Alaska Vacation Home: Alaska Facts

Alaska Facts

Whether you're getting ready to come to Alaska or if you are just looking for Alaska facts to do a school report, I hope that you find these Alaska facts helpful and informative.

We Alaskans are very proud of these Alaska facts! What you read below is just a general list. More information will be added constantly.

When I first moved to Alaska, this type of information excited me. I was quick to share it with family members who had never been to Alaska. The ones that got my attention the most were the ones about the coastline and Alaska having over three million lakes. Wow!

Geography

Alaska is larger than the next four largest states combined

Alaska contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in The United States

Alaska is only 50 miles from Russia.

The Malaspina Glacier near Yakutat is larger than the state of Rhode Island

Kodiak Island is the 2nd largest island in the United States

Alaska is 586,400 square miles...very big!

We are 2 times the size of Texas!!

Alaska has 29 volcanoes

Alaska is 1,400 miles North to South and 2,700 miles East to West

Alaska has 33,000 miles of coastline...more than the rest of the lower 48 combined (This includes island shores)

Alaska is the only state to have coastlines on three different seas... Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea

There are more than three million lakes in Alaska

Lake Iliamna is Alaska's largest lake with 1000 square miles of surface area

The Yukon River flows 1400 miles through central Alaska and into the Bering Sea

Alaska has an estimated 100,000 glaciers which cover almost five percent of the state....More than in the rest of the inhabited world

Weather Related Records for Alaska

Record high temperature: 100 degrees Farenheit in Fort Yukon

Record low temperature: -80 degrees Farenheit at Prospect Creek in the Brooks Range

Most snow in 24hrs: 62 inches

Most snow in one year: 974 inches (Thompson Alaska, near Valdez

Animals...Everything in Grown BIG in Alaska!!

A funny story. I remember telling/bragging to my mom, who lives in Oregon, that one of the reasons that Alaska is so great is that Alaska was a place where I could walk freely in the forest and not worry about things, like snakes and ticks, getting me....Alaska has neither.

My responded "Yes, nothing will get you, except maybe hmmmm.....a GRIZZLY BEAR!"

I wasn't even thinking about bear, when I told her that!. It was a pretty funny exchange, between the two of us.

Kodiak Bear: 1,400 pounds and up to 11 feet tall

Polar Bear: 1400 pounds and up to 11 feet tall

Grizzly Bear(brown Bear): 800 pounds and 9 feet tall

Moose: 1350 pounds and 6 feet high to shoulder...antlers span to 72 inches

Also, don't forget the BIG whales

The largest king salmon caught by rod and reel weighed over 100 pounds

Halibut live on the bottom of the ocean floor and can weigh over 400 pounds

Farmers in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley (45 minutes north of Anchorage) produce giant cabbage weighing close to 100 pounds

The People

One half of Alaska's population lives in the Anchorage area

It is estimated Alaska has six times as many pilots per capita and 16 times as many aircraft per capita as the rest of the nation

The fastest growing region in Alaska is the Matanuska-Susitna Valley...40 miles north of Anchorage. Referred to as "The Valley" by local Alaskans

Parks and National Forests

The nations two largest forests are located in Alaska. The Tongasss in Southeast includes 16.8 million acres, and Chugach in Southcentral has 4.8 million acres