Alaska |
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| 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. | |
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| 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 one of the largest U.S. cities by area, covering 3,255 square miles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mount McKinley is 20,310 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 about 730,000 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
At a Glance
Alaska Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | Jan. 3, 1959 (49) |
|---|---|
| Capital | Juneau |
| Nickname | The Last Frontier • Land of the Midnight Sun" |
| State Bird | Willow Ptarmigan |
| State Flower | Forget-me-not |
| State Tree | Sitka Spruce |
New for 2026
More Alaska Facts & Photos
On Good Friday 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck south-central Alaska and shook the ground for more than four minutes. It remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America and the second strongest in world history.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, established in 1980, is America's largest national park at 13.2 million acres, roughly the size of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Switzerland combined.
The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska covers nearly 17 million acres, making it both the largest national forest in the United States and the largest remaining temperate rainforest on Earth.
The 20th century's biggest volcanic eruption happened in Alaska in June 1912, when Novarupta blasted out 30 times more magma than Mount St. Helens and buried what is now Katmai's Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.
Army engineers punched the 1,500-mile Alaska Highway through wilderness from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction in less than eight months in 1942, one of the great construction feats of World War II.
The Alaskan Malamute became the official state dog in 2010 after students at Anchorage's Polaris K-12 School spent three years campaigning for it, testifying before the legislature at every step.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Harry Gannett
"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
Last updated: July 2026