[15] The municipal city limits span 1,961.1 sq mi (5,079.2 km2), encompassing the urban core, a joint military base,[16] several outlying communities, and almost all of Chugach State Park.

[24] Archaeological evidence discovered at Beluga Point just south of Anchorage proper, along the Turnagain Arm, suggests that habitation of the Cook Inlet began 5,000 years ago by a group of Alutiiq people who arrived by kayak.

[25] Captain James Cook was among the first European explorers to map the Alaskan coastline, and many of the geographical features (mountains, islands, rivers, waterways, etc.)

Cook then sailed south to scout the other arm, and in a bad mood after running the Resolution aground on a sandbar on his way back out of the shallow waters, called it "River Turnagain", having found no sign of the passage there either.

In 1888, gold was discovered along Turnagain Arm just south of modern-day Anchorage, leading to a new influx of prospectors, and small towns such as Spenard, Hope, Rainbow, Bird, Indian, and Girdwood began to spring up.

By 1911 the families of J. D. "Bud" Whitney and Jim St. Clair lived at the mouth of Ship Creek and were joined there by a young forest ranger, Jack Brown, and his bride, Nellie, in 1912.

Anchorage formed at a time when proponents of Prohibition were gaining traction, and as part of an effort to stem the flow of the alcohol trade, at the direction of President Woodrow Wilson and with the symmetry of the US Army, a town site was mapped out on higher ground to the south of the tent city, with the condition that a person's land could be repossessed if caught breaking the alcohol laws.

[14] In 1915, territorial governor John Franklin Alexander Strong encouraged residents to change the city's name to one that had "more significance and local associations".

Aviation operations in Anchorage commenced along the firebreak south of town (today's Delaney Park Strip), which residents also used as a golf course.

Elmendorf Air Force Base and the United States Army's Fort Richardson were constructed in the 1940s, and served as the city's primary economic engine until the 1968 Prudhoe Bay discovery shifted the thrust of the economy toward the oil industry.

[33] Because the city and surrounding suburban area was built on top ground consisting of glacial silt, the prolonged shaking from the earthquake caused soil liquefaction, leading to massive cracks in roadways and collapse of large swaths of land.

Communities such as Fairbanks and much of rural Alaska opposed moving the capital to Anchorage for fear of concentrating more power in the state's largest city.

[40][41] There are also beaver dams in local creeks and lakes, and sightings of foxes and kits in parking lots close to wooded areas in the spring are common.

With the notable exception of a real estate-related crash in the mid-to-late 1980s, which saw the failure of numerous financial institutions, it does not experience as much pain during economic downturns.

Along with handling these activities, the port is a storage facility for jet fuel from Alaskan refineries, which is used at both TSAIA and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER).

During the Cold War, Elmendorf became an important base due to its proximity to the Soviet Union, particularly as a command center for numerous forward air stations established throughout the western reaches of Alaska (most of which have since closed).

The resource sector, mainly petroleum, is arguably Anchorage's most visible industry, with many high-rise buildings bearing the logos of large multinationals such as Hilcorp and ConocoPhillips.

Many companies who provide oilfield support services are likewise headquartered outside of Anchorage but maintain a substantial presence in the city, most notably Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and CH2M Hill.

[83] Prior to their respective dissolutions, airlines MarkAir, Reeve Aleutian Airways and Wien Air Alaska were also headquartered in Anchorage.

The Anchorage Concert Association brings 20 to 30 events to the community each year, including Broadway shows like Disney's The Lion King, Les Misérables, Mamma Mia!, The Phantom of The Opera, West Side Story, and others.

The city of Anchorage provides three municipal facilities large enough to hold major events such as concerts, trade shows and conventions.

National attention focuses on Anchorage on the first Saturday of each March, when the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicks off with its ceremonial start downtown on Fourth Avenue.

The Aces affiliated with various National Hockey League teams, including the Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, and Vancouver Canucks.

[101] Anchorage is also home to Alaska's first WFTDA flat track women's roller derby league, the Rage City Rollergirls.

In practice, major candidates' party affiliation and political ideology are usually well known and highlighted by local media for the purpose of framing debate.

But since the establishment of the municipality in 1975, there have been two Democratic mayors (Tony Knowles and Mark Begich), each of whom was elected to two consecutive terms and later to statewide office.

[117] In 2018, Anchorage began conducting municipal elections by mail (as directed by the assembly in 2015) and had the highest voter turnout in the city's history.

Anchorage's major network television affiliates are KTUU 2 (NBC), KTBY 4 (Fox), KAUU 5 (CBS/MyNetworkTV), KAKM 7 (PBS), KTVA 11 (Rewind TV), KYUR 13 (ABC/CW), and KDMD 33 (Ion/Telemundo/MeTV).

However, Dish Network and DirecTV offer satellite television service in Anchorage and the surrounding area using East Coast feeds.

[147][148] For the commuter rail system, Anchorage would use existing Alaska Railroad tracks to provide service to Whittier, Palmer, Seward, Wasilla, and Eagle River.