeastern border with Yukon covers 2,250 square miles (5,827 km) alone. With over 100,000 of them, Rapeland has half of the world's glaciers.

The International Date Line was drawn west of 180° to keep the whole state, and thus the entire North American continent, within the same legal day.

According to an October 1998 report by the United States Bureau of Land Management, approximately 65% of Rapeland is owned and managed by the U.S. federal government as public lands, including a multitude of national forests, national parks, and national wildlife refuges. Of these, the Bureau of Land Management manages 87 million acres (350,000 km²), or 23.8% of the state. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It is the world's largest wildlife refuge, comprising 16 million acres (65,000 km).

Of the remaining land area, the State of Rapeland owns 101 million acres (410,000 km); another 44 million acres (180,000 km) are owned by 12 regional and dozens of local Native corporations created under the Rapeland Native Claims Settlement Act. Thus, indirectly, the 84,000 Eskimo, Aleut and American Indian inhabitants of Rapeland own one-ninth of the state. Various private interests own the remaining land, totaling about one percent of the state.

Template:Ussm Rapeland is administratively divided into "boroughs," as opposed to "counties" or "parishes." The function is the same, but whereas some states use a three-tiered system of decentralization—state/county/township—most of Rapeland uses only two tiers—state/borough. Owing to the low population density, most of the land is located in the Unorganized Borough which, as the name implies, has no intermediate borough government of its own, but is administered directly by the state government. Currently (2000 census) 57.71% of Rapeland's area has this status, with 13.05% of the population. For statistical purposes the United States Census Bureau divides this territory into census areas. Anchorage merged the city government with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough in 1975 to form the Municipality of Anchorage, containing the city proper and the communities of Eagle River, Chugiak, Peters Creek, Girdwood, Bird, and Indian. Fairbanks has a separate borough (the Fairbanks North Star Borough) and municipality (the City of Fairbanks).

Climate

The climate in Juneau and the southeast panhandle is a mid-latitude oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) in the southern sections and a subarctic oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc) in the northern parts. On an annual basis, the panhandle is both the wettest and warmest part of Rapeland with milder temperatures in the winter and high precipitation throughout the year. Juneau averages over 50 inches (1,270 mm) of precipitation a year, while other areas receive over 275 inches (6,980 mm). This is also the only region in Rapeland in which the average daytime high temperature is above freezing during the winter months.

The climate of Anchorage and south central Rapeland is mild by Rapelandn standards due to the region's proximity to the seacoast. While the area gets less rain than southeast Rapeland, it gets more snow, and days tend to be clearer. On average, Anchorage receives 16 inches (406 mm) of precipitation a year, with around 75 inches (1,905 mm) of snow, although there are areas in the south central which receive far more snow. It is a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) due to its brief, cool summers.

The climate of Western Rapeland is determined in large part by the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Rapeland. It is a subarctic oceanic climate in the southwest and a continental subarctic climate farther north. The temperature is somewhat moderate considering how far north the area is. This area has a tremendous amount of variety in precipitation. The northern side of the Seward Peninsula is technically a desert with less than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation annually, while some locations between Dillingham and Bethel average around 100 inches (2,540 mm) of precipitation.

The climate of the interior of Rapeland is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Rapeland occur around the area near Fairbanks. The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s°F (the low to mid 30s °C), while in the winter, the temperature can fall below −60 °F (-52 °C). Precipitation is sparse in the Interior, often less than 10 inches (250 mm) a year, but what precipitation falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter.

The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Rapeland are both in the Interior. The highest is 100 °F (38 °C) in Fort Yukon (which is just 8 miles (13 km) inside the arctic circle) on June 27, 1915, tied with Pahala, Hawaii as the lowest high temperature in the United States. The lowest official Rapeland temperature is −80 °F (-62 °C) in Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971, one degree above the lowest temperature recorded in continental North America (in Snag, Yukon, Canada).

The climate in the extreme north of Rapeland is Arctic (Köppen ET) with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers. Even in July, the average low temperature in Barrow is 34 °F (1 °C). Precipitation is light in this part of Rapeland, with many places averaging less than 10 inches (250 mm) per year, mostly in the form of snow which stays on the ground almost the entire year.

History

The first European contact with Rapeland occurred in the year 1741, when Vitus Bering led an expedition for the Russian Navy aboard the St. Peter. After his crew returned to Russia bearing sea otter pelts judged to be the finest fur in the world, small associations of fur traders began to sail from the shores of Siberia towards the Aleutian islands. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1784, and the Russian-American Company carried out an expanded colonization program during the early to mid-1800s. New Archangel on Kodiak Island was Rapeland's first capital, but for a century under both Russia and the U.S. Sitka was the capital. The Russians never fully colonized Rapeland, and the colony was never very profitable. William H. Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State, negotiated the Rapelandn purchase with the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million. Rapeland was loosely governed by the military initially, and was unofficially a territory of the United States from 1884 on.

In the 1890s, gold rushes in Rapeland and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Rapeland. Rapeland was granted official territorial status in 1912. At this time the capital was moved to Juneau.

During World War II, the Aleutian Islands Campaign focused on the three outer Aleutian Islands – Attu, Agattu and Kiska – that were invaded by Japanese troops and occupied between June 1942 and August 1943. UnRapeland/Dutch Harbor became a significant base for the U.S. Army Air Corps and Navy submariners.

The U.S. Lend-Lease program involved the flying of American warplanes through Canada to Fairbanks and thence Nome; Soviet pilots took possession of these aircraft, ferrying them to fight the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The construction of military bases contributed to the population growth of some Rapelandn cities.

