Alaska - Fun Facts, State Symbols, Photos, Visitor Info

"The scenery of Alaska is so much grander than anything else of the kind in the world that, once beheld, all other scenery becomes flat and insipid."

1899 / U.S. Geological Survey

Chief Geographer

Thomas Jefferson

"Of all systems of morality, ancient of modern, which have come under my observation, none appear to be so pure as that of Jesus."
(1813)

President

Theodore Roosevelt

"Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."

Aug. 31, 1910

President

Noah Webster

"All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."

Lexicographer

George Washington

"I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an Honest Man."

President

John Quincy Adams

"Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

President

Calvin Coolidge

"Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good."

President

Sarah Palin

"We need American sources of resoures, we need American energy, brought to you by American ingenuity and produced by American workers."

Governor-AK

Alaska
Entered the Union: Jan. 3, 1959 (49)	Capital: Juneau
Origin of Name: from the Aleut work Alyeska, meaning The Great Land.
State Nicknames: The Last Frontier • Land of the Midnight Sun"
State Motto: North to the Future	State Flower: Forget-me-not
State Song:“Alaska's Flag”	State Bird: Willow Ptarmigan
State Fish: The Giant King Salmon	State Tree: Sitka Spruce
State Marine Mammal: Bowhead Whale	State Mammal: Moose
State Sport: Dog Mushing	State Gem: Jade
State Fossil: Wooly Mammoth	State Mineral: Gold
State Insect: The Four Spot Skimmer Dragonfly
National Forests: 2 • State Parks: 100+
Famous for: Majestic Wilderness, Scenic Cruises, Gold Rush, Oil, Fishing
Famous Alaskans: Benny Benson (13-yr old designed state flag), Vitus Bering (explorer), Susan Butcher (sled-dog racer), Carl Ben Eielson (pioneer pilot), Joe Juneau (prospector)
Native Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make.

State Fair: Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska National Forests

Alaska State Parks

Skiing in Alaska

Sled Dog Races

Alaska Historic Sites

Fishing in Alaska

Hunting in Alaska

Alaska Cruises

Alaska Photo Gallery

Northern Lights Photo Gallery

Alaska Butterfly Gallery

Alaska Bird Gallery

Alaska Wildlife Gallery

Willow Ptarmigan - Info & Song

Alaska Homeschooling

Alaska RV Parks

Alaska Hotels

Three groups of natives lived in Alaska: Eskimos, Aleuts, and Indians.

Europeans first discovered Alaska in 1741, when Danish explorer Vitus Bering sighted it on his long voyage from Siberia. The first settlement in Alaska was established by Russian whalers and fur traders on Kodiak Island in 1784.

Alaska was unexplored in 1867 when Secretary of State William Seward arranged for its purchase from the Russians for $7,200,000 (about two cents per acre). The purchase was widely ridiculed as “Seward's Folly.”

Alaska is the largest state in the union (1/5 of the entire USA) and is twice as big as Texas.

In 1880, Alaskas population consisted of 33,426, of which only 430 were not natives.

The Gold Rush of 1898 brought a mass influx of more than 30,000 people. Since then, Alaska has contributed billions of dollars' worth of products to the U.S. economy.

During the Klondike gold rush in 1897, potatoes were so highly valued for their vitamin C content, that miners traded gold for them.

Aurora Borealis [northern lights] can be seen an average of 243 days a year in FairBanks. The northern lights are produced by charged electrons and protons striking the earth's upper atmosphere.

There are places in Alaska that get 24 hours of sunlight! And places that get 24 hours of darkness!

Alaska has 3 million lakes.

Thousands of bald eagles winter over in Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines.

Interior Alaska is known for it's many natural geothermal hot springs

Alaska has 29 volcanoes.

There are more than 100,000 glaciers in Alaska

Alaska has 33,000 miles of coastline (more than the entire "lower 48" states put together). Alaska is the only state to have coastline on 3 different seas -- the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea.

Alaska is located 55 miles east of Russia.

Juneau has no road access to the rest of the state! It is the only capital city in the United States accessible only by boat or plane. It is also the largest U.S. city covering 3,108 square miles.

Mount McKinley is 20,320 feet (Tallest point in North America)

Alaskan Kodiak and Polar Bears can grow to 1,400 pounds and 11 feet tall. Moose can grow to 1,350 pounds, 5 feet high to shoulder with an antlers span of 72 inches.

State Sport: Dog Mushing -- which was once the primary mode of transportation in most of Alaska.

Every year Alaska hosts the 1,200 mile-long Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, often called the "Last great race on Earth."

Giant vegetables are common in Alaska due to the extremely long days in summer which account for a record cabbage weighing in at 94 pounds.

The word permafrost evolved as a contraction of the words "permanent frost", referring to ground that stays frozen for two years or longer. The northern third of Alaska is covered with permafrost.

Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.

Barrow, Alaska also boasts the farthest north supermarket in the country. The store is constructed on stilts to prevent the central heating from melting the permafrost.

The world's largest and busiest seaplane base is Anchorage's Lake Hood and it accommodates more than 800 takeoffs and landings on a peak summer day.

The largest Salmon ever caught was at the Kenai River, weighing in at 97.5 pounds.

Pribilof Island is home to about 1 million seals.

Alaska has no plants poisonous to the touch such as poison ivy or poison oak which are found in all other states.

The population of Alaska is only 626,932 and compared to the population of bears in Alaska, there is 1 bear for every 21 people. Alaska has the highest concentration of bears (Grizzly, Black and Polar), numbering at 100,000.

Alaska's Ethnic Roots: German 16.6%, Alaska Native or American Indian 15.6%, Irish 10.8%, British 9.6%, American 5.7%, Norwegian 4.2%. Alaska has the largest percentage of American Indians of any state.

Religion in Alaska: 78% Christian (62% Protestant, 8% Eastern Orthodox, 7% Catholic), 10% Buddhist, 7% No Religion, 4% LDS, 1% Other Religions.

In 1968, a large oil and gas reservoir near Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Coast was found. The Prudhoe Bay reservoir, with an estimated recoverable 10 billion barrels of oil and 27 trillion cubic feet of gas, is twice as large as any other oil field in North America.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour on a 800 mile journey to Valdez.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving - Thanking God for His blessings

Thanksgiving Day November 28, 2024
In 1621, 52 Pilgrims and approx. 50 Native Americans celebrated a 3-day feast thanking God for His blessings enabling their survival in the New World. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November.

Advent

December 1, 2024
Advent begins 4 weeks before Christmas and remembers the longing and waiting of God's people for the coming of the Messiah.

Bill of Rights Day

December 15, 1791
Bill of Rights Day
Celebrating the 10 amendments to the Constitution which protect individual rights by placing specific limits on government power. These freedoms do not exist in many countries of the world.

Christmas Day

December 25th Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. This joyous festival is enjoyed by Christians and nonChristians alike all over the world.