Welcome to Content Bash’s 50 Nifty States series! Today we’ll be talking about Alaska, the second entry after Alabama on the alphabetical list. We’ve also talked about Delaware and Hawaii and Illinois and Massachusetts and Kentucky and Maine and Indiana, but those are posts for another time. The state of Alaska is so big that if it were its own country, it would be the 16th largest country in the world. It’s also so freaking huge that we were able to come up with like several dozen facts about the Frontier State. Read on!

What is Alaska Known For?

1. The Last Frontier! We hear a lot about the wild and untamed wilderness Alaska. The mysterious bold snowy landscapes of the frozen North is synonymous with adventurous spirits, from Jack London to Christopher McCandless. While the rest of the country — if not the world — deals with a constant and overwhelming onslaught of information presented on screens that we’re always plugged into, Alaska has miles and miles of pure scenery that has never been touched by modern civilization. It’s largely unexplored, presenting plenty of opportunities for future Lewises and Clarks.

2. The climate! Alaska is very cold, much colder than most people in the rest of the country are probably used to. While it has been known to be 100 °F in some parts of Alaska during the summer, the winters can be very brutal, with temperatures falling as low as –50 °F. It can be even colder the farther north you go. The northernmost town in Alaska is Utqiaġvik, which is actually north of the Arctic Circle, about 1,300 miles away from the North Pole. The average low temperature in July is only 36 °F — and that’s with the sun shining 24 hours a day!

3. Not being part of the contiguous United States! Alaska is in a seemingly far-off corner of North America away from the rest of the country, while Hawaii is literally on an island miles away in the Pacific Ocean, so neither state are included when we talk about the “lower 48 states.” Even though Alaska shares a continent with 49 other states, it generally isn’t really considered part of the “continental United States” in the colloquial sense, either.

4. Oil! In 1989, those fuckers from Exxon put an alcoholic skipper behind the wheel of the Exxon Valdez and spilled almost 11 million gallons of oil in Price William Sound, Alaska. This obviously had a devastating impact on the local environment, and Exxon dragged ass over the cleaning up their mess while 11,000 Alaskans pitched in and tried to do what the company bitched about having to do. Meanwhile thousands and thousands of animals died over a thousand miles of coastline. A jury eventually ordered Exxon to pay about $5 billion in damages, but the company appealed their way down to a much smaller sum. At one point, those big oil motherfuckers had the audacity to file claims against the Coast Guard for giving licenses to the crew of the Exxon Valdez. Jerks! This was over 30 years ago and it’s still fucking infuriating. Goddammit.

What the official state symbols of Alaska?

5. The state motto of Alaska is “North to the Future.” They came up with that in 1967. Clever, huh?

6. Alaska’s nicknames include “The Last Frontier” and “Land of the Midnight Sun.” The midnight sun bit refers to how the sun is out the entire 24 hours a day during some parts of the year.

7. Alaska’s flag was designed by a 13-year-old. Benny Benson was barely a teenager when he won a contest in 1927 to design the flag for the Territory of Alaska, more than 30 years before it joined the United States. Way to go, Benny!

8. The official state flower of Alaska is the Forget-me-not. What’s interesting is that it’s been the official flower of Alaska since 1917 — long before Alaska was even a state. Here is a picture of some forget-me-nots in a meadow!

9. The state bird is the willow ptarmigan, declared as such in 1955. It’s a ground-dwelling bird that thrives in the tundras of Alaska.

10. Made official in 2010, the Alaskan malamute is the official dog breed of the state of Alaska. Their thick coats along with their strength and endurance make them ideal sled dogs in the Arctic. Here is a picture of a good boy Alaskan malamute!

11. The four-spot skimmer dragonfly is the official insect of Alaska. This has been the case since 1995, and many of our readers are too young to know a world where Alaska did not have an official state insect.

12. The official Alaska state song is “Alaska’s Flag,” which was written by Alaska Department of Education employee Marie Drake, with music by Elinor Dusenbury, and adopted in 1955.

13. The official state tree of Alaska is the Sitka spruce, a decision that was made in 1962.

14. The moose is Alaska’s state animal, and it was made official in 1998. Weighing up to 1,600 pounds and standing up to seven feet tall, the Alaskan moose is the largest member of the deer family.

