Fun and 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 on March 30, 1867.

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 USD 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 USD 7.2 million.

» The Alaska land deal was closed at 2 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.

» The other states of USA are known as the Lower 48 in Alaska.

» The coastline of this landmass is more than those flaunted by all the other U.S. states combined.

» Its capital is Juneau, situated on the North American mainland.

» Southwest Alaska is coastal and sparsely populated. It remains unconnected by a road system.

» South Central Alaska contains most of the state's population, earning the US maximum revenue out of petroleum plants, transportation, and the tourism industry.

» It is home to more than 3 million lakes. Its landmass comprises 188,320 square miles of marshlands, 16,000 square miles of glacier, and 1,200 square miles of tidal zone.

» The state of Alaska is technically the western-most and eastern-most US state, since it extends into the eastern hemisphere. It is also the northern-most US state.

» Alaska has a land area of 586,412 square miles, identified by geologists as a part of Wrangellia, a large region currently part of active continent building.

» It 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.

» The Rat Islands in the Western Aleutians are considered the loneliest place in the United States.

» It has over 100,000 glaciers, becoming home to half of the world's glaciers.

» The name 'Alaska' is Russian colonial (Aleut) in origin and means 'the mainland towards which the action of the sea is directed'.

» Eskimo, American Indian, and Aleut inhabitants own one-ninth of Alaskan real estate.

» 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.

These facts are definitely fascinating and must have taken you to Alaska.