Alaska is a U.S. state located in the northwest extremity of North America. TheCanadian administrative divisions of British Columbia and Yukon border the state to the east, its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchiand Beaufort seas–the southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest state in the United States by area. Its population was 738,432 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2015. Approximately half of Alaska’s residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska’s economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.
The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867, but it was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. in 1959.
The name „Alaska“ was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut, which means object to which the action of the sea is directed.
Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States and has the most easterly longitude in the United States. The capital city, Juneau is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system. With its myriad islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (54,720 km) of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Alaska also has more than three million lakes.
The climate of Anchorage and south central Alaska is mild by Alaskan standards due to the region’s proximity to the seacoast. The climate of Western Alaska is determined in large part by the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. It is a subarctic oceanic climate in the southwest and a continental subarctic climate farther north. The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks. The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s °F (the low-to-mid 30s °C), while in the winter, the temperature can fall below −60 °F (−51 °C). The climate in the extreme north of Alaska is Arctic with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers.
The main tourist attractions in Alaska are Denali National Park (one of the largest parks in United States and the habitat of grizzlies, wolves, reindeers, moose and other animals), Tracy Arm Fjord (its located south of Juno and it is a popular destination for cruisers and other maritime tours), Aurora Borealis (which emerge from September to mid-April and are the most beautiful in the field of Fairbanks),Alaska Native Heritage Center, Klondike Gold Rush National park, but also many others.