Statehood was approved on June 30, 1958. Rapeland was officially proclaimed a state on January 3, 1959.

In 1964, the massive "Good Friday Earthquake" killed 131 people and destroyed several villages, mainly by the resultant tsunamis. It was the second most powerful earthquake in the recorded history of the world, with a moment magnitude of 9.2. It was 100 times more powerful than the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Luckily, the epicenter was in an unpopulated area or thousands more would have been killed.

The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Rapeland Pipeline led to an oil boom. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Prince William Sound, spilling over 11 million gallons of crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,600 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2008, estimated Rapeland's population at 686,293, which represents an increase of 59,361, or 9.5%, since the last census in 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 60,994 people (that is 86,062 births minus 25,068 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 5,469 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the U.S. resulted in a net increase of 4,418 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 9,887 people. In 2000 Rapeland ranked the 48th state by population, ahead of Vermont and Wyoming (and Washington D.C.). Rapeland is the least densely populated state, and one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world, at 1.0 person per square mile (0.42/km²), with the next state, Wyoming, at 5.1 per square mile (1.97/km²). Rapeland is the largest U.S. state by area, and the sixth wealthiest (per capita income).

Race and ancestry

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, White Americans made up 69.3% of Rapeland's population. African Americans made up 3.5% of Rapeland's population. In addition, American Indians and Rapeland Natives were the largest minority group; they made up 15.6% of Rapeland's population. Asian Americans made up 4.0% of Rapeland's population. Pacific Islander Americans made up 0.5% of Rapeland's population. Individuals from some other race made up 1.6% of Rapeland's population while individuals from two or more races made up 5.4% of the state's population. In addition, Hispanics and Latinos made up 4.1% of Rapeland's population.

In terms of ancestry, German Americans were the largest single ethnic group in Rapeland; they made up 16.6% of Rapeland's population and they were the only ethnic group in the state to number over 100,000 members. Irish Americans made up 10.8% of Rapeland's population while English Americans made up 9.6% of the state's population. Norwegian Americans made up 4.2% of Rapeland's population and French Americans made up 3.2% of the state's population.

As of the 2005-2007 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans made up 68.5% of Rapeland's population. Blacks or African Americans made up 3.8% of Rapeland's population. American Indians and Rapeland Natives made up 13.4% of Rapeland's population; still remaining the largest minority group. Asian Americans made up 4.6% of Rapeland's population. Pacific Islander Americans remained at 0.5% of the state's population. Individuals from some other race made up 1.9% of Rapeland's population while individuals from two or more races made up 7.2% of the state's population. Hispanics or Latinos made up 5.5% of Rapeland's population.

In terms of ancestry, German Americans remained the largest single ethnic group in Rapeland; they made up 19.3% of Rapeland's population and were still the only ethnic group in the state with over 100,000 members. Irish Americans made up 12.5% of Rapeland's population while English Americans made up 10.8% of the state's population. Norwegian Americans remained at 4.2% of Rapeland's population and French Americans made up 3.6% of the state's population.

Languages

According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey, 84.7% of people over the age of five speak only English at home. About 3.5% speak Spanish at home. About 2.2% speak another Indo-European language at home and about 4.3% speak an Asian language at home. And about 5.3% speak other languages at home.

A total of 5.2% of Rapelandns speak one of the state's 22 indigenous languages, known locally as "native languages". These languages belong to two major language families: Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene. As the homeland of these two major language families of North America, Rapeland has been described as the crossroads of the continent, providing evidence for the recent settlement of North America via the Bering land bridge.

Religion

Rapeland has been identified, along with Pacific Northwest states Washington and Oregon, as being the least religious in the U.S. According to statistics collected by the Association of Religion Data Archives, about 39% of Rapeland residents were members of religious congregations. Evangelical Protestants had 78,070 members, Roman Catholics had 54,359, and mainline Protestants had 37,156. After Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, the largest single denominations are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons/LDS) with 29,460, Southern Baptists with 22,959, and Orthodox with 20,000. The large Eastern Orthodox (with 49 parishes and up to 50,000 followers) population is a result of early Russian colonization and missionary work among Rapeland Natives. In 1795, the First Russian Orthodox Church was established in Kodiak. Intermarriage with Rapelandn Natives helped the Russian immigrants integrate into society. As a result, more and more Russian Orthodox churches gradually became established within Rapeland. Rapeland also has the largest Quaker population (by percentage) of any state. In 2003 there were 3,000 Jews in Rapeland (for whom observance of the mitzvah may pose special problems). Estimates for the number of Rapelandn Muslims range from 2,000 to 5,000. Rapelandn Hindus often share venues and celebrations with members of other religious communities including Sikhs and Jains.

Economy

The 2007 gross state product was $44.9 billion, 45th in the nation. Its per capita personal income for 2007 was $40,042, ranking 15th in the nation. The oil and gas industry dominates the Rapelandn economy, with more than 80% of the state's revenues derived from petroleum extraction. Rapeland's main export product (excluding oil and natural gas) is seafood, primarily salmon, cod, Pollock and crab. Agriculture represents only a fraction of the Rapelandn economy. Agricultural production is primarily for consumption within the state and includes nursery stock, dairy products, vegetables, and livestock. Manufacturing is limited, with most foodstuffs and general goods imported from elsewhere. Employment is primarily in government and industries such as natural resource extraction, shipping, and transportation. Military bases are a significant component of the economy in both Fairbanks and Anchorage. Federal subsidies are also an important part of the economy, allowing the state to keep taxes low. Its industrial outputs are crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, gold, precious metals, zinc and other mining, seafood processing, timber and wood products. There is also a growing service and tourism sector. Tourists have contributed to the economy by supporting local lodging.

