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Baranov Island)
Baranof Island, also sometimes called Baranov Island or Sitka Island, is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. It was called "Shee" by the Tlingit.
The island is 4,162 sq. km (1,607 sq. miles) in size. The island is about 160 km (100 miles) long and 48 km (30 miles) wide. Its center is near . The island's largest town is Sitka.
Lumbering, trapping, fishing and fish processing are important industries on the island.
Baranov Island is famous for brown bears and Sitka deer.
The first European settlement on island was established in 1741 by Russians. Baranov Island was the center of Russian activity in North America during the period from 1804–1867 and was the headquarters of the Russian fur-trading interest, the Russian-American Company.
Both the island and the archipelago received their names from Alexandr Baranov, the first governor of the Russian-American Company.
