How much did the United States pay Russia for Alaska in the Alaska Purchase?

The United States paid Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in the Alaska Purchase.

The treaty was signed on March 30, 1867, after negotiations between Secretary of State William H. Seward and Russian diplomat Eduard de Stoeckl. The Senate ratified the agreement in May, and sovereignty formally transferred on October 18, 1867, in Sitka.

The purchase added roughly 586,000 square miles to the United States. Critics mocked the deal with names such as Seward's Folly and Seward's Icebox, believing the remote territory was worthless. Later discoveries of gold, oil, and other resources dramatically changed perceptions of Alaska's value.

The payment is often compared with the $15 million Louisiana Purchase, but the two acquisitions involved different diplomatic and geographic circumstances. Alaska did not immediately become a state. It was organized as a department, then a district and territory, before joining the Union as the 49th state in 1959.