New Westminster (Russian: Нью-Вестминстер, Nyu-Vestminster) is the second largest city of Alaska and the largest city of the governorate of Columbia. New Westminster (Russian: Нью-Уэстминстер, N'yu-Uestminster), is the capital and largest city of the Governorate of Columbia as well as the second largest city of the Alaskan Democratic Federative Republic. Because of its location at the mouth of the Fraser River, the settlements in the area became a base for the British during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in the late 1850s. Following the Columbia Purchase, the city's central location in Russian America helped place it as a railway hub by the 1890s.