Alaska Facts: Interesting Facts About Alaska

Alaska is a state in the forty-ninth state of the United States of America. It is located in the north west portion of the North American Continent. Alaska is the largest state in the United States as compared in area. The transfer took place on October 18, 1867 in Sitka. Here are some interesting facts about Alaska.

The name 'Alaska' is derived from the Aleut language word ' alasxaq', which means the mainland. It also literally means 'the object towards which the action of the sea is directed.'Alaska was purchased by the United States of America from Russia under the command of the Secretary of State William Seward. The amount of purchased territory was six lakh square miles.

The total land was purchased at 5.9 cents per acre. The purchase was sometimes referred to as 'Seward's Folly' by some noted journalists, who were apprehensive about Alaska making any contribution to progress in the United States of America.Alaska was discovered by the Danish explorer, Vitus Jonassen Bering while on his voyage to Siberia in 1741.

The first settlement in Alaska was of Russian Fur traders and Whalers on Kodiak Island in Alaska in 1784. Alaska is borded by Canada, Yukon and British Columbia to the east. The Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Alaska border it to the south, while the Chucki Sea, the Bering Strait and the Bering Sea border it to the west. It shares its northern borders with the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

Alaska is not bordered by any state, making it the second United States state not to be so. It is the only non-contiguous state in North America, due to the five hundred miles of Canadian territory that separate it from the Washington State. It is also the only state whose capital state, Juneu is not accessible by land, it is accessible only by air or ship.

Alaska is the largest state in the United States. The total land covered is 570, 380 square miles. It is almost twice as large as Texas, which is the second largest state in America. The South Central Alaska is the southern coastal region. This region also comprises of most of the population in Alaska. It is home to the many growing towns, like Palmer, Wasilla and Anchorage.

Alaska also has the lowest population density in the entire United States. It's coastline extends to about six thousand six hundred miles. The State is about one thousand four hundred miles long from north to south and east to west, it goes almost two thousand seven hundred miles wide.

Alaska is one of the richest states in the United States of America. It's total gross product is about thirty nine billion dollars. It also holds the third space in the per-capita GSP, with a whopping sixty thousand and seventy nine dollars.

The economy of Alaska is chiefly made of petroleum extraction. The state derives around eighty percent of its revenue from petroleum. Alaska accounts for around twenty five percent of all oil produced in the United States of America.

Mainly, Alaska exports seafood like crab, salmon and pollock and halibut. Alaska doesn't have a robust agriculture business, and any product from agriculture is for state-wide consumption instead of export.Alaska is one of the few states which does not rely on manufacturing. Fishing and the sea-food industry are the state's largest private industry employer.

The State Legislature is made of of the Senate and a House of Representatives. Elections in Alaska are held every four years, when Alaskans elect a Governor and a Lieutanent Governor.Twenty Senators are elected for a four year term, while forty representatives serve two year terms.