AK · The Last Frontier · West · admitted 1959 (#49)
Alaska map
Alaska highlighted on the US map, with its capital Juneau and largest city Anchorage. It is the largest state by far — more than twice the size of Texas — and the only one with no land border to another state.
- Capital
- Juneau
- Largest city
- Anchorage
- Population (2020)
- 733,391
- Area
- 665,384 sq mi
- Boroughs & census areas
- 30
- Time zone
- Alaska
- Region
- West · Pacific
- Statehood
- January 3, 1959
Where Alaska is
Alaska occupies the northwestern corner of North America, separated from the contiguous states by about 500 miles of Canadian territory. The mainland spans about 1,420 miles north to south and, with the Aleutian Islands, about 2,400 miles east to west. Its only land border is with Canada: the Yukon to the east along the 141st meridian, and British Columbia along the mountainous Panhandle in the southeast. Russia lies 55 miles across the Bering Strait; the Diomede Islands in the strait are split between the two countries. Anchorage sits on Cook Inlet in the south-central part of the state, Fairbanks in the interior, and Juneau in the Panhandle, reachable only by air or sea.
Major cities
| City | Region of state | Population (2020) |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | Southcentral | 291,247 |
| Fairbanks | Interior | 32,515 |
| Juneau (capital) | Southeast (Panhandle) | 32,255 |
| Sitka | Southeast (Panhandle) | 8,458 |
| Ketchikan | Southeast (Panhandle) | 8,192 |
Geography
- Denali — 20,310 feet, the highest point in North America, in the Alaska Range about 130 miles north of Anchorage. See state high points.
- Yukon River — enters from Canada and crosses the whole interior to the Bering Sea, about 1,980 miles long in total, the third-longest river in the US.
- Brooks Range — the northern mountain wall above the Arctic Circle, separating the interior from the North Slope. The Rocky Mountain system ends here.
- Coastline — about 6,640 miles of general coastline, more than all other states combined, on the Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and Pacific.
- Glaciers and volcanoes — about 100,000 glaciers, and the Aleutian arc holds most of the active volcanoes in the US.
- Time zones — almost the whole state is on Alaska time; the Aleutian Islands west of 169°30′W use Hawaii–Aleutian time.
Borders
The border with Canada was fixed by the 1825 Anglo-Russian treaty and the 1903 Alaska Boundary Tribunal. From the Arctic coast it runs due south along the 141st meridian for about 650 miles to Mount St. Elias. From there the Panhandle boundary follows the crest of the coastal mountains south-east to the Portland Canal, keeping a strip of mainland and the Alexander Archipelago on the US side. The maritime boundary with Russia runs through the Bering Strait. Alaska is divided into 19 organized boroughs and an Unorganized Borough that the Census splits into census areas, giving 30 county-equivalents.
Regions of Alaska
Southeast (the Panhandle: Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan), Southcentral (Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, the Matanuska-Susitna valley), the Interior (Fairbanks, Denali), Southwest (Bristol Bay, Kodiak, the Alaska Peninsula), the Aleutian Islands, Western Alaska (Nome, the Yukon–Kuskokwim delta) and the Arctic or North Slope (Utqiaġvik, Prudhoe Bay). Only Southcentral and the Interior are joined by road.
Related maps
- Alaska county map — 19 boroughs and 11 census areas.
- Blank Alaska map — outline for printing.
- Printable Alaska map.
- Juneau — the only state capital with no road connection to the rest of the state.
- Other Pacific states: Washington, Hawaii.
- Region: West · Pacific.
- Time zones: Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian.
- Geography: Highest points, National parks, Coastlines.