Little Diomede, a remote U.S. island in the Bering straits only 2.5 miles from Russia, has 129 people living in a traditional Ingalikmiut Eskimo village.
On an island surrounded by rocky slopes and harsh storms with the sea frozen for half a year, employment is limited to the city and school whereas seasonal mining, construction and commercial fishing positions have been on the decline.
Little Diomede villager
s are part of tens of thousands of qualified Alaskans who receive dividends from regional wealth fund Alaska Permanent Fund.
At least 25 percent of resource-related revenues are placed in the fund, which invests its assets of over $34 billion in a diversified portfolio of public and private assets. Currently their asset allocation consists of 38 percent in stocks, 22 percent in bonds, 12 percent in real estate, 6 percent in private equity and 2 percent in cash.
Alaskans enjoyed the highest-ever dividend of $3,269 in 2008 when a one-time $1,200 Alaska Resource Rebate was added, at a time global markets were tumbling with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. But in 2009, the dividend fell sharply to $1,305.
