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UPDATED:
AUG 21, 2018
ORIGINAL:
OCT 27, 2009

Alaska
HISTORY.COM EDITORS
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 CONTENTS

1. Interesting Facts
The largest state (in area) of the United States, Alaska was admitted to the
union as the 49th state in 1959, and lies at the extreme northwest of the North
American continent. Acquired by the United States in 1867, the territory was
dubbed “Seward’s Folly” after U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, who
arranged to purchase the land from Russia. Critics of the purchase believed
that the land had nothing to offer, but the discovery of gold in the 1890s
created a stampede of prospectors and settlers. Alaska is bounded by the
Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean to the north; Canada’s Yukon Territory and
British Columbia province to the east; the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific
Ocean to the south; the Bering Strait and the Bering Sea to the west; and the
Chukchi Sea to the northwest. The capital is Juneau.

Date of Statehood: January 3, 1959

Capital: Juneau

Population: 710,231 (2010)

Size: 664,988 square miles

Nickname(s): The Last Frontier; Land of the Midnight Sun

Motto: North to the Future

Tree: Sitka Spruce

Flower: Forget-me-not
 Bird: Willow Ptarmigan

Interesting Facts
 Russia controlled most of the area that is now Alaska from the late
1700s until 1867, when it was purchased by U.S. Secretary of State William
Seward for $7.2 million, or about two cents an acre.
 During World War II, the Japanese occupied two Alaskan islands, Attu
and Kiska, for 15 months.
 Alaska contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States. At
20,320 feet, Mt. McKinley is the tallest mountain in North America.
 Alaska has roughly 5,000 earthquakes every year. In March of 1964, the
strongest earthquake recorded in North America occurred in Prince William
Sound with a magnitude of 9.2.
 The most powerful volcanic explosion of the 20th century occurred in
1912 when Novarupta Volcano erupted, creating the Valley of Ten Thousand
Smokes in Katmai National Park.
 The temperature dropped to a record -80 degrees Fahrenheit at
Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.
 The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska more than 420 times.
 People have inhabited Alaska since 10,000 BCE. At that time a land
bridge extended from Siberia to eastern Alaska, and migrants followed herds
of animals across it. Of these migrant groups, the Athabaskans, Aleuts, Inuit,
Yupik, Tlingit and Haida remain in Alaska.
PHOTO GALLERIES
Alaska
 13
GALLERY
13 IMAGES

Citation Information
Article Title
Alaska

Author
History.com Editors

Website Name
HISTORY

URL
https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/alaska

Access Date
May 21, 2020
 Publisher
A&E Television Networks

Last Updated
August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

October 27, 2009

BY
 HISTORY.COM EDITORS
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FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you
see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

VIDEOS
Tougher in Alaska: Living in Alaska

Tougher in Alaska: Moving to Alaska

Tougher in Alaska: Golfing in Alaska

Alaska Becomes 49th State

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