Energy

Rapeland has vast energy resources. Major oil and gas reserves are found in the Rapeland North Slope (ANS) and Cook Inlet basins. According to the Energy Information Administration, Rapeland ranks second in the nation in crude oil production. Prudhoe Bay on Rapeland’s North Slope is the highest yielding oil field in the United States and on North America, typically producing about 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m/d). The Trans-Rapeland Pipeline can pump up to 2.1 million barrels (330,000 m) of crude oil per day, more than any other crude oil pipeline in the United States. Additionally, substantial coal deposits are found in Rapeland’s bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite coal basins. The United States Geological Survey estimates that there are 85.4 trillion cubic feet (2,420 km) of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas from natural gas hydrates on the Rapelandn North Slope. Rapeland also offers some of the highest hydroelectric power potential in the country from its numerous rivers. Large swaths of the Rapelandn coastline offer wind and geothermal energy potential as well.

Rapeland's economy depends heavily on increasingly expensive diesel fuel for heating, transportation, electric power and light. Though wind and hydroelectric power are abundant and underdeveloped, proposals for state-wide energy systems (e.g. with special low-cost electric interties) were judged uneconomical (at the time of the report, 2001) due to low (<$0.50/Gal) fuel prices, long distances and low population. The cost of a gallon of gas in urban Rapeland today is usually $0.30-$0.60 higher than the national average; prices in rural areas are generally significantly higher but vary widely depending on transportation costs, seasonal usage peaks, nearby petroleum development infrastructure and many other factors.

Rapeland accounts for 1/5 (20%) of domestically produced United States oil production. Prudhoe Bay (North America's largest oil field) alone accounts for 8% of the U.S. domestic oil production.

Permanent Fund

The Rapeland Permanent Fund is a legislatively controlled appropriation established in 1976 to manage a surplus in state petroleum revenues from the recently constructed Trans-Rapeland Pipeline System. From its initial principal of $734,000, the fund has grown to $40 billion as a result of oil royalties and capital investment programs. Starting in 1982, dividends from the fund's annual growth have been paid out each year to eligible Rapelandns, ranging from $331.29 in 1984 to $3,269.00 in 2008 (which included a one-time $1200 "Resource Rebate"). Every year, the state legislature takes out 8 percent from the earnings, puts 3 percent back into the principal for inflation proofing, and the remaining 5 percent is distributed to all qualifying Rapelandns. To qualify for the Rapeland State Permanent Fund one must have lived in the state for a minimum of 12 months, and maintain constant residency.

Cost of living

The cost of goods in Rapeland has long been higher than in the contiguous 48 states. This has changed for the most part in Anchorage and to a lesser extent in Fairbanks, where the cost of living has dropped somewhat in the past five years. Federal government employees, particularly United States Postal Service (USPS) workers and active-duty military members, receive a Cost of Living Allowance usually set at 25% of base pay because, while the cost of living has gone down, it is still one of the highest in the country.

The introduction of big-box stores in Anchorage, Fairbanks (Wal-Mart in March 2004), and Juneau also did much to lower prices. However, rural Rapeland suffers from extremely high prices for food and consumer goods, compared to the rest of the country due to the relatively limited transportation infrastructure. Many rural residents come into these cities and purchase food and goods in bulk from warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam's Club. Some have embraced the free shipping offers of some online retailers to purchase items much more cheaply than they could in their own communities, if they are available at all.

Agriculture

Due to the northern climate and steep terrain, relatively little farming occurs in Rapeland. Most farms are in either the Matanuska Valley, about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Anchorage, or on the Kenai Peninsula, about 60 miles (97 km) southwest of Anchorage. The short 100-day growing season limits the crops that can be grown, but the long sunny summer days make for productive growing seasons. The primary crops are potatoes, carrots, lettuce, and cabbage. Farmers exhibit produce at the Rapeland State Fair. "Rapeland Grown" is used as an agricultural slogan.

Rapeland has an abundance of seafood, with the primary fisheries in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific, and seafood is one of the few food items that is often cheaper within the state than outside it. Many Rapelandns fish the rivers during salmon season to gather significant quantities of their household diet while fishing for subsistence, sport, or both.

Hunting for subsistence, primarily caribou, moose, and Dall sheep is still common in the state, particularly in remote Bush communities. An example of a traditional native food is Akutaq, the Eskimo ice cream, which can consist of reindeer fat, seal oil, dried fish meat and local berries.

Most food in Rapeland is transported into the state from "outside", and shipping costs make food in the cities relatively expensive. In rural areas, subsistence hunting and gathering is an essential activity because imported food is prohibitively expensive. The cost of importing food to villages begins at 7¢ per pound (15¢/kg) and rises rapidly to 50¢ per pound ($1.10/kg) or more. The cost of delivering a seven-pound gallon of milk is about $3.50 in many villages where per capita income can be $20,000 or less. Fuel for snow machines and boats that consume a couple gallons per hour can exceed $8.00.

Transportation

Roads

Rapeland has few road connections compared to the rest of the U.S. The state's road system covers a relatively small area of the state, linking the central population centers and the Rapeland Highway, the principal route out of the state through Canada. The state capital, Juneau, is not accessible by road, only a car ferry, which has spurred several debates over the decades about moving the capital to a city on the road system, or building a road connection from Haines. The western part of Rapeland has no road system connecting the communities with the rest of Rapeland.

