Alaska Fun Facts - Interesting Facts About Alaska

Alaska is flanked by Canada to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, the Arctic Ocean to the north and Russia further west. The area was actually purchased from the Russian Empire. This was the result of the Western Union's discontinuation of the electric telegraph line that ran from California, across the Bering Strait and into Moscow, before merging with the European telegraph network! When $3 million was invested in the Russian-American telegraph expedition and the work ceased, Secretary of State William H. Seward primarily interacted with the Russian Ambassador to negotiate the funding of the remaining phases. At that point of time, Russia negotiated Alaska in exchange for a dollar evaluation of the Russian-American telegraph. That was how this landmass came under US territory, evaluated at $7.2 million.

Interesting Facts About Alaska:

• The Alaska land deal was closed at two cents per acre, rounding up at five cents per hectare.
• As part of the Russian empire, Alaska was also referred to as 'Alyeska' or the 'great land'.
• In America Alaska is also called the 'Lower 48'.
• The coastline of Alaska is more that those flaunted by all the other U.S. states combined.
• Alaska's capital is Juneau, situated on the North American mainland.
• Southwest Alaska is coastal and sparsely populated. It remains unconnected by a road system.
• The Alaskan Bush comprises 380 native villages and small towns. The Arctic is Alaska's most remote wilderness.
• The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge located in the northeast corner of Alaska spans across 19,049,236 acres.
• According to the United States Bureau of Land Management, Alaska's public lands are largely national parks and wildlife refuges.
• The state of Alaska is technically the western-most and eastern-most US state since it extends into the eastern hemisphere and is the northern-most US state.
• Alaska has a land area of 586,412 square miles and is identified by geologists as part of Wrangellia, a large region currently part of active continent building.
• Alaska is geographically an exclave of the United States, since it is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on the continent.
• The territorial waters of Alaska merge with that of Russia at the Bering Strait, separating the islands of both territories by just 3 miles.
• South Central Alaska contains most of the state's population, earning the US maximum revenue out of petroleum plants, transportation and the tourism industry.
• Alaska is home to more than three million lakes. Its landmass comprises 188,320 square miles of marshlands, 16,000 square miles or glacier ice and 1,200 square miles of tidal zone.

Alaska Fun Facts:

• The Rat Islands in the Western Aleutians are considered the loneliest place in the United States.
• Alaska has over 100,000 glaciers, becoming home to half of the world's glaciers.
• Eskimo, American Indian and Aleut inhabitants own one-ninth of Alaskan real estate.
• The name 'Alaska' is Russian colonial ( Aleut) in origin and means 'the mainland towards which the action of the sea is directed'.
• Unimak Island, in the Aleutians, is home to Mount Shishaldin, the most perfect volcanic cone on Earth that towers at 10,000 feet above the North Pacific.
• Southwest Alaska is popular for its stormy weather, tundra landscapes, and large populations of marine mammals.

Alaska Trivia:

• State Flower: Forget-me-not.
• State Fish: King Salmon.
• State Bird: Ptarmigan.
• State Tree: Sitka Spruce.
• State Gem: Jade.
• State Sport: Dog Mushing.
• State Insect: Dragonfly.
• State Fossil: Woolly Mammoth.
• State Mammal: Moose.