- Organized
as territory: 1912
- Admission
to Statehood: January
3, 1959
- State
Holidays:
Alaska
Day - October 18. Anniversary of the formal transfer
of the Territory and the raising of the U.S. flag at
Sitka in 1867.
Seward's Day - Last Monday in March. Commemorates
the signing of the treaty by which the United States
bought Alaska from Russia.
- Area: 656,425
sq. mi.,
Land 570,374 sq. mi.,Water 86,051 sq.mi.,Coastline 6640
mi.,
- State Parks: http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/index.htm
- Area Code: 907
- Alaska Nickname: The
Last Frontier
- Origin of
state's name: Based
on an Aleut word "alaxsxaq" literally meaning "object
toward which the action of the sea is directed" or more simply "the
mainland".
- Population: 626,932 (The
first official census in 1880 showed 33,426 Alaskans, all but
430 being Natives
- Alaska Flag:
Alaska adopted
the flag for official state use in 1959. The blue field represents
the sky, the sea, and mountain lakes, as well as Alaska's wildflowers.
Emblazoned on the flag are eight gold stars: seven in the constellation
Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper. The eighth being the North Star,
representing the northern most state.
- Alaska's
Song:
Written by: Marie Drake ÃÂéThe
University of Alaska
Eight stars of
gold on a field of blue --
Alaska's flag. May it mean to you
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes, and the flow'rs nearby;
The gold of the early sourdough dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams;
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The Bear--the Dipper-- and, shining high,
the great North Star with its steady light,
Over land and sea a beacon bright.
Alaska's flag--to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.
A
Native lad chose the Dipper's stars
For Alaska's flag that there be no bars
Among our culture. Let it be known
Through years the Native's past has grown
To share life's treasures, hand in hand,
to keep Alaska our Great-Land;
We love the northern midnight sky,
the mountains, lakes and streams nearby.
The great North Star with its steady light
will guide all cultures, clear and bright,
with nature's flag to Alaskan's dear,
the simple flag of the last frontier.
(Verse 2 by Carol Beery Davis. 1986)
- State Symbols:
- Flower Forget
Me Not Myosotis
alpestris (1949)
- Tree Sitka
spruce (1962)
- Bird willow
ptarmigan (1955)
- Fish king
salmon (1962)
- Song ÃÂÃÂAlaska's
FlagÃÂÃÂ (1955)
- Gem jade (1968)
- Marine
mammal Bowhead Whale (1983)
- Fossil woolly
mammoth (1986)
- Mineral gold (1968)
- Sport dog
mushing (1972)
- Geographic
Center: 60 miles northwest of Mount McKinley
- Highest Point: Mt.
McKinley; 20,320 feet
- Volcanoes: Alaska
contains over 100 volcanoes and volcanic fields
- Largest
cities (2000):
- Anchorage,
260,283
- Juneau,
30,711
- Fairbanks,
30,224
- Sitka,
8,835
- Ketchikan,
7,922
- Kenai,
6,942
- Kodiak,
6,334
- Bethel,
5,471
- Wasilla,
5,469
- Barrow,
4,581
- Famous Alaskans
Aleksandr
Baranov trader, public official, Russia (photo)
Margaret Elizabeth Bell author
Benny Benson designed state flag at age 13,
Chignik
Vitus
Bering explorer, Denmark
Charles E. Bunnell educator
William A. Egan first state governor
Charles E. Bunnell educator;
Susan Butcher sled-dog racer;
Carl Ben Eielson pioneer pilot
Henry E. Gruennig political leader
B. Frank Heintzleman territorial governor
Walter J. Hickel former governor
Sheldon Jackson educator and missionary, Minaville,
NY
Joe Juneau prospector
Austin Lathrop industrialist
Sydney Lawrence painter
John Griffith (Jack) London author, San Francisco,
CA
Ray Mala actor ( Son of Fury
1942 )
John Muir naturalist, explorer, Scotland
Virgil
F. Partch cartoonist,
better known
as VIP, Born in Alaska in 1916
Joe Redington, Sr. sled-dog musher and promoter
Chad
Carpenter cartoonist
Peter Trinble Rowe first Episcopal bishop
Ivan Popov-Veniaminov (St. Innocent) Russian
Orthodox missionary Ferdinand Wrangel educator
Samuel Hall Young founder of first American
church.
- Famous
People in Alaska
Pope
John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan met
in Fairbanks on May 2, 1984
Emperior Hirohito and President Richard Nixon met
at Elmendorf AFB in 1967
( Alaskan View Motel Webmaster Bill Fikes was a guest at the reception along with his Sister Helen.)
- Number of
boroughs: 16
- Largest
borough by population and area:
- Anchorage, 260,283
(2000);
- Yukon-Koyukuk, 157,121
sq mi.
- Highways: Alaska
has over 12,200 miles of public roads.
Of these land miles, over 5,500 are under state jurisdiction,
over 4,200 miles are under local government jurisdiction,
with the remainder under the jurisdiction of various federal agencies.
Approximately one-half of the public roads are paved.
- Agriculture: Seafood,
nursery stock, dairy products, vegetables, livestock. Industry: Petroleum
and natural gas, gold and other mining, food processing, lumber and
wood products, tourism.
- Minerals: Alaska
is the largest producer of zinc in the United States, responsible
for over 50 percent of the 1992 domestic mine production.
Green Creek Mine on Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska was the
largest silver mine in the United States from 1989 through
1992. The total Alaska silver production for 1992 represented over
17 percent of the U.S. total mine output. Alaska has the largest
placer mining industry in the United States producing over 262,000
ounces of raw gold in 1992. Developing hard rock gold mines
are poised to raise Alaska's gold production to over 1,000,000 ounces.
Alaska currently produces over 1.5 million tons of low sulfur coal annually.
About half of this coal is used to fuel interior Alaska power plants,
the remainder is exported to South Korea under long term contract.
- Editorial
Cartoons:
Lisa
Herschbach
|
-
Capital: Juneau
-
Governor:
Sarah Palin
|
|
ÃÂé2003DNR 
