Usda Forest Services

About forestry service, 99791, Atqasuk, AK, US, Alaska

Sitka (Tlingit: Sheetʼká; Russian: Ситка) is a unified city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Baranof Island and the south half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle). As of the 2020 census, Sitka had a population of 8,458, making it the fifth-most populated city in the state. With a consolidated land area of 2,870.3 square miles (7,434 square kilometers) and total area (including water) of 4,811.4 square miles (12,461 km2), Sitka is the largest city by total area in the U.S. == History == As part of Russia, it was known as New Archangel (Russian: Ново-Архангельск, romanized: Novo-Arkhangelsk). The current name, Sitka (derived from Sheetʼká, a contraction of the Tlingit Shee Atʼiká), means "People on the Edge of Shee", with Shee being the Tlingit name for Baranof Island (the Tlingit name for the island is Sheetʼ-ká Xʼáatʼl but is often contracted to Shee). === Russian America === Russian explorers settled Old Sitka in 1799, naming it the Fort of Archangel Michael (Russian: форт Архангела Михаила, romanized: Fort Arkhangela Mikhaila). The governor of Russian America, Alexander Baranov, arrived under the auspices of the Russian-American Company, a colonial trading company chartered by Russian emperor Paul I. In June 1802, Tlingit warriors destroyed the original settlement, killing many of the Russians, with only a few managing to escape. Baranov was forced to levy 10,000 rubles in ransom to Captain Barber of the British sailing ship Unicorn for the safe return of the surviving settlers. Baranov returned to Sitka in August 1804 with a large force, including Yuri Lisyansky's Neva.