Alaska (), officially the State of Alaska, is a state in the United States. It is in the Northwest corner of the continent of the United States West Coast. Alaska does not touch other US states. It has borders with Canada, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Bering Strait.

Alaska is the biggest state in the United States. It is the 3rd least populated state. It has the lowest population density of all the states. About half of the population of Alaska lives in the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of the 2011 census, 722,718 people live in Alaska.

The United States bought Alaska from Russia on March 30, 1867. This was called the Alaska Purchase. It cost $7.2 million. Today, that would be $120 million. The price was about $0.02 per acre ($4.74/km2). Alaska became an organized (or incorporated) territory on May 11, 1912. It became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

The name Alaska comes from the Aleut word alaxsaq. This means "the mainland" or "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed." The land is also called Alyeska, which is another Aleut word that means "the great land." The Russian name was Аляска.

Alaska mainly exports seafood, primarily salmon, cod, Pollock and crab. The oil and gas industry is very important in the Alaskan economy. More than 80% of the state's revenues is from petroleum extraction.

Geography 

The capital city is Juneau, but the biggest city is Anchorage. Alaska is the biggest state in the United States, but it has one of the smallest populations. It is also the least densely populated with more than half of the population residing in the Anchorage Metropolitan Area. Alaska has almost 20% of all the land in the U.S., but only about 0.2% of the people. It is not connected to any other states by American land, but it is connected to the territories of Yukon and British Columbia in Canada.

Alaska has many glaciers, some of which are can be seen from passing cruise ships. Some are coastal, and others are not by the ocean. It is a popular tourist destination, as there is a very rich culture along with beautiful scenery. There are many wild animals in Alaska. Some of them are the brown bear, the moose, and the wolf.

There are some important industries in Alaska, like oil, fishing, mining, transportation, tourism, and forestry. Oil is the biggest industry in Alaska. Most of the oil is very far north in the Alaskan arctic. A very long pipeline starts at the northern coast of Alaska and runs to the southern coast. It is over  long. There were many gold rushes in Alaska. The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is ranked as the world's fourth busiest cargo airport.

Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians in Alaska. One of the world's largest tides occur in Turnagain Arm, just south of Anchorage, where the differences in the tides can be more than 35 feet (10.7 m).

Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States can be found in Southeast Alaska. The state capital Juneau, and the former capital Sitka, can be found in Southeast Alaska.

State symbols
 State Motto: North to the Future
 Nicknames: "The Last Frontier" or "Land of the Midnight Sun" or "Seward's Icebox"
 State bird: Willow Ptarmigan, decided by the Territorial Legislature in 1955. It is a small (15–17 inches) Arctic grouse that lives among willows and on open tundra and muskeg. Feathers are brown in summer, changing to white in winter. The Willow Ptarmigan is common in much of Alaska.
 State dog: Alaskan Malamute, since 2010.
 State fish: King Salmon, since 1962.
 State flower: wild/native Forget-me-not, decided by the Territorial Legislature in 1917. It is a perennial that is found throughout Alaska, from Hyder to the Arctic Coast, and west to the Aleutians.
 State fossil: Woolly mammoth, since 1986.
 State gem: Jade, since 1968.
 State insect: Four-spot skimmer dragonfly, since 1995.
 State land mammal: Moose, since 1998.
 State marine mammal: Bowhead Whale, since 1983.
 State mineral: Gold, since 1968.
 State song: "Alaska's Flag"
 State sport: Dog Mushing, since 1972.
 State tree: Sitka Spruce, since 1962.

References

Related pages
 Colleges and universities in Alaska
 List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska
 List of rivers of Alaska

Other websites 

 Official Website of Alaska

 
1959 establishments in the United States