For how much money did the United States buy Alaska from Russia in 1867?

The United States bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867.

U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the treaty with Russian diplomat Eduard de Stoeckl. The agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1867, and the U.S. Senate ratified it in May. American sovereignty became effective when the territory was formally transferred at Sitka on October 18, 1867.

The purchase added about 586,412 square miles to the United States, at an original cost of roughly two cents per acre. Some Americans initially mocked the deal as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox,” believing the remote territory had little value. Later discoveries of gold, oil, and other resources changed many opinions.

The transaction was a purchase from the Russian Empire, not from Canada or a private company. Alaska became a U.S. territory in 1912 and entered the Union as the 49th state in 1959.