Facts for Kids

In the far north of Alaska you find the Arctic, where winters are long and very cold and summers are short and cool. Snow and ice cover much of the land for many months. Moving south and inland, the climate becomes more extreme: summers can be surprisingly warm, but winters get much colder.

Along the southern coast, the ocean makes the weather milder and wetter. Places like Juneau and Ketchikan get lots of rain and milder winters, while parts of western Alaska can be drier. Because Alaska is so large, the weather changes a lot from place to place.

The Aleutian Islands stretch like a long, curving string of islands off Alaska’s southwest coast. Some of these islands cross the line where east and west meet on maps, so Alaska is the westernmost and easternmost U.S. state at the same time. Alaska’s land area is huge—over 660,000 square miles—and its coastline is nearly 34,000 miles long, longer than all other U.S. states put together.

Alaska has many kinds of places: tall mountains, wide tundra, muddy marshes, and more than 400,000 lakes. Huge glaciers flow down from the mountains, and islands like the Diomede pair sit only a few miles from Russia across the Bering Strait.

Alaska sits at the far northwest corner of North America. It is not connected to the other U.S. states by land—Canada lies between Alaska and the “Lower 48.” Because of its long Pacific and Arctic coastlines, Alaska also touches the seas near Russia. People often notice how big Alaska is: it is the largest U.S. state and would be about the size of a medium country on the world map.

Long before Alaska became a U.S. state in 1959, Indigenous people lived there for thousands of years. In 1867 the United States bought Alaska from Russia. Today many of Alaska’s lands are parks, forests, and places for animals to live.

Alaska has lively events tied to its land and people, like the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the World Ice Art Championships. Small towns host fairs such as the Blueberry Festival and Sitka Whale Fest. In spring, the Stikine River sees a huge gathering of bald eagles—an amazing nature event people travel to see.

Alaska Native cultures are central to the state’s art and music. The Alaska Native Heritage Center shares stories and crafts from different Native groups, and foundations help artists sell work around the state. Music mixes Native traditions with folk sounds from Russia and Europe. You might hear pop stars from Alaska or local folk bands at festivals. The state song, Alaska's Flag, celebrates the place’s spirit.

Alaska’s money comes mostly from oil and gas. These fuel businesses and pay for many state services, so oil shapes a lot of the economy. Besides fuel, Alaska sells lots of seafood—salmon, cod, pollock, and crab are famous—and it mines gold, zinc, and coal. Timber and wood products also help local towns. Farming is small and usually grows food for nearby communities, like vegetables, dairy, and some animals.

Many people work for government agencies, in natural resource jobs, in shipping and transportation, or at military bases. Tourism is growing, too, because visitors come for wildlife and glaciers. Federal help also keeps taxes lower for residents, which affects how the state pays for things.

Schools in Alaska are run by the Alaska Department of Education, which supports many district schools and some boarding schools, like Mt. Edgecumbe High School. For college, there are several universities such as the University of Alaska Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Southeast, plus places like Alaska Pacific University. Trade and technical training come from schools like AVTEC, where students learn skills such as welding, nursing, mechanics, and information technology.

Alaska faces a challenge: many students leave for college and do not return, which affects small towns. Programs like the Alaska Scholars offer partial scholarships to top graduates to encourage staying. Also, rules about how many students a rural school needs for funding can shape life in small communities.

About 740,000 people live in Alaska, which makes it one of the least crowded states. There are only about 1 or 2 people for every square mile, so towns and villages can be far apart. Many people live in cities or along the coast, but many villages are small and close to hunting, fishing, or river parts.

Indigenous people make up a large part of Alaska’s population—around 15%—and their cultures and languages are an important part of life. The rest of the people come from many backgrounds, including families whose ancestors came from places like the Philippines, Canada, Mexico, and Asian countries.

Roads in Alaska connect many towns, but much of the state is hard to reach by car. The Alaska Highway links to Canada and some central towns, but places like Juneau, the capital, have no road connection to the rest of the continent, so people reach them by plane or boat. Large parts of western Alaska have no roads at all and rely on air travel.

Coastal travel uses ferries and boats, and the Alaska Marine Highway serves many coastal communities. Small planes and air taxis are common ways to move people and goods. One interesting route is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, a 2.5-mile combined road-and-rail tunnel that links a town to a port—like a secret passage through a mountain.