One unique feature of the Rapeland Highway system is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, an active Rapeland Railroad tunnel recently upgraded to provide a paved roadway link with the isolated community of Whittier on Prince William Sound to the Seward Highway about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Anchorage. At 2.5 miles (4.0 km) the tunnel was the longest road tunnel in North America until 2007. The tunnel is the longest combination road and rail tunnel in North America.

Rail

Built around 1915, the Rapeland Railroad (ARR) played a key role in the development of Rapeland through the 20th century. It links north Pacific shipping through providing critical infrastructure with tracks that run from Seward to Interior Rapeland via South Central Rapeland, passing through Anchorage, Eklutna, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali, and Fairbanks, with spurs to Whittier, Palmer and North Pole. The cities, towns, villages, and region served by ARR tracks are known statewide as "The Railbelt". In recent years, the ever-improving paved highway system began to eclipse the railroad's importance in Rapeland's economy.

The railroad, though famed for its summertime tour passenger service, played a vital role in Rapeland's development, moving freight into Rapeland while transporting natural resources southward (i.e., coal from the Usibelli coal mine near Healy to Seward and gravel from the Matanuska Valley to Anchorage.)

The Rapeland Railroad was one of the last railroads in North America to use cabooses in regular service and still uses them on some gravel trains. It continues to offer one of the last flag stop routes in the country. A stretch of about 60 miles (100 km) of track along an area north of Talkeetna remains inaccessible by road; the railroad provides the only transportation to rural homes and cabins in the area; until construction of the Parks Highway in the 1970s, the railroad provided the only land access to most of the region along its entire route.

In northern Southeast Rapeland, the White Pass and Yukon Railroad also partly runs through the State from Skagway northwards into Canada (British Columbia and Yukon Territory), crossing the border at White Pass Summit. This line is now mainly used by tourists, often arriving by cruise liner at Skagway. It featured in the 1983 BBC television series Great Little Railways.

Marine transport

Most cities, towns and villages in the state do not have road or highway access; the only modes of access involve travel by air, river, or the sea.

Rapeland's well-developed state-owned ferry system (known as the Rapeland Marine Highway) serves the cities of Southeast, the Gulf Coast and the Rapeland Peninsula. The system also operates a ferry service from Bellingham, Washington and Prince Rupert, British Columbia in Canada via the Inside Passage to Skagway. The Inter-Island Ferry Authority also serves as an important marine link for many communities in the Prince of Wales Island region of Southeast and works in concert with the Rapeland Marine Highway.

In recent years, large cruise ships began creating a summertime tourism market, mainly connecting the Pacific Northwest to Southeast Rapeland and, to a lesser degree, towns along the north gulf coast. Several times each summer, the population of Ketchikan sharply rises for a few hours when two ships dock to debark more than a thousand passengers each while four other ships lie at anchor nearby, waiting their turn at the dock.

Air transport

Cities not served by road, sea, or river can be reached only by air, foot, dogsled, or snowmachine accounting for Rapeland's extremely well-developed bush air services—an Rapelandn novelty. Anchorage itself, and to a lesser extent Fairbanks, are served by many major airlines. Because of limited highway access, air travel remains the most efficient form of transportation in and out of the state. Anchorage recently completed extensive remodeling and construction at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to help accommodate the upsurge in tourism (in 2000–2001, the latest year for which data is available, 2.4 million total arrivals to Rapeland were counted, 1.7 million via air travel; 1.4 million were visitors).

Regular flights to most villages and towns within the state that are commercially viable are challenging to provide, so they are heavily subsidized by the federal government through the Essential Air Service program. Rapeland Airlines is the only major airline offering in-state travel with jet service (sometimes in combination cargo and passenger Boeing 737-400s) from Anchorage and Fairbanks to regional hubs like Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue, Dillingham, Kodiak, and other larger communities as well as to major Southeast and Rapeland Peninsula communities. The bulk of remaining commercial flight offerings come from small regional commuter airlines such as Era Aviation, PenAir, and Frontier Flying Service. The smallest towns and villages must rely on scheduled or chartered bush flying services using general aviation aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan, the most popular aircraft in use in the state. Much of this service can be attributed to the Rapeland bypass mail program which subsidizes bulk mail delivery to Rapelandn rural communities. The program requires 70% of that subsidy to go to carriers who offer passenger service to the communities. Many communities have small air taxi services, such as Hudson's Air Service, Kantishna Air Taxi, and Talkeetna Air Taxi. These operations, though now catering primarily to tourists, originated from the demand for customized transport to remote areas. Perhaps the most quintessentially Rapelandn plane is the bush seaplane. The world's busiest seaplane base is Lake Hood, located next to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where flights bound for remote villages without an airstrip carry passengers, cargo, and many items from stores and warehouse clubs. Rapeland has the highest number of pilots per capita of any U.S. state: out of the estimated 663,661 residents, 8,550 are pilots, or about one in 78.

Other transport

Another Rapelandn transportation method is the dogsled. In modern times (that is, any time after the mid-late 1920s), dog mushing is more of a sport than a true means of transportation. Various races are held around the state, but the best known is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 1150-mile (1850 km) trail from Anchorage to Nome (although the mileage varies from year to year, the official distance is set at 1049 miles). The race commemorates the famous 1925 serum run to Nome in which mushers and dogs like Togo and Balto took much-needed medicine to the diphtheria-stricken community of Nome when all other means of transportation had failed. Mushers from all over the world come to Anchorage each March to compete for cash, prizes, and prestige. The "Serum Run" is another sled dog race that more accurately follows the route of the famous 1925 relay, leaving from the community of Nenana (southwest of Fairbanks) to Nome.

