FAQ ALASKA - Frequently Asked Questions About Alaska

Miscellaneous Facts About Alaska from Alaska Almanac 20th ed.

• Motto: "North to the Future."
  
• State Capitol: Juneau.
  
• Purchased from Russia by U.S.: 1867.
  
• Organized as a territory: 1912.
  
• Entered the union: Jan. 3, 1959; 49th state.
  
• Number of boroughs: 16
  
• Governor: Sarah Palin
  
• Land area: 570,373.6 square miles -- largest state in the union; one-fifth the size of the "Lower 48."*
  
• State population: 626,932 from Census 2000. *
  
• Largest municipality in population: Anchorage, 257,780 as of July 1, 1995.**
  
• Largest city in area: Sitka with 4,710 square miles, 1816 square miles of which are water. Juneau is second, with an area of 3,108 square miles.
  
• Typical Alaskan: According to Census 2000 figures, the median age for males is 32.4 years and 32.5 for females. About 51.7 percent of Alaskans are male.*
  
• Average household income: $60,853 in 1989, fifth highest in the nation
  
• Median household income: $51,571 in 1999. *

• Per capita personal income: $22,660 in 1999. * (Down from 1995)
  
• Area per person: There is .93 square mile for each resident of Alaska. New York has .003 square miles per resident.
  
• Highest/Lowest temperatures: Highest 100 degrees F at Fort Yukon, 1915. Lowest -80 degrees at Prospect Creek Camp, 1971.
  
• Heaviest annual snowfall: 974.5 inches at Thompson Pass near Valdez, during the winter of 1952-53.
  
• Tallest mountain: Mount McKinley, 20,320 feet.
  
• World's largest producer of zinc: Red Dog Mine
  
• Largest natural freshwater lake: Iliamna, 1,150 square miles.
  
• "Nessie" of the North: The legendary giant trout of Lake Iliamna.
  
• Number of stores that sell fishing licenses: 1,200.
  
• Longest river: Yukon, 1,875 miles in Alaska, rest in Canada, 2,298 miles total.
  
• Largest glacier: Bering Glacier complex, 2,250 square miles, which includes the Bagley Icefield.
  
• Oldest building: Erskine House/Baranof Museum in Kodiak, built by the Russians as a storehouse, probably between 1793 and 1796.
  
• Farthest north supermarket: In Barrow, constructed on stilts to prevent central heating from thawing permafrost; cost, $4 million.
  
• World's largest and busiest seaplane base: Lake Hood in Anchorage, accommodating more than 800 takeoffs and landings on a peak summer day; record peak set in 1984 for one day, 1,200. Weekdays see an average of 500 landings and takeoffs.
  
• Largest state park in the nation: Wood-Tikchik State Park with 1.6 million acres of wilderness.
  
• State mineral: Gold.
  
• State sport: Dog mushing.
  
• State bird: Willow ptarmigan, a small grouse.
  
• World's largest concentration of bald eagles: Along the Chilkat River, just north of Haines. As many as 3,000 bald eagles can gather here in fall and winter months for late salmon runs.
  
• America's biggest earthquake: Occurred March 27, 1964, Good Friday. Measures 8.6 on the Richter scale (since revised upward to 9.2 -- the strongest ever recorded in North America), the earthquake devastated much of Southcentral Alaska.
  
• Second greatest tide range in North America: 38.9 feet near Anchorage in Upper Cook Inlet.
  
• Tourism: Alaska ranks fifth among the top-ten destinations for "fantasy vacations." and second among U.S. destinations.***
  
• Attractions: The top most-visited attractions in Alaska are natural/scenic: the Inside Passage, Portage Glacier and Mendenhall Glacier.
  
• Barrels per day: On June 11, 1996, BP's Milne Field on Alaska's North Slope reached a production of 50,000 barrels of oil per day. When it reaches an expected production of 65,000 barrels/day late in 1996, it will be among the top 10 producing fields in the U.S.

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• * Source : U.S. Bureau of the Census, Seattle.
• ** Source : Alaska Department of Labor, Juneau.
• *** Source : New York Times poll.

• Source : "Miscellaneous Facts About Alaska" was originally published in the Alaska Almanac 24th edition, 1996, by Alaska Northwest Books. This information is used here with permission of the publisher. Any further reproduction of this material requires written permission from Alaska Northwest Books, 733 W. 4th Ave., Ste. 300, Anchorage, AK 99501. 1-800-452-3032