Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Alaska
When was Alaska made a state?
Alaska was admitted to the Union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959.
What are some major geographical features of Alaska?
Alaska featuresMount McKinley (Denali), the highest peak inNorth America, as well as numerousfjords and inlets. It also has extensivetundra andpermafrost areas.
What is the main economic activity in Alaska?
Alaska’s economy is primarily based on oil production, fishing, federal and state expenditures (military and civilian), research and development, and tourism.
What was the impact of theExxon Valdez oil spill?
TheExxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 released about 250,000 barrels of oil intoPrince William Sound, causing major ecological and economic damage.Exxon paid a $900 million settlement for the cleanup efforts.
News•
Alaska,constituentstate of theUnited States of America. It was admitted to the union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959.
Alaska lies at the extreme northwest of theNorth American continent, and theAlaska Peninsula is the largest peninsula in theWestern Hemisphere. Because the 180th meridian passes through the state’sAleutian Islands, Alaska’s westernmost portion is in theEastern Hemisphere. Thus, technically, Alaska is in both hemispheres.
- Capital:
- Juneau
- Population1:
- (2020) 733,391; (2024 est.) 740,133
- Governor:
- Michael J. Dunleavy (Republican)
- Date Of Admission:
- January 3, 1959
- U.S. Senators:
- Lisa Murkowski (Republican)
- Daniel Sullivan (Republican)
- State Nickname:
- The Last Frontier
- State Motto:
- "North to the Future"
- State Bird:
- willow ptarmigan
- State Flower:
- alpine forget-me-not
- State Song:
- “Alaska’s Flag”
- Seats In The U.S. House Of Representatives:
- 1 (of 435)
- Time Zone:
- Alaskan (GMT − 9 hours)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 1,723,337
Alaska is bounded by theBeaufort Sea and theArctic Ocean to the north,Canada’sYukon territory andBritish Columbia province to the east, theGulf of Alaska and thePacific Ocean to the south, theBering Strait and theBering Sea to the west, and theChukchi Sea to the northwest. The capital isJuneau, which lies in the southeast, in the panhandleregion.
Alaska is central to thegreat circle route connecting North America withAsia by sea and air and is equidistant from most of Asia andEurope. That central location has made Alaska militarily significant since the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians in 1942 duringWorld War II. Alaska’s eastern border with Canada is about 1,538 miles (2,475 km) long, more than one-third the length of the entire U.S. boundary with Canada (3,987 miles [6,416 km]). Alaska’s westernmaritime boundary, separating the waters of the United States andRussia, was established in theTreaty of Cession of 1867 (which declared the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States). The roughly 1,000-mile (1,600-km)de facto boundary runs through the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Strait to a point between Alaska’sSt. Lawrence Island and Russia’s Chukotskiy (Chukchi) Peninsula and to the southwest, between Attu Island, the westernmost island of the Alaskan Aleutian chain, and the RussianKomandor Islands. The boundary leaves a patch of international waters, known as the “Doughnut Hole,” in the Bering Sea. Off the extreme western end of the state’sSeward Peninsula, LittleDiomede Island, part of Alaska, lies in theBering Strait only 2.5 miles (4 km) from Russian-owned BigDiomede Island. BothRussia and the United States have shown atacit tolerance of unintentional airspace violations, which are common in bad weather.
The name Alaska is derived from the Unangax (Aleut) wordalaxsxa oralaxsxix, both meaning “mainland” or “great land.” Indeed,Alaska has an immense area and a great variety of physical characteristics. Aside from its mainland peninsula, the state includes about 15,000 square miles (38,800 square km) of fjords and inlets and about 34,000 miles (54,400 km) of indented tidal coastline. In addition, most of thecontinental shelf of the United States lies along Alaska’s coast. In theAlaska Range north ofAnchorage isMount McKinley (Denali), 20,310 feet (6,190 meters) high—the highest peak in North America. Nearly one-third of the state lies within theArctic Circle, and about four-fifths of Alaska is underlain bypermafrost (permanently frozen sediment and rock). Tundra—the vast treelessArctic plains—makes up about half of the state’s surface area. The southern coast and the panhandle atsea level are fully temperate regions. In those and in the adjoining Canadian areas, however, lies the world’s largest expanse of glacial ice outsideGreenland andAntarctica. Rimming the state on the south is one of Earth’s most active earthquake belts, thecircum-Pacific seismic belt. Alaska has more than 130 active volcanoes, most of which are on the Aleutian Islands and theadjacent Alaska Peninsula. TheAlaska earthquake of 1964 was one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded in the United States.
Upon attaining statehood, Alaska increased the size of the United States by nearly one-fifth. The new area included vast stretches of unexplored land and untapped resources. Its settlement and exploitation have been hindered by its distance from the rest of the country and by geographic and climatic impediments to travel and communications; Alaska continues to be the country’s last frontier. About half of the state’s inhabitants live in the GreaterAnchorage–Kenai Peninsula area.
The difficulty of finding a balance between conservation and development in an enormous land has been ongoing since the beginning of the 20th century. Alaska’s residents and the state and federal governments have had to make delicate decisions on such major issues as anatural gas pipeline project, Alaska Natives’ land claims, the creation of national parks and wildlife refuges, noncommercial whaling byIndigenous peoples, and related matters. One of the major conflicts occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s between conservationists andpetroleum companies over the proposedTrans-Alaska Pipeline, which now runs from the oil-rich North Slope on the Arctic Ocean toValdez, in the south. The debate intensified following a catastrophicoil spill in 1989, when the tankerExxon Valdez released some 250,000 barrels of oil intoPrince William Sound. Moreover, beginning in the 1980s, the two sides came into conflict over whether to permit drilling in theArctic National Wildlife Refuge. In the early 21st century the question of drilling in the 23-million-acre (9.3-million-hectare) National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska on the Arctic coastal plain and on the continental shelves of the Beaufort andChukchi seas also became controversial issues. Area 665,384 square miles (1,723,337 square km). Population (2020) 733,391; (2024 est.) 740,133.
