Which country sold Alaska to the United States in 1867?

Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867.

The United States and the Russian Empire signed the Alaska Treaty on March 30, 1867. The United States paid $7.2 million, approximately two cents per acre, for the territory. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase under President Andrew Johnson.

The formal transfer took place on October 18, 1867, a date now commemorated in Alaska as Alaska Day. The ceremony occurred at Sitka, the former Russian colonial capital. The territory became a U.S. district, later a territory, and finally the 49th state in 1959.

Some newspapers and critics mocked the purchase as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox,” but those labels were not universal at the time. Alaska’s later importance included its strategic location, natural resources, and gold discoveries. Russia sold the territory partly because it feared losing it to Britain in a future conflict without compensation.