Alaska ( , Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent. As of 2007, the population was 683,478 with approximately 50% residing along the Anchorage metropolitan areas.

The area that became Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire after Congress concluded its resources could be vitally important to the nation's future growth.Fact: date=September 2008 The United States completed the purchase on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at 2 cents per acre, about 5 cents per hectare. When adjusted for inflation, the total sum paid equates to approximately $360 million in 2008 dollars.The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912 and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Alaska" was already introduced in the Russian colonial time, when it was only used for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland", or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed." It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.

Geography

main: Geography of Alaska Alaska is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state, Hawaii being the other. Alaska has more coastline than all the other U.S. states combined. It is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on continental North America; about of Canada separate Alaska from Washington State. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States. It is technically part of the continental U.S., but is often not included in colloquial use; Alaska is not part of the contiguous U.S., often called "the Lower 48". Juneau, Alaska's capital city, though located on the mainland of the North American continent, is inaccessible by land—no roads connect Juneau to the rest of the North American highway system. Fact: date=September 2008

The state is bordered by the Yukon Territory and British Columbia, Canada, to the east, the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west and the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Fact: date=September 2008

Alaska is the largest state in the United States in land area at , more than twice as large as Texas, the next largest state. It is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries.Fact: date=September 2008

Alaska is larger than the combined area of the next three largest states: Texas, California, and Montana.

It is also larger than the combined area of the 23 smallest U.S. States and Districts: Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland, West Virginia, South Carolina, Maine, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, North CarolinaFact: date=September 2008

Also, compared with territory outside the United States, Alaska is larger than Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom combined.