Alexander Archipelago

Group of over a thousand islands in the Gulf of Alaska, off the coast south of Juneau in southeast Alaska. Fishing, fish processing, lumbering, and trapping are the main industries. The largest islands in the group are Baranof Island, Prince of Wales, Chichagof, Admiralty, Kuin, Kupreanof, and Revillagigedo, which are densely forested. The principal towns are Ketchikan (on Revillagigedo Island), Sitka (on Baranof Island), Petersburg (on Mitkof Island), and Wrangell (on Wrangell Island). Long inhabited by the Tlingit, the islands were first explored by Russians in 1741. Most are now part of the Tongass National Forest.