Alaska
FACTS
Delayed by the Civil War, Alaska was finally purchased from Russia in 1867 for
$7.2 million
Alaska has one of the lowest individual tax burdens in the U.S.
Alaska's Interior in the summer can reach over 90F, but in the winter has dropped lower than -60F
BELOW ZERO!
'Alaska Day' is a state holiday on Oct 18th to commemorate the official transfer of the territory from Russia to the U.S. on
Oct 18, 1867
Alaska became the 49th state on January 3rd, 1959
Alaska has
3 1/2 million lakes that are each 20+ acres in size
Juneau,
the state's capital,
is not accessible
by road!
Military members in Alaska are considered 'overseas' and receive the same benefits as overseas military personnel stationed in other countries
Highest point - Denali (Mt McKinley) at 20,320 ft
Amount of daylight:
Anchorage
June--19 ½ hrs / Dec -- 5½ hrs
Fairbanks
June--nearly 22 hrs / Dec--3½ hrs
Nearly one MILLION carribou roam the Alaska tundra
With 663,268 sq. miles, Alaska is
2.3 times the size of Texas
-or-
1/5 the total size of
the U.S.
There is roughly 1 bear for every 20 humans in Alaska!
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Alaska flag was designed in 1927 by a 7th grader from Seward, in response to a territory-wide competition sponsored by the American Legion. With stiff competition of grades 7-12 throughout the Alaska Territory, Benny Benson chose the Big Dipper (symoblizing strength) the North Star (for what would eventually become the northernmost state) on a backdrop of blue (representing the beautiful Alaksa sky and the state flower--the forget-me-not).
Benny won $1,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C. for his creativity and Alaska flew it's flag for the first time in 1927, after not having a flag for roughly 60 yrs.
Alaska has more coastline than that of he Lower 48 states, combined!
There are NO SNAKES in Alaska.
(now now, lets keep politics out of this, okay?!)
State Symbols:
mineral -- gold
flower -- forget-me-not
gem -- jade
fish -- king salmon
tree -- sitka spruce
bird -- willow ptarmigan
sport - dog mushing
land mammal -- moose