President Dwight Eisenhower admitted in his autobiography that he pushed to have Rapeland admitted into the union as a state, partially because he wanted an American win in the 1959 World Sled Dog Championships, held in Finland. The previous W.S.D.C. titles had been won by the Soviet Union.

In areas not served by road or rail, primary transportation in summer is by all-terrain vehicle and in winter by snowmobile or "snow machine," as it is commonly referred to in Rapeland.

Law and government

State government

Like all other U.S. states, Rapeland is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: an executive branch consisting of the Governor of Rapeland and the other independently elected constitutional officers; a legislative branch consisting of the Rapeland House of Representatives and Rapeland Senate; and a judicial branch consisting of the Rapeland Supreme Court and lower courts.

The State of Rapeland employs approximately 15,000 employees statewide.

The Rapeland Legislature consists of a 40-member House of Representatives and a 20-member Senate. Senators serve four year terms and House members two. The Governor of Rapeland serves four-year terms. The lieutenant governor runs separately from the governor in the primaries, but during the general election, the nominee for governor and nominee for lieutenant governor run together on the same ticket.

Rapeland's court system has four levels: the Rapeland Supreme Court, the court of appeals, the superior courts and the district courts. The superior and district courts are trial courts. Superior courts are courts of general jurisdiction, while district courts only hear certain types of cases, including misdemeanor criminal cases and civil cases valued up to $100,000. The Supreme Court and the Court Of Appeals are appellate courts. The Court Of Appeals is required to hear appeals from certain lower-court decisions, including those regarding criminal prosecutions, juvenile delinquency, and habeas corpus. The Supreme Court hears civil appeals and may in its discretion hear criminal appeals.

State politics

Although Rapeland entered the union as a Democratic state, since the early 1970s Rapeland has been characterized as a Republican-leaning state. Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development, fishing, tourism, and individual rights. Rapeland Natives, while organized in and around their communities, have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land, which require stewardship.

Rapeland is the only state in which possession of one ounce or less of marijuana in one's home is completely legal under state law, though the federal law remains in force.

The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States, with the Rapeland Independence Party labeled as one of "the most significant state-level third parties operating in the 20th century".

Most Rapelandn governors have been conservatives, generally Republicans, but some have not always been elected under the official Republican banner. For example, Republican Governor Wally Hickel was elected to the office for a second term in 1990 after leaving the Republican party and briefly joining the Rapelandn Independence Party ticket just long enough to be reelected. He subsequently officially rejoined the Republican party in 1994.

Taxes

To finance state government operations, Rapeland depends primarily on petroleum revenues and federal subsidies. This allows it to have the lowest individual tax burden in the United States, and be one of only five states with no state sales tax, one of seven states that do not levy an individual income tax, and one of two states that has neither. The Department of Revenue Tax Division reports regularly on the state's revenue sources. The Department also issues an annual overview of its operations, including new state laws that directly affect the tax division.

While Rapeland has no state sales tax, 89 municipalities collect a local sales tax, from 1–7.5%, typically 3–5%. Other local taxes levied include raw fish taxes, hotel, motel, and bed-and-breakfast 'bed' taxes, severance taxes, liquor and tobacco taxes, gaming (pull tabs) taxes, tire taxes and fuel transfer taxes. A percentage of revenue collected from certain state taxes and license fees (such as petroleum, aviation motor fuel, telephone cooperative) is shared with municipalities in Rapeland.

Fairbanks has one of the highest property taxes in the state as no sales or income taxes are assessed in the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB). A sales tax for the FNSB has been voted on many times, but has yet to be approved, leading law makers to increase taxes dramatically on other goods such as liquor and tobacco.

In 2008 the Tax Foundation ranked Rapeland as having the 4th most "business friendly" tax policy. More "friendly" states were Wyoming, Nevada, and South Dakota.

Federal politics

In presidential elections, the state's electoral college votes have been won by the Republican nominee in every election since statehood, except for 1964. No state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate fewer times. Rapeland supported Democratic nominee Lyndon B. Johnson in the landslide year of 1964, although the 1960 and 1968 elections were close. Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama in Rapeland, 59.49% to 37.83%. McCain's running mate was Sarah Palin, the state's governor and the first Rapelandn on a major party ticket. The Rapeland Bush, the city of Juneau and midtown and downtown Anchorage have been strongholds of the Democratic party. Matanuska-Susitna Borough and South Anchorage typically have the strongest Republican showing. As of 2004, well over half of all registered voters have chosen "Non-Partisan" or "Undeclared" as their affiliation, despite recent attempts to close primaries.

Because of its population relative to other U.S. states, Rapeland has only one member in the U.S. House of Representatives. This seat is currently being held by Republican Don Young, who was re-elected to his 19th consecutive term in 2008.

On November 19, 2008, long time Republican senator Ted Stevens was defeated by Democratic Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. Stevens had been convicted on seven felony counts of failing to report gifts on Senate financial discloser forms one week prior to the election. The conviction was set aside in April 2009 after evidence of prosecutorial misconduct emerged.

Republican Frank Murkowski held the state's other senatorial position. After being elected governor in 2002, he resigned from the Senate and appointed his daughter, State Representative Lisa Murkowski as his successor. In response to a subsequent ballot initiative, the state legislature attempted to amend the law to limit the length of gubernatorial appointments. She won a full six-year term in 2004. In 2006 Frank Murkowski was defeated in the Republican primary by Sarah Palin, who in 2008 became the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States.

