57 ° 10' 0.001" N,
157 ° 30' 0" W
Lake and Peninsula
1604 ft (488.9 m)
Incomplete record - should be at least 158 maps, LATLONGs truncated in Phase I by GIPSY - 9512. Extends SW from Lliamma Lake to Unimak I. 475 miles long.
HistoryAuthoritative sources generally agree that the name "Alaska" is derived from "an Aleut root meaning 'a great country or continent'* * *" or "* * *' mainland'* * *" (Stewart, 1956, p193-193). In 1762, Bechevin (complete name not available), a merchant of Irkutsk, Siberia, wintered in Isanotski Strait between Unimak I., and the Alaska Peninsula. He regarded the western end of the peninsula as an island, reportedly called "Alaksu" or "Alakshak" (Bancroft, 1886, p122-124 and 165). Captain Lieutenant P. K. Krenitzin and Lieutenant M. Levashev, Imperial Russian Navy (IRN), in 1768, also referred to a large island called "Alaxa" northeast of Unimak Island (Coxe, 1787, map facing p. 205). The first to correctly apply to the name was Captain James Cook (1785, v2, p504), RN, in 1778, who said "I have already observed that the American continent is here called by the Russians, as well as the islanders, Alaschka, which name, though it properly belongs only the country adjoining to Oonemak (Uminak Island), is used by them
