<P> The Alaska Purchase (Russian: Продажа Аляски, tr . Prodazha Alyaski) was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, by a treaty ratified by the United States Senate, and signed by President Andrew Johnson . </P> <P> Russia wanted to sell its Alaskan territory, due to the difficulty of living there, apparent lack of natural resources (gold was later discovered in 1896), and fearing that it might be easily seized by the United Kingdom in case of war between the two countries . Russia's primary activities in the territory had been fur trade and missionary work among the Native Alaskans . The land added 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km) of new territory to the United States . </P>

What year did russia sell alaska to the united states