There’s a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that most people have never heard of. Once part of the Russian Empire, it is now a remote outpost of the United States, sitting in the far-flung Aleutian Islands chain in Alaska. Despite its location on US soil, it lies closer to Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula than to most of mainland America.
Unalaska is part of a 1,100-mile volcanic arc known as the Aleutian Islands, which stretch from the Alaska Peninsula across the Bering Sea. The region forms part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most seismically active areas on the planet. The island itself is home to the active Makushin volcano, and more than half of the Aleutians’ 70 volcanoes have erupted in the last 250 years.
The environment is also considered one of the harshest outside the polar regions.
Huge storms, hurricane-force winds and dense fog are common, earning the Aleutians nicknames like the “Birthplace of Winds” and “Cradle of Storms”.
Despite all of that, the island has a rich history, with ties to both Russian colonists and Indigenous peoples.
Today, around 4,200 people, including the Unangax̂, also known as Aleuts, have called this part of the world home for thousands of years.
Unalaska was first visited by Russian explorers in the 18th century and became part of a lucrative fur trade.
A Russian settlement was founded in 1759 and later supported by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Church of the Holy Ascension, built in 1896, still stands and is the oldest Russian Orthodox cruciform cathedral in North America and holds artefacts gifted by Catherine the Great.
The island became US territory in 1867, following the Alaska Purchase. But links to Russia remain.
Many residents still have Russian surnames, and the church remains a big part of the local community.
Unalaska has also played a big role in US military history. During the Second World War, it was one of the few American territories attacked by Japanese forces.
In June 1942, bombs fell on Dutch Harbor, the island’s northern port, killing 50 people and damaging military infrastructure.
The rusted remains of the SS Northwestern, destroyed during the attack, are still visible today.
The US military responded by deploying tens of thousands of troops and evacuating hundreds of Unangax̂ people.
They were relocated to camps in southeast Alaska where many died due to poor living conditions.
In 1988, the US government formally apologised and issued compensation to survivors.
Today, Unalaska is best known for fishing. Dutch Harbor is the busiest commercial fishing port in the United States by volume.
It features heavily in the reality TV show Deadliest Catch, and its fishing industry hauls in hundreds of millions of pounds of seafood each year – from pollock and crab to halibut and herring.
Tom Enlow, the CEO of seafood processor UniSea, told the BBC: “We use every part of the pollock fish here and nothing goes to waste.
“Fish oil gives us a renewable hydrocarbon to help power and heat our plant and worker accommodations.”
Unalaska’s also draws plenty of nature lovers. From orcas and sea lions to rare seabirds like the whiskered auklet, its waters are teeming with wildlife.
Hikers and birdwatchers come from around the world to explore the terrain and enjoy the stunning views.