15. Dog mushing has been the official sport of Alaska since 1972, and it used to be the primary mode of transportation. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race takes place every March from Anchorage to Nome, covering 938 miles.

16. The woolly mammoth was made the official fossil of Alaska in 1986. The the last of the Pleistocene mammoth land mammals went extinct around 5,000 years ago, and some of the last woolly mammoths to ever existed lived on St. Paul Island, Alaska. Frozen specimens have also been found in Alaska.

Fun, Weird & Cool Facts About Alaska

17. Believe it or not, residents actually get paid to live in Alaska. Every citizen gets about $2,000 a year, courtesy of the Permanent Fund Dividend Division, part of the Alaska Department of Revenue. The program was created in 1982, and the money is courtesy of the state’s vast oil wealth. There’s really no catch, either. You just have to live in Alaska for at least 180 days a year and not have been convicted of a crime in the last year.

18. The Aurora Borealis — also known as the Northern Lights — can be seen in Alaska for more than half the year. The views are much better in the winter than they are in the summer, so try your luck sometime between September and April.

19. Baseball fans would find it interesting to know about the Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, Alaska that takes place at Growden Memorial Park every summer solstice. Game time is about 10:30 at night and last until 3 in the morning — but the sun is still out the entire time and no artificial light is used. It’s been an annual event for the Alaska Goldpanners since 1906, and the list of past participants includes Hall of Fame stars Dave Winfield and Tom Seaver.

20. The legend of Bob Ross was born in Alaska, where he served as a first sergeant at the Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska. Bob Ross took an art class at the U.S.O. club in Anchorage, Alaska where his interest in painting coincided with his exposure to the beauty of the mountains in the snowy Alaskan wilderness — and the foundation for an icon was set.

21. The Call of the Wild was inspired by Jack London’s time in Dyea, Alaska on his way to the Klondike Gold Rush. It was in Alaska where Jack London came face-to-face with the unforgivingness of the wild frontier and came up with the story of a dog sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska.

22. Though the growing season in Alaska is pretty short, the long summer days that get up to 19 hours of sunshine can contribute to comically huge vegetables. Pumpkins have been known to grow over 1,700 pounds, while cabbage heads routinely reach over 100 pounds. Imagine seeing 35-pound broccoli! That happens in Alaska.  

23. Even though the state capital of Juneau is the largest city in the United States, you can’t drive to any other town from there. There are no roads that connect it to the rest of Alaska.

24. John Carpenter’s 1982 film The Thing, starring Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, and Keith David, was shot in Alaska. John Carpenter has lamented about the lack of access to beer during production.

25. The population of Alaska (about 730,000 people at last count) is less than half the population of the island of Manhattan in New York City (around 1.6 million people).

26. For 37 years, the Moose Dropping Festival took place in Talkeetna — and it involved exactly what your imagination thinks. Games were played and bets were placed involving moose droppings, but the event eventually overwhelmed the small town and was discontinued. The last festival occurred in 2009.

27. Northern Exposure was a popular television show that was nominated for 39 Emmy Awards during its six seasons. It took place in the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska, even though it was shot in Roslyn, Washington.

28. You need to be 21 to get a driver’s license in Alaska, but you can be 16 to fly a plane.

29. Almost 20 years after the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, cowboy outlaw Wyatt Earp set up a literal shop in Nome, Alaska around 1899. The saloon and brothel was the first two-story building in town, and it was a rousing success despite being located in a town where the river was an open sewer and shelter were basically wooden shacks.

30. The largest and busiest seaplane base in the world is located in Anchorage’s Lake Hood. It’s busiest in the summer, with over 800 take-offs and landings.

31. Life in the town of Utqiaġvik (formerly known as Barrow) would be interesting. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it’s the northernmost city in the United States and one of the northernmost communities in the whole world. This position on the globe means that your perception of night and day would probably be very skewed. When the sun comes up in May, it does not set for about 80 days. When the sun goes down in November, it doesn’t rise again for more than two months.

32. There are some weird and interesting laws in Alaska. For instance, it’s illegal to push a moose out of a moving airplane, or to whisper in someone else’s ear while moose hunting.

