Alaska State Capital: Juneau (population of about 31,262) the only state capital is the US with no road access. It can only be reached by air or sea.
Alaska State Population: 626,932
AlaskaArea: 586,412 sq. mi. - two and a half times larger than Texas.
Motto: North to the Future - created to represent Alaska as a land of promise.
Territory: 1912
Entered the Union: 49th state on January 3rd, 1959
Alaska State Flower: Forget-me-not - adopted 1917
Alaska State Fish: King Salmon - adopted 1962
Alaska State Bird: Ptarmigan - adopted 1955
Alaska State Tree: Sitka Spruce - adopted 1962
Alaska State Mineral: Gold - adopted 1968
Alaska State Gem: Jade - adopted 1968
Alaska State Sport: Dog Mushing - adopted 1972
Alaska State Insect: Dragonfly - adopted 1995
Alaska State Fossil: Woolly Mammoth - adopted 1986
State Mammal: Moose - adopted 1998
Alaska State Holiday: Alaska Day, Oct.18th - Alaska Day is the anniversary of the formal transfer of the territory and the raising of the US. flag at Sitka on October 18, 1867.
Seward's Day March 27 - Seward's Day commemorates the signing of the treaty by which the United States bought Alaska from Russian, signed on March 30, 1867.
The design for the Alaska flag was selected in a contest for Alaska students in grades seven through twelve in 1926. The winning design, submitted by 13-year-old Benny Benson, consisted of eight gold stars on a field of blue, representing the Big Dipper and the North Star.
Alaska's Flag Song Eight stars of gold on a field of blue, Alaska's Flag, may it mean to you The blue of the sea, the evening sky, The mountain lakes and the flow'rs nearby,
The gold of the early sourdough dreams, The precious gold of the hills and streams, The brilliant stars in the northern sky, The Bear, the Dipper, and shining high,
The great North star with its steady light. O'er land and sea a beacon bright, Alaska's Flag to Alaskans dear, The simple flag of a last frontier.
Alaska State Seal The state seal was originally designed in 1910 while Alaska was a territory and not a state. The rays above the mountains represent the Northern Lights. The smelter symbolizes mining. The train stands for Alaska's railroads, and ships denote transportation by sea. The trees symbolize Alaska's wealth of forests, and the farmer, his horse, and the three shocks of wheat represent Alaskan agriculture. The fish and the seals signify the importance of fishing and wildlife to Alaska's economy.
More Alaska Facts
Purchase of Alaska: Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million by then Secretary of State William H. Seward.
Entered the Union: Jan. 3, 1959, as the 49th state
Per Capita Personal Income: $30,675 in 2000
Heaviest Annuam Snowfall: 974.5 inches at Thompson Pass near Valdez, during the winter of 1952-53
Tallest Mountain in North America: Mount McKinley at 20,320 feet
Most Glaciers in the Nation: 29,000+ square miles or 5% of the State
Largest Cabbage: 98 Pounds in 1990
Highest Point: Mount McKinley, 20,320 ft
Shoreline: 33,904 miles
Land Area: Alaska is the largest state in the union at 586, 412 square miles (approx. 365,000,000 acres). It's about 1/5 the size fo teh contiguous 48 states. Alaska is about 1390 miles tall and 2210 miles wide. The mean elevation is 1900 ft. The aleutian Islands are 1100 miles long. Alaska has both the eastern, western, northern most points in the U.S.
Largest Glacier: The Maslaspina Glacier at 850 sq miles is the largest. There are more active glaciers and ice fields in Alaska than all the remaining states combined - 100,000 glaciers in all.
Longest Day: Barrow, 800 miles south of the North Pole, has the longest and hortest day. When the sun rises on May 10th, it don't set for nearly 3 months. When it sets on November 18th, Barrow residents do not see the sun again for nearly two months. The langest day in Anchorage is about 20 hours and the shortest is about 4.5 hours.
Temperature Extremes: The highest air temperature recorded in Alaska was 100 degrees F at Fort Yukon in 1915. The lowest temperature, -80 degrees F, was recorded at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.
Earthquakes: America's biggest earthquake, on March 27th 1964, devastated much of Southcentral Alaska. The Good Friday earthquake measured 8.6 on the Richter Scale. This has since revised upward to 9.2 - the strongest ever recorded in North America.
Mountains: Alaska has 17 of the 20 highest mountains in North America. Mt McKinley is the highest at 20,320 ft, second is Mt Saint Elias, near Glennallen, at 18,008 ft.
National Parks: Alaska has 15 National Parks
Tides: Turnagain Arm, near Anchorage, has tides as much as 30 feet. Tidal bores occur just as the tide changes from outgoing to incoming.
Population: The 1990 census lists Alaska's population as 550,043. 1996 estimates place the population at 607, 007, with approx. half in Anchorage, 80,000 in Fairbanks, 27,000 in Juneau and the rest distributed about the state in a few small towns and numerous villages. This gives Alaska a population density of 2.6 people per square mile (less rivers, lakes, etc.).
Alaska is closer to Russia than the 48 contiguous US states. Little Diomede Island (US) is 2.5 miles from Big Diomede Island (Russia). The mainland is only 51 miles from Russia across the Bering Strait.
Alaska is almost as close to Tokyo, Japan (3,520 miles) as New York City (3,280 miles).