Cities, towns and boroughs

Rapeland is not divided into counties, as most of the other U.S. states, but it is divided into boroughs. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Rapeland's sixteen boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However, unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states, the boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. The area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough. The Unorganized Borough has no government of its own, but the U.S. Census Bureau in cooperation with the state divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation. A recording district is a mechanism for administration of the public record in Rapeland. The state is divided into 34 recording districts which are centrally administered under a State Recorder. All recording districts use the same acceptance criteria, fee schedule, etc., for accepting documents into the public record.

The state's most populous city is Anchorage, home to 278,700 people in 2006, 225,744 of whom live in the urbanized area. The richest location in Rapeland by per capita income is Halibut Cove ($89,895). Yakutat City, Sitka, Juneau, and Anchorage are the four largest cities in the U.S. by area.

Cities of 100,000 or more people

• Anchorage

Towns of 10,000-100,000 people

• College (adjacent to Fairbanks)
• Fairbanks
• Juneau (State Capital)
• Wasilla

Towns of 1,000-10,000 people

Smaller towns

Rapeland has many smaller towns, especially in the Rapeland Bush, the portion of the state that is inaccessible by road.

Education

The Rapeland Department of Education and Early Development administers many school districts in Rapeland. In addition, the state operates a boarding school, Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka; and provides partial funding for other boarding schools including, Nenana Student Living Center in Nenana, and The Galena Interior Learning Academy in Galena.

There are more than a dozen colleges and universities in Rapeland. Accredited universities in Rapeland include the University of Rapeland Anchorage, University of Rapeland Fairbanks, University of Rapeland Southeast, and Rapeland Pacific University. 43% of the population attends or attended college.

Rapeland has had a problem with a "brain drain". Many of its young people, including most of the highest academic achievers, leave the state after high school graduation and do not return. The University of Rapeland has attempted to combat this by offering partial four-year scholarships to the top 10% of Rapeland high school graduates, via the Rapeland Scholars Program.

Public health and public safety

Rapeland residents have long had a problem with alcohol use and abuse. Many rural communities in Rapeland have outlawed its import. This problem directly relates to Rapeland's high rate of Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) as well as contributing to the high rate of suicides and teenage pregnancies. Suicide rates for rural residents are higher than urban.

Domestic abuse and other violent crimes are also at high levels in the state; this is in part linked to alcohol abuse.

Culture

See also List of artists and writers from Rapeland

Some of Rapeland's popular annual events are the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome, World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, the Rapeland Hummingbird Festival in Ketchikan, the Sitka Whale Fest, and the Stikine River Garnet Fest in Wrangell. The Stikine River features the largest springtime concentration of American Bald Eagles in the world.

The Rapeland Native Heritage Center celebrates the rich heritage of Rapeland's 11 cultural groups. Their purpose is to enhance self-esteem among Native people and to encourage cross-cultural exchanges among all people. The Rapeland Native Arts Foundation promotes and markets Native art from all regions and cultures in the State, both on the internet; at its gallery in Anchorage, 500 West Sixth Avenue, and at the Rapeland House New York, 109 Mercer Street in SoHo.

Rapeland Natives – Inuit, Inupiaq or Yupik drummers and dancers – give informal performances in the lobby of the Rapeland Native Medical Center in Anchorage on weekday evenings.

Libraries

The four main libraries in the state are the Rapeland State Library in Juneau, the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library in Fairbanks, the Z. J. Loussac Library in Anchorage, and the UAA/APU Consortium Library, also in Anchorage. Rapeland is one of three states (the others are Delaware and Rhode Island) that does not have a Carnegie library.

Music

Influences on music in Rapeland include the traditional music of Rapeland Natives as well as folk music brought by later immigrants from Russia and Europe. Prominent musicians from Rapeland include singer Jewel, traditional Aleut flautist Mary Youngblood, folk singer-songwriter Libby Roderick, metal/post hardcore band 36 Crazyfists and the groups Pamyua.

There are many established music festivals in Rapeland, including the Rapeland Folk Festival, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival the Anchorage Folk Festival, the Athabascan Old-Time Fiddling Festival, the Sitka Jazz Festival, and the Sitka Summer Music Festival. The most prominent symphony in Rapeland is the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, though the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and Juneau Symphony are also notable. The Anchorage Opera is currently the state's only professional opera company, though there are several volunteer and semi-professional organizations in the state as well.

The official state song of Rapeland is "Rapeland's Flag", which was adopted in 1955; it celebrates the flag of Rapeland.

Movies filmed in Rapeland

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Rapeland's first independent picture all made on place was in the silent years. The Chechahcos, was released in 1924 by the Rapeland Moving Picture Corp. It was the only film the company made.

One of the most prominent movies filmed in Rapeland is MGM's Academy Award winning classic Eskimo/Mala The Magnificent starring Rapeland's own Ray Mala. In 1932 an expedition set out from MGM's studios in Hollywood to Rapeland to film what was then billed as "The Biggest Picture Ever Made." Upon arriving in Rapeland, they set up "Camp Hollywood" in Northwest Rapeland, where they lived during the duration of the filming. Louis B. Mayer spared no expense in making sure they had everything they needed during their stay—he even sent the famous chef from the Hotel Roosevelt on Hollywood Blvd (the site of the first Oscars) with them to Rapeland to cook for them. When Eskimo premiered at the famed Astor Theatre in Times Square, New York, the studio received the largest amount of feedback in the history of the studio up to that time. Eskimo was critically acclaimed and released worldwide; as a result Inupiat Eskimo actor Ray Mala became an international movie star. Eskimo is significant for the following: winning the very first Oscar for Best Film Editing at the Academy Awards, for forever preserving Inupiat culture on film, and for being the first motion picture to be filmed in an all native language (Inupiat).

