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Facts & Trivia

Alaska is Bigger than a Breadbox
Alaska is a land of extemes and is so large that it is difficult to comprehend. At 570,374 square miles, Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas and is larger than all but 18 countries. Click to ZoomThe image to the right shows Alaska superimposed over a map of the lower 48 states - Alaska stretches from Jacksonville, Florida to Duluth, Minnesota to San Francisco, California. Alaska has both the eastern, western, northern most points in the U.S.

In stark contrast is Alaska’s population, the nation’s 4th lowest. Based on the 2005 population estimate from the US Census Bureau’s Alaska QuickFacts, Alaska only has 663,661 residents - just 1.16 people per square mile. To help frame the idea, consider this - at 1.16 people per square mile Manhattan would have only 27 residents. Roads are sparce outside cities and towns and chartered flights are a way of life. Juneau is the only capital city in the United States accessible only by boat or plane.

The Deal and the Flag
Alaska was originally purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million by then Secretary of State William H. Seward at a cost of just 2 cents an acre. During Alaska’s tenure as a US Territory, a contest was concocted to have Alaskan students in grades 7-12 submit designs for an official territory flag. Click to ZoomThe winning flag design was submitted by 13 year old Benny Benson and consisted of eight gold stars on a field of blue, representing the Big Dipper and the North Star. The Alaska Legislature adopted the design as the official flag for the Territory of Alaska on May 2, 1927 and kept the design when they entered the union on January 3, 1959 as the 49th state.

More Fun Alaska Facts…

  • Alaska’s name originates from the Eskimo word “Alakshak” which means “great lands” or “peninsula”.
  • The heaviest annual snowfall on record was 974.5 inches (81.5 feet) at Thompson Pass near Valdez during the winter of 1952 to 1953.
  • Alaska’s Mount McKinley climbs 20,320 feet and is the highest point of elevation in North America. Alaska has 17 of the 20 highest mountains in North America and a mean elevation of 1900 feet.
  • Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.
  • Alaska has 33,904 miles of shoreline.
  • Alaska is about 1390 miles tall and 2210 miles wide. The Aleutian Islands alone are 1100 miles long.
  • Little Diomede Island in Alaska is 2.5 miles from Big Diomede Island which is Russian territory.
  • Alaska’s largest glacier, The Maslaspina Glacier, is 850 square miles.
  • Barrow, Alaska is just 800 miles south of the North Pole and has the longest and shortest days. When the sun rises on May 10th, it don’t set for almost 3 months. When it sets on November 18th, Barrow residents do not see the sun for almost two months.
  • Europeans first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.
  • Russian whalers and fur traders established the first settlement in Alaska on Kodiak Island in 1784.
  • Agattu, Attu, and Kiska are the only pieces of North American soil occupied by Japanese troops during World War II.