33. It’s also illegal to wake a sleeping bear to take its picture.

34. If you own a flamingo, they are not allowed in any Juneau, Alaska barbershop. Because it’s illegal!

Early History of Alaska Facts

35. It’s possible the very first Russian settlements in Alaska were founded in 1648 by this explorer named Semyon Dezhnyov.

36. The first known Europeans to visit Alaska were led by a Russian military commander Mikhail Spiridonovich Gvozdev in 1732.

37. In 1741, another explorer name Vitus Bering — for whom the Bering Strait and Bering Sea is named — led his own expedition on behalf of the Russian Navy and went back to Russia telling everybody about how great the sea otter pelts were in Alaska. That’s more or less when the fur trading started there.

38. Russian whalers and fur traders came to Kodiak Island in 1784 and established the first settlement in Alaska.

39. Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast suffered from smallpox outbreaks for over half a century, decimating their population and culture.

40. Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million. This is known as the Alaska Purchase and at just two cents an acre, it was a bargain by any standard. The transfer was made official on October 18, 1867, and this day is known as Alaska Day.

41. Alaska was admitted into the Union on January 3, 1959, as the 49th state.

42. The strongest earthquake recorded in North America happened in Alaska on March 27, 1964. The Good Friday earthquake lasted 4 minutes and 38 seconds with a magnitude of 9.2.

Alaska Topography & Geography

43. The capital of Alaska is Juneau and by area, it’s bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined

44. At 17 million acres, Tongass is the largest national forest in the United States. Wrangell-St. Elias, however, is the biggest national park in Alaska.

45. Alaska is the largest state in the United States and it’s not particularly close. It’s one-fifth of the entire United States and twice as big as Texas.

46. The four largest cities (by area) in the United States are all in Alaska: Sitka, Juneau, Wrangell, and Anchorage.

47. Russia and Alaska are pretty relatively close to each other — just 55 miles! The two places are separated by the Bering Strait, and you can actually see Russia from Alaska on a clear day if you venture to the top of a hill on Cape Prince of Wales and make out mainland Siberia.

48. Volcanoes that have had at least one eruption since 1760 are considered active, and Alaska has over 40 of them. There are only so many volcanoes in the United States, but Alaska has 80% of them.

49. Did you know that 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States are in Alaska? That’s 85%! The highest is Denali, which is 20,320 feet above sea level. Denali is perhaps more commonly known as Mount McKinley, until it was officially changed in 2015. 

50. Alaska has about 34,000 miles of coastline — more than the rest of the United States combined.

51. The Yukon River is the 3rd-longest river in the United States, after the Missouri River and the Mississippi River. From the Range Mountains of British Columbia to the Bering Sea, it flows 1,979 miles. 

52. The Alexander Archipelago is that collection of 1,100 islands doting the 300-mile coastline of southeastern part of Alaska near Canada. It is named for Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

53. Alaska does not have counties. Other than Louisiana (which has parishes), it is the only state without counties. There are, however, 16 boroughs, plus one unorganized borough that is made up of all the leftover land not part of any single borough. 

54. If you enjoy fishing, it would be easy to have a body of water all to yourself here. There are over three million lakes in Alaska, the largest being Lake Iliamna, located in the southwest in the Alaska Peninsula. There are also more than 3,000 rivers. Happy fishing!

55. There are about 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, covering 5% of the whole state. This fact is subject to change, though, what with climate change and all…

What are Places to Visit in Alaska?

56. Haines, Alaska is home to the Hammer Museum, featuring over 1,400 hammers of just about any type and use imaginable. Not surprisingly, it is the only museum in the entire world that is solely dedicated to hammers.

57. Ever been to a musk ox farm? The Musk Ox Farm is located in Palmer, Alaska, about an hour’s drive from Anchorage. What’s particularly interesting about the musk ox is that it’s a leftover from the Paleolithic Age, which means they once hung out with saber-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths. The nonprofit has a mission in looking after musk oxen and educating the public on the beautiful monumental beasts.

58. The Aurora Ice Museum in Fairbanks, Alaska is the largest year-round ice environment in the world. There are ice sculptures and ice chandeliers and whole rooms made out of ice, as well as plenty of other ice carvings in 25 °F rooms. It’s truly a sight to see.