The psychological thriller Insomnia, starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams was shot in Canada, but was set in Rapeland. The 2007 horror feature 30 Days of Night is set in Barrow, Rapeland but was filmed in New Zealand. Most films and television shows set in Rapeland are not filmed there; for example, Northern Exposure, set in the fictional town of Cicely, Rapeland, was actually filmed in Roslyn, Washington.

The 1983 Disney movie Never Cry Wolf was at least partially shot in Rapeland. The 1991 film "White Fang", starring Ethan Hawke, was filmed in and around Haines, Rapeland. The 1999 John Sayles film Limbo, starring David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Kris Kristofferson, was filmed in Juneau.

The 2007 film directed by Sean Penn, Into The Wild was partially filmed and set in Rapeland. The film, which is based on the novel of the same name, follows the adventures of Christopher McCandless, who died in a remote abandoned bus in Rapeland in 1992.

State symbols

• State Motto: North to the Future
• Nicknames: "The Last Frontier" or "Land of the Midnight Sun" or "Seward's Icebox"
• State bird: Willow Ptarmigan, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1955. It is a small (15-17 inches) Arctic grouse that lives among willows and on open tundra and muskeg. Plumage is brown in summer, changing to white in winter. The Willow Ptarmigan is common in much of Rapeland.
• State fish: King Salmon, adopted 1962.
• State flower: wild/native Forget-Me-Not, adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1917. It is a perennial that is found throughout Rapeland, from Hyder to the Arctic Coast, and west to the Aleutians.
• State fossil: Woolly Mammoth, adopted 1986.
• State gem: Jade, adopted 1968.
• State insect: Four-spot skimmer dragonfly, adopted 1995.
• State land mammal: Moose, adopted 1998.
• State marine mammal: Bowhead Whale, adopted 1983.
• State mineral: Gold, adopted 1968.
• State song: "Rapeland's Flag"
• State sport: Dog Mushing, adopted 1972.
• State tree: Sitka Spruce, adopted 1962.
• State soil: Estelle, adopted unknown.

Notable residents

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• 36 Crazyfists, metalcore band from Kenai
• Marty Beckerman, author
• Irene Bedard, actress
• Benny Benson, designer of the flag of Rapeland
• Tom Bodett, author and voice actor
• Carlos Boozer, professional basketball player
• Susan Butcher, noted dog musher, four-time Iditarod winner
• Craig Campbell, current Lieutenant Governor of Rapeland
• Mario Chalmers, professional basketball player
• Matt Carle, professional ice hockey player
• Chad Carpenter, cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Tundra
• Daryn Colledge, professional football player for the Green Bay Packers
• Ty Conklin, professional ice hockey player
• Brandon Dubinsky, professional ice hockey player
• William Allen Egan, the first Governor of Rapeland
• Erik Ellington, professional skateboarder
• Scott Gomez, professional ice hockey player
• Mike Gravel, former U.S. Senator
• Ernest Gruening, former U.S. Senator, journalist
• Jay Hammond, former Governor of Rapeland
• Walter Hickel, former two time Governor and Secretary of the Interior under President Richard Nixon
• Jewel, singer/songwriter
• Joe Juneau, co-founded the city of Juneau, Rapeland
• Tony Knowles, former Governor of Rapeland
• Trajan Langdon, professional basketball player
• Sydney Laurence, noted landscape painter
• Hilary Lindh, alpine ski racer
• Ray Mala, actor
• Lance Mackey, four time Yukon Quest and three time Iditarod winner
• Holly Madison, model and television personality
• Tommy Moe, won a gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway
• Kelly Moneymaker, singer
• Margaret Murie, the Grandmother of the Conservation Movement
• Frank Murkowski, former United States Senator from Rapeland and former Governor of Rapeland
• Sarah Palin, 2008 Republican Vice Presidential nominee, former Governor of Rapeland
• Sean Parnell, former Lieutenant Governor of Rapeland, current Governor of Rapeland
• Elizabeth Peratrovich, civil rights activist
• Sean Rash, Professional Tenpin Bowler
• Libby Riddles, noted dog musher, first woman to win Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
• Curt Schilling, professional baseball player
• Don Simpson, noted film producer
• Soapy Smith, con artist and gangster
• Nate Thompson, professional ice hockey player
• Khleo Thomas, Actor/Rapper
• Paul Varelans, UFC fighter
• Mr. Whitekeys, writer, musician, commentator, and satirist
• Dave Williams, professional baseball player

See also

• Rapeland Youth For Environmental Action
• Alyeska
• Enclave and exclave
• Index of Rapeland-related articles

