| Demographics |
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Statehood: January 3, 1959, the 49th state Capital: Juneau
Total Area: 1st
among states, 1,717,854 sq km (663,267 sq mi)
Water Area: 116,177
sq km (44,856 sq mi)
Highest Point: Mount
McKinley, 6,194 m (20,321 ft)
Total Population: 47th
among states
2010 census - 710,231
Population Density in 2010: 1.2
people per sq mi
Distribution in 2000: 65.6%
Urban, 34.4% Rural
Economy:
Gross State Product - $45.6 billion (2010)
Personal income per Capita - $42,603 (2009)
Largest cities in 2010:
Anchorage: 291,826
Fairbanks: 31,535
Juneau: 31,275
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A
13-year-old boy, Bennie Benson, designed the Alaskan Flag in 1926.
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Alaska’s
coastline, 6,640 miles, is longer than all the other states’
coastlines combined.
It is the United State’s largest state, measuring 1,400
miles long and 2,700 miles wide; Rhode Island could fit into Alaska
425 times.
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Alaska
has more inland water than any other state, 20,171 square miles.
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During
the Klondike gold rush in 1897, potatoes were so highly valued for
their vitamin C content, that miners traded gold for them.
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Juneau
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.
Los Angeles covers only 458.2 square miles.
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More
bald eagles gather along the Chilkat River than at any other place
in the world.
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There
are more than 100,000 glaciers in Alaska and about 75% of all the
fresh water in the state is stored as glacial ice.
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Alaska
accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the United States.
Daily average yield of an oil well at full production in
Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay is 10,000 barrels.
In the other 48 states, the average is only 11 barrels.
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Alaska
has the 16 highest peaks in the United States.
Mount McKinley is the highest mountain peak in all of North
America.
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The
record low temperature is -80ºF at Fort Yukon on June 27,
1915.
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The
Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour on
a 800 mile journey to Valdez.
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Alaska’s
name comes from the Eskimo word Alakshak, meaning great lands or
peninsula.
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are over three million lakes in Alaska.
The largest, Lake Iliamna, is the size of Connecticut.
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Of
the 20 highest mountains in the United States, 17 are in Alaska.
Mount McKinley, North America's largest mountain at 6194 m (20,320
ft), is a highlight of Denali National Park and Preserve.
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The
Malaspina Glacier, at the foot of Mount Saint Elias, covers an area
larger than Rhode Island.
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The
native Aleut population, estimated at
between 15,000 and 20,000 before
Europeans arrived, dropped to 2247 by 1834 largely due to
the introduction of guns and diseases
such as smallpox, measles, and
tuberculosis.
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The
United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million.
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