🏔️Alaska

The Last Frontier

Alaska is by far the largest U.S. state — more than twice the size of Texas — and has the smallest population density of any state. It was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, a deal that was widely mocked at the time as "Seward's Folly" and is now recognized as one of the greatest real estate bargains in history.

Russian America

Russian fur traders reached the Alaskan coast in the mid-1700s and established settlements on Kodiak Island and at Sitka, the capital of Russian America. By the 1860s, overhunting had depleted the sea otter trade and maintaining a colony across the Pacific had grown too expensive. Russia agreed to sell the territory to the United States. On March 30, 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward concluded a treaty to purchase the territory for $7.2 million — about two cents per acre. Critics dubbed the acquisition "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox," but the discovery of gold, copper, oil, and strategic value quickly made the purchase look brilliant.

Gold Rushes and Oil

A gold strike near Juneau in 1880 was followed by much larger rushes along the Klondike River in 1896 and at Nome in 1899. Tens of thousands of prospectors poured north. Some stayed. Fairbanks was founded during the interior gold rush of 1902. The next transformative strike was oil: a massive field was discovered at Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope in 1968, and the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline was completed in 1977. Oil revenues have funded the Alaska Permanent Fund, which still pays an annual dividend to nearly every resident.

A State of Superlatives

Alaska contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States, including Denali (20,310 ft), the highest point in North America. The state has an estimated 100,000 glaciers, more than 3,000 rivers, and 3 million lakes. Its coastline, at nearly 34,000 miles if you include all the islands and inlets, is longer than that of all other U.S. states combined. The state is also home to the Brooks Range, the Yukon River, the Alaska Range, the Aleutian Islands (a 1,200-mile arc that reaches almost to Russia), and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which is larger than Switzerland.

Culture and Peoples

Indigenous Alaskans make up about 15 percent of the state's population — a higher share than in any other state. They include Iñupiat and Yupik peoples of the north and west, Alutiiq and Aleut of the coast, Athabaskans of the interior, and Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian of the southeastern panhandle. English, Spanish, and Tagalog are commonly spoken alongside Alaskan Indigenous languages.

Alaska Facts

• Juneau, the capital, is not connected to the rest of the state by road. You can only arrive by boat or plane.
• Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959 — seven months before Hawaii became the 50th.
• The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake was the most powerful recorded in North American history at magnitude 9.2.
• The Alaska Highway — 1,390 miles from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction — was built in just eight months during World War II.
• Barrow (now known by its Iñupiaq name Utqiaġvik) is the northernmost city in the United States. In summer, the sun does not set for 82 consecutive days.

🗺️ Nearby States

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