59. The Anchorage Museum is dedicated to all things Alaska, including the art, history, culture, and ethnography of the peoples who inhabited the land. In addition to galleries and exhibitions documenting Alaska, it supports the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Center and has been an excellent steward of Alaskan culture and history.

60. What to see what it’d be like to get away from it all and live off the grid in the Alaskan wilderness? In 1968, this dude named Richard Poenneke — who had worked as a mechanic, carpenter, rancher, fisherman, and repairman — built a cabin with his own two hands in Lake and Peninsula, Alaska. Richard Poenneke lived there for over 30 years, documenting much of it on camera as well as paper. The remarkable care Poenneke took in building his cabin, cache, and outhouse has not gone unnoticed, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Click to buy Richard Poenneke’s One Man’s Wilderness!

Who are some Famous People from Alaska?

61. Popular singer/songwriter Jewel was born in Payson, Utah but raised near Homer, Alaska, which is known as the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.” The performer whose 1995 debut album Pieces of You went 12x platinum spend most of her childhood in the Alaskan wilderness, miles from the rest of civilization.

62. Yule Kilcher was a member of the Alaska state senate from 1963 to 1966 who helped write the Alaska state constitution. He’s not exactly a super-famous household name, but he is Jewel’s grandfather.

63. Ruthy Hebard, who plays for WNBA’s Chicago Sky and was 8th overall pick of the 2020 draft, first received basketball attention for her work at West Valley High School in Fairbanks, Alaska, where Ruthy was a 3x Gatorade State Player of the Year and 2x USA Today Alaska Player of the Year.

64. Kelsey Griffin is another highly-decorated WNBA player who played high school basketball in Alaska. Born in Eagle River, Alaska, she attended high school in Chugiak, Alaska before a college career that led to Kelsey Griffin being the 3rd overall pick of the 2010 WNBA draft.

65. Former NFL player Steve Smith — the Pro Bowl wide receiver who won a Super Bowl with the Giants — was born in Anchorage, Alaska.

66. A couple of NBA players were born in Alaska, including 2x All-Star Carlos Boozer, who grew up in Juneau, Alaska, and Mario Chalmers, the winner of the Most Outstanding Player award when his Kansas Jayhawks won the 2008 NCAA Championship, who was born in Anchorage, Alaska.

67. Dan Mintz is the comedian known for doing the voice of Tina Belcher on the hilarious and brilliant animated show Bob’s Burgers. He was born in Anchorage, Alaska.

68. Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils became the first Alaskan-born player in the history of the NHL when he made his debut in the 1999-2000 season. Scott Gomez won the Calder Memorial Trophy that year for being the best rookie in the league.

What Kind of Animals Live in Alaska?

69. Bears! All kinds of bears. Alaska has about 70% of all the brown bears in North America. They also have a ton of black bears, grizzly bears, and Kodiak bears. Polar bears can also be found in the wintertime.

70. Many different species of whales enjoy the icy waters of Alaska, including the humpback, beluga, orca, minke, bowhead, grey, blue whale, and right whale. Unfortunately, almost all of these whales are on the list of endangered series.

71. In addition to the above-mentioned whales, other endangered species found in Alaska include the short-tailed albatross, Steller’s sea lion, leatherback turtle, and Eskimo curlew. Otherwise, Alaska actually has one of the smallest lists of endangered species in the United States — that’s great for Alaskan wildlife.

72. Once nearing extinction, there are now approximately 30,000 bald eagles residing in Alaska, more than any other state.

73. About 80% of the world’s trumpeter swan lives in Alaska. Around 1933, less than 70 were known to exist but since then, its population has rehabilitated significantly, and it is now no longer considered threatened to extinct.

74. Bald eagles and trumpeter swans are just two of the kinds of bird species you’ll find in Alaska. The Alaskan Peninsula is also home to hundreds of other bird species, including many different kinds of owls, geese, ravens, falcons, and ducks. And the horned puffin!

75. Pescatarians will find a rich menu in Alaska. Among the many different kinds of fish you’ll find in Alaska include: salmon, halibut, trout, and pollock.

76. Sea mammals like otters, seals, and sea lions can also be found near the shores of Alaska.

77. You’ll also find plenty of land mammals not typically found in the lower United States, like moose, bison, and caribou. You’ll also find Dall sheep and mountain goats.

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