Kodiak Island

Island (pop., 2000: 13,913), Alaska, U.S. Lying in the Gulf of Alaska, it is 100 mi (160 km) long and 10–60 mi (16–96 km) wide and has an area of 3,588 sq mi (9,293 sq km). The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge covers 75% of the island and is the habitat of the Kodiak bear. Discovered in 1763 by a Russian fur trader, the island, known as Kikhtak, became the site in 1784 of the first Russian colony in America. Russian control ended in 1867; the island was renamed Kodiak in 1901. In 1964 a destructive earthquake lowered the island by 5–6 ft (1.5–1.8 m).