Facts About the State of Alaska

Statehood measure passes congress in 1958; President Eisenhower signs statehood bill in July 1958. Statehood proclaimed on January 3, 1959 as the 49th state.

Alaska has about 640,000 residents occupying 570,374 square miles, or 365,039,104 acres of land. Alaska is the largest state, about 2.3 times the size of Texas and about one-fifth the size of the Lower 48 states.

STATE NICK NAME "The Last Frontier" - The name Alaska is derived from the Aleut word "Alyeska," meaning "great land."

STATE MOTTO "North to the Future" Our motto was chosen in 1967 during the Alaska Purchase Centennial and was created by Juneau newsman Richard Peter. The motto is meant to represent Alaska as a land of promise.

STATE CAPITAL Juneau, located in the southeast region of Alaska, has a population of 30,684.

FLAG
The blue field is for the sky and the forget-me-not, the state flower. The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly of the Union. The dipper is for the Great Bear, symbolizing strength. Our flag was designed by Thirteen-year-old Benny Benson's fame comes from designing the Alaska flag. Born in Chignik and raised in Unalaska. Benny was the winner of the contest conducted for Alaska students in grades seven through twelve in 1926. The Alaska Legislature adopted his design as the official flag for the Territory of Alaska on May 2, 1927. Later, the drafters of the Alaska constitution stipulated that the territorial flag would become the official flag of the State of Alaska.


STATE SEAL The state seal was originally designed in 1910 while Alaska was a territory and not a state. The rays above the mountains represent the Northern Lights. The smelter symbolizes mining. The train stands for Alaska’s railroads, and ships denote transportation by sea. The trees symbolize Alaska’s wealth of forests, and the farmer, his horse, and the three shocks of wheat represent Alaskan agriculture. The fish and the seals signify the importance of fishing and wildlife to Alaska’s economy.

THE PURCHASE Secretary of State William H. Seward (in the summer of 2004 we had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful visit by some of Mr. Seward's descendants) arranged for the United States to purchase Alaska from Russia in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars, or 2 cents per acre."

STATE SONG The words to the song Alaska’s Flag were written by Marie Drake, a long-time employee of the Alaska Department of Education, and set to music composed by Elinor Dusenbury, whose husband was commander of Chilkoot Barracks at Haines from 1933 to 1936. The Territorial Legislature adopted Alaska’s Flag as Alaska’s official song in 1955.

STATE SYMBOLS

FLOWER The forget-me-not, which grows well throughout Alaska, is the state flower.

GEM Alaska’s state gem is jade. Alaska has large deposits of the gem, including an entire mountain of jade on the Seward Peninsula.

TREE The tall, stately Sitka spruce is the state tree. It is found in southeastern and central Alaska.

FISH The giant king salmon, which weighs up to 100 pounds, is the state fish.

SPORT Dog mushing is the state sport. It was once a primary form of transportation in many areas of Alaska.

MINERAL Gold is the state mineral. Gold has played a major role in Alaska’s history.

BIRD The pheasant-like willow ptarmigan is the state bird. This bird changes color from light brown in summer to snow white in winter.

FOSSIL Wooly Mammoth per the 14th Legislature - 1986.

LAND MAMMAL The moose was made the official Alaska land mammal when Governor Tony Knowles signed SB 265 into law on May 1, 1998 after being proposed by local school children at Kalfornsky Beach School. Moose can be found from the Unuk River in Southeast to the Arctic Slope, but are most abundant in second-growth birch forests, on timberline plateaus and along major rivers of South central and Interior. They are not found on islands in Prince William Sound or the Bering Sea, on most major islands in Southeast, on Kodiak, or the Aleutians groups.

INSECT The four spot skimmer dragonfly, per legislation (HB 239) introduced by Senator Georgianna Lincoln on behalf of elementary students in her district, and passed by the 19th Legislature in 1995. (Ch 49 SLA 95).

MARINE MAMMAL Bowhead whale per the 13th Legislature - 1983

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS

MOUNTAINS Of the 20 highest peaks in the United States, 17 are in Alaska. Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America, is 20,320 ft. above sea level. Denali, the Indian name for the peak, means "The Great One."

WATER BODIES The Yukon River, almost 2,000 miles long, is the third longest river in the U.S. There are more than 3,000 rivers in Alaska and over 3 million lakes. The largest, Lake Iliamna, encompasses over 1,000 square miles.

GLACIERS Alaska has an estimated 100,000 glaciers, ranging from tiny cirque glaciers to huge valley glaciers. There are more active glaciers and ice fields in Alaska than in the rest of the inhabited world. The largest glacier is the Malaspina at 850 square miles. Five percent of the state, or 29,000 square miles, is covered by glaciers.

COMPASS POINTS Alaska boasts the northernmost (Point Barrow), the easternmost (Pochnoi Point on Semisopochnoi Island in the Aleutians), and the westernmost (Amatignak Island in the Aleutians) points in the United States.

COASTLINE Alaska has 6,640 miles of coastline and, including islands, has 33,904 miles of shoreline.

VOLCANOES There are more than 70 potentially active volcanoes in Alaska. Several have erupted in recent times. The most violent volcanic eruption of the century took place in 1912 when Novarupta Volcano erupted, creating the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes which is now part of Katmai National Park.

EARTHQUAKES On March 27, 1964, North America’s strongest recorded earthquake, with a moment magnitude of 9.2, rocked central Alaska. Each year Alaska has approximately 5,000 earthquakes, including 1,000 that measure above 3.5 on the Richter scale. Of the ten strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the world, three have occurred in Alaska.

"All information taken from the State of Alaska Website"