What Alaska is known for

Alaska is the most northwestern U.S. State located in the top northwestern corner of the North American continent. Its only neighbor by land is the Yukon Territory of Canada, sitting directly to the east. On Alaska’s south side is the North Pacific Ocean, and to its north is the Arctic Ocean. To the west of the state, one will find Russia across the Bering Strait, 52 miles away. [11] Alaska is the largest state by a significant margin, having around 586,000 square miles. Its total area makes up more than 16% of the entire U.S.A. Rhode Island, the smallest state, could fit inside Alaska more than 450 times.[1]

Despite its relatively massive size, it is one of the lowest states in terms of population, ranked 48th out of the fifty states—beating only Vermont and Wyoming—and only holds 0.22% of the U.S. total population or around 730,000 people.[12] The U.S. average population density per square mile is 87.4. Alaska sits at a mere 1.2, making it the lowest by a significant margin.[13]

The name Alaska comes from the Aleut word “alaxsxaq,” which means “the mainland,” though its direct translation is “the object towards which the action the sea is directed.” In Aleut, it is known as “Alyeska,” or the “great land.” The state has been nicknamed "The Last Frontier" due to its rugged landscape and distance from the lower 48 states. The state motto, “North to the Future,” was chosen in 1967 on the Alaska Purchase Centennial celebration. It’s meant to constitute Alaska as “a land of promise.”[14] 

Speaking of “a land of promise,” Alaska is perhaps most known for its unique topography, geography, climate, nature, and wildlife, something people can experience as they participate in the vast array of recreational and scenic attractions it offers. A chief example of this is Denali National Park. The park showcases Denali, the highest mountain in North America, and six million acres filled with forests, rivers, wildlife, and more. To preserve the area, there is only one road, 92 miles long, and established trails are only near the road or the park entrance. Off-trail options are available. During the summer, traveling through the park is limited to public buses, and in the winter there is usually too much snow to drive in it. The name is derived from the Native Athabaskan people and means “The Great One.” It wasn't until August 30th, 2015—the eve of the park’s centennial anniversary—that it was recognized as the official name.[15]

Glacier Bay National Park is another prominent nature reserve in Alaska. Covering more than 3 million acres, the park houses thousands of square miles of glaciers. Alaskan cruise ships and tours will often drive near these glacier walls to give tourists scenic views of the white and blue ice. Wildlife, especially seabirds, sea lions, orcas, and whales can be seen as well.[16] 

The state capital is Juneau and is located close to Glacier Bay National Park and serves as the docking point of many Alaskan cruises. Fairbanks is another prominent city inland and situated right on the Tanana River, near the Chena River State Recreation Area. Anchorage is Alaska's most populated city and hosts the City of Light and Flowers festival each spring.[3] All of these cities offer various attractions and activity options nearby, such as hiking, fishing, wildlife watching, touring, and more. The peak tourist season is from June to August due to the long days and the warm weather. This is also when the majority of the state parks and nature reserves are open and easily accessible.[17]

However, there are a variety of options only available in the colder months. The aurora borealis, or northern lights, can be seen from September to April each year. With the abundance of snow that winter brings, skiing, snowshoeing, and other winter sports become available in the winter, especially closer to March. The national sport, dog sledding, is also more prominent in the colder months.[17] Before modern technology and transportation, dog sleds were a common form of travel over the snow. Today, It is still celebrated and immortalized through several races, the most prominent being the Iditarod. This race commemorates the 674 miles mushers traveled in just over 5 days through “record cold and hurricane-force winds” to deliver medical supplies to Nome, Alaska.[18]

Geography

Alaska’s geography is quite varied, containing many forests, rivers, mountains, coasts, marshlands, volcanoes, and glaciers.[3] More than half of the state is federally owned public land, and nearly 40% of Alaska is dedicated to national parks, national forests, nature reserves, and other wildlife refuges. Having more than 100 areas devoted to these purposes, or 143,904,000 acres, Alaska’s state parks and wildlife areas account for 56.7% of the U.S. total. [5] 

Among its 39 mountain ranges, it contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States. The most prominent of these is Denali, formerly known as Mt. McKinley. Denali’s peak is 20,320 feet in elevation, and it has topographic isolation of more than 4,500 miles. It ranks at the third most isolated and the third most prominent peak in the world and is a popular hike amongst the world’s foremost mountaineers. [6]