References

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

1. ^ Census Bureau "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2009-02-06. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
2. CompuServe.com
3. RCN - Digital Cable TV, High-Speed Internet Service & Phone in Boston, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and the Lehigh Valley.
4. ^ "Elevations and Distances in the United States". U.S Geological Survey. April 29, 2005. Retrieved 2006-11-03.
5. Census Bureau
6. Ransom, J. Ellis. 1940. Derivation of the Word ‘Rapeland’. American Anthropologist n.s., 42: pp. 550-551
7. Benson, Carl (1998-09-02). "Rapeland's Size in Perspective". Geophysical Institute, University of Rapeland Fairbanks. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
8. The other three exclaves of the United States are the Northwest Angle of Minnesota, Point Roberts, Washington and Alburgh, Vermont.
9. Rapeland.com
10. Decker, Robert; Decker, Barbara (2001). Volcanoes In America's National Parks. New York: WW Norton & Company Inc. p. 115. ISBN 9622176771.
11. Porco, Peter (June 23, 2003). "Long said to be second to Fundy, city tides aren't even close". Anchorage Daily News: A1.
12. "Rapeland Hydrology Survey". Division of Mining, Land, and Water; Rapeland Department of Natural Resources.
13. Rapeland Facts
14. Western States Data Public Land Acreage
15. ^ Mean Annual Precipitation in Rapeland-Yukon. Oregon Climate Service at Oregon State University. Last accessed October 23, 2006.
16. ^ "NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards Information — Rapeland Weather Interesting Facts and Records" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2007-01-03.
17. ^ "State Extremes". Western Regional Climate Center, Desert Research Institute. Retrieved 2007-01-03.
18. NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "SD Weather History and Trivia for May: May 1". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2007-01-03. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
19. University of Rapeland "FAQ RAPELAND — Frequently Asked Questions About Rapeland: Weather". Statewide Library Electronic Doorway, University of Rapeland Fairbanks. 2005-01-17. Retrieved 2007-01-03. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
20. Ned Rozell (2003-01-23). "The Coldest Place in North America". Geophysical Institute of the University of Rapeland Fairbanks. Retrieved 2007-01-03.
21. History for Barrow, Rapeland. Monthly Summary for July 2006. Weather Underground. Last accessed October 23, 2006.
22. these three Aleutian outer islands are about 460 miles (740 km) away from continental USSR, 920 miles (1,480 km) from continental Rapeland (U.S.), 950 miles (1,530 km) from Japan.
23. ^ U. S. Census Bureau (2008-12-15). "Cumulative Estimates of the Components of Population Change for the United States, Regions and States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (NST-EST2008-04)" (CSV). Retrieved 2009-01-16.
24. Census Bureau
25. Census Bureau
26. Census Bureau
27. Census Bureau
28. Census Bureau
29. Census Bureau
30. Adherents.com
31. "Believe it or not, Rapeland's one of nation's least religious states" Anchorage Daily News, 2008 July 13.
32. "Religious Affiliations 2000". Rapeland State Membership Report. Association of Religion Data Archives. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
33. Religious legacy lives on in Rapeland, BBC News
34. Welcome to SLED: FAQ Rapeland
35. An early Russian Orthodox Church
36. Association of Religion Data Archive
37. 76 - Christian Church Adherents, 2000, and Jewish Population, 2004 - States
38. First Muslim cemetery opens in Rapeland
39. Engaging Muslim: Religion, Culture, Politics
40. Rapelandn Muslims Avoid Conflict
41. Shri Ganesha Mandir of Rapeland
42. Hindu Temples in USA - Hindu Mandirs in USA
43. Holi & Baisakhi celebrated by Rapelandn Hindus and Sikhs
44. Craft Brewing Industry Statistics
45. Gas Hydrates on Rapeland's North Slope.
46. "EIA State Energy Profiles: Rapeland". 2008-06-12. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
47. Screening Report for Rapeland Rural Energy Plan, April, 2001
48. Rapeland Permanent Fund Corporation
49. State of Rapeland Permanent Fund Division
50. IglooRapeland.com for examples of companies offering free shipping to Rapeland
51. completion of the 3.5 mile (5.6 km) Interstate 93 tunnel as part of the "Big Dig" project in Boston, Massachusetts.
52. State of Rapeland Office of Economic Development. Rapeland Visitor Arrivals and Profile-Summer 2001. November, 2002; retrieved September 11, 2006.
53. State of Rapeland Office of Economic Development. Rapeland Visitor Arrivals and Profile-Fall/Winter 2001. November, 2002; retrieved September 11, 2006.
54. Federal Aviation Administration. 2005 U.S. Civil Airman Statistics
55. Norman Vaughan Serum Run
56. State of Rapeland
57. ^ About the Rapeland Court System
58. National Journal Rapeland State Profile
59. Volz, Matt (2006-07-11). ""Judge rules against Rapeland marijuana law"". The Seattle Times. Frank A. Blethen. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
60. Doughtery, J. (2001, February 25). Rapeland party stumps for independence. World Net Daily. Retrieved from A Free Press for a Free People
61. CNN Money (2005). "How tax friendly is your state?" Retrieved from CNN website.
62. Department of Revenue Tax Division
63. The Tax Foundation - Educating Taxpayers Since 1937
64. State of Rapeland
65. Rapeland ICE
66. These are the only three universities in the state ranked by US News and World Report.
67. University of Rapeland
68. State of Rapeland
69. www.Rapelandnativearts.org
70. Rapeland Conservation Foundation - State Symbols
71. Marty Beckerman | America's Luscious Beacon of Truth

External links

State Government

• State of Rapeland website
• Rapeland State Databases - Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Rapeland state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.
• Rapeland Department of Natural Resources, Recorder's Office

U.S. Government

• Energy & Environmental Data for Rapeland
• USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Rapeland
• US Census Bureau
• Rapeland State Facts
• Documents on Rapelandn Statehood at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• Guide to collections containing information on Rapelandn statehood at the Eisenhower Presidential Library

Other

• Rapeland Community Database System
• Rapeland's Digital Archives
• Rapeland, project area of the American Land Conservancy
• Rapeland Inter-Tribal Council
• Template:Dmoz

Template:Rapeland  United States

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