Alaska: Difference between revisions

'''Alaska''' is a state in the northwestern [[United States]], the largest by land area and one of the most sparsely populated, known for its vast wilderness, indigenous cultures, northern climate, and historical ties to Russian Orthodox and later Roman Catholic missionary efforts. Covering approximately 1,723,337 km² (including land and water), it has an estimated population of around 740,000 (as of recent 2024-2025 U.S. Census projections). Catholicism, introduced in the late 19th century through Jesuit missionaries following earlier Russian Orthodox presence, is a minority religion, with recent data from the Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study indicating that about 15% of adults identify as Catholic. The state is divided into two Latin Rite jurisdictions: the [[Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau]] (southern Alaska, including the panhandle and south-central regions) and the [[Diocese of Fairbanks]] (northern and interior Alaska), forming an ecclesiastical province with limited but resilient Catholic communities serving diverse populations, including indigenous groups and remote missions.<ref name="pew-ak">{{Cite web |title=People in Alaska |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/state/alaska |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=2026-01-27}}</ref><ref name="wiki-anch">{{Cite web |title=Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau - Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archdiocese_of_Anchorage–Juneau |publisher=Wikipedia |access-date=2026-01-27}}</ref>