Alaska is known for its earthquakes, often having close to 5,000 every year. The strongest recorded earthquake in North America occurred in March of 1964 in Prince William Sound and had a magnitude of 9.2. There is usually at least a magnitude seven earthquake each year in Alaska. Additionally, Alaska is also known for its volcanic eruptions. The Novarupta Volcano erupted in 1912 and is still considered the most powerful volcanic eruption in the 20th century. It created the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a basin that is completely full of settled ash in Katmai National Park.[7]

The wildlife is another of Alaska’s prominent features and varies greatly. The region is home to wolves, foxes, river beavers and otters, and wolverines. The bear population is extensive as well, with various species leaving their dens in April and going back into hibernation around November. Moose and caribou can be seen year-round. Some caribou herds are upwards of 20,000 strong and migrate around the state. There are more than 200 different kinds of birds, some of which migrate south in the winter while others stay year-round. Alaska’s coasts are staging and breeding grounds for various kinds of sea-bird. The oceans and seas surrounding Alaska are known for hosting whales, orcas, sea lions, and seals. Most whales are migratory and can only be seen at certain times of the year, while orcas and other sea life are permanent residents. All of the Pacific’s five species of salmon, namely sockeye, pink, chum, coho, and king, spawn in the freshwater rivers, streams, and lakes of the Alaskan peninsula. Many visitors come each year from June to December to fish during the salmon runs. Hunting is also available during certain seasons.[8] 

Alaska’s climate varies throughout the year, depending on the season and location, In the summer, the average temperatures fall between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. During the winter averages level out from 20 degrees Fahrenheit to minus 20 at night. However, on the northernmost slope, temperatures are typically expected to be around 20 degrees colder. At Prospect Creek Camp in 1971, the temperature fell to a record minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the precipitation that falls in Alaska is snow, which happens primarily through October through March and is somewhere around 150-200 inches on the southernmost side, and leveling off to 6-12 inches on the northernmost-arctic side. Rain falls between July and October. The sun is perhaps the most interesting part of Alaska’s climate, however. During the winter months, it only shines for an average of 6 hours a day. In contrast, the sun will shine for 15-18 hours on average in the summer months. On parts of the northernmost slopes, the sun won’t shine at all in the winter and will never set in the summer.[9]

History

Alaska is known to be one of the first inhabited places in North America. The Bering Strait, which separates Alaska from Asia, was covered in ice up until some 10,000-13,000 years ago. However, western science asserts that indigenous tribes crossed the ice bridge to North America at least two times before it melted away. The Amerind migration group came across 15,000 years ago and continued south to populate North and South America. Three thousand years later, the Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene migrated across and inhabited what is now northern Canada and Alaska.[2] 

In more modern times, Russia was the first to colonize what is now Alaska in the early 1700s. However, they deemed it too isolated from their country and sold the land to the U.S.A. on October 18th, 1867, for 7.2 million dollars. This exchange was managed by William H. Seward and is often referred to as Seward's Folly as it was thought the land was not worth the money, despite its low cost. October 18th is now a celebrated state holiday called Alaska Day. Nearly 50 years later, the land was declared a U.S. Territory on May 11th, 1912. It wasn't until January 3rd, 1959, that Alaska became the 49th state to join the United States Union.[3]

Despite the purchase of Alaska being known as Seward's Folly, it has generated "billions of dollars" for the U.S. economy over the years.[4] In the late 1880s, more than 60,000 people moved to Alaska to prospect for gold. The Klondike Gold Rush, which occurred from 1897-1900, brought an additional 100,000 prospectors to the area. The Homestead Act of 1862 was passed during this time, allowing the settlers to stake land claims for homestead development. The state's official mineral is gold due to this history in its founding.[2]

However, Alaska's infrastructure didn't fully take off until 1968, when the Prudhoe Bay reservoir was found—a natural gas and oil reservoir with an estimated 27 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and an additional 10 billion barrels full of oil. This reservoir is more than two times larger than any other in North America. At the discovery of such an immense well of oil and natural gas, the Trans-Alaska pipeline was started and completed in 1977. It pipes oil 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay all the way to Valdez, Alaska. Other prominent industries in the state include fisheries, lumber and wood products, animal furs and hunting, and, of course, tourism.[4] 

Alaska has the largest percentage of native people amongst its population than any other state in the U.S.A. These natives makeup 15% of the state's population and take a significant part in their homeland's local and state-wide politics. There are more than two dozen native languages still spoken in Alaska. White people take up the majority of the population sitting at 65%, while the remaining 20% is split between Black, Asian, Latin, and other ethnicities. [4]