Introduction

Location of Alaska

Alaska (/əˈlæskə/ (listen); Aleut: Alax̂sxax̂; Inupiaq: Alaasikaq; Alutiiq: Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: Alaskaq; Tlingit: Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., it borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon to the east and shares a maritime border with the Russian Federation's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug to the west, just across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas of the Arctic Ocean, while the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest.

Alaska is by far the largest U.S. state by area, comprising more total area than the next three largest states (Texas, California, and Montana) combined. It represents the seventh largest subnational division in the world. It is the third-least populous and the most sparsely populated state, but by far the continent's most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel, with a population of 736,081 as of 2020—more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. The state capital of Juneau is the second-largest city in the United States by area, comprising more territory than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware. The former capital of Alaska, Sitka, is the largest U.S. city by area.

What is now Alaska has been home to various indigenous peoples for thousands of years; it is widely believed that the region served as the entry point for the initial settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge. The Russian Empire was the first actively colonize the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America, which spanned most of the current state. The expense and difficulty of maintaining this distant possession prompted its sale to the U.S. in 1867 for US$7.2 million (equivalent to $140 million in 2021), or approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.

While it has one of the smallest state economies in the country, Alaska's per capita income is among the highest, owing to a diversified economy dominated by fishing, natural gas, and oil, all of which it has in abundance. United States armed forces bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy; more than half the state is federally owned public land, including a multitude of national forests, national parks, and wildlife refuges.

The indigenous population of Alaska is proportionally the highest of any U.S. state, at over 15 percent. Close to two dozen native languages are spoken, and Alaskan Natives exercise considerable influence in local and state politics. (Full article...)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Curtis Jack Glencross (born December 28, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). An undrafted player, he signed with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim as a free agent in 2004 and made his NHL debut with the team in 2007. He has also played in the NHL for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals.

Glencross was an effective goalscorer and active within the community during his time in Calgary, which led to the team naming him its recipient of the Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award in 2012. After splitting the 2014–15 season between Calgary and Washington, Glencross was unable to reach a contract deal with any NHL team (despite pre-season attempts with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche) and opted to retire as a player. During his playing career, Glencross was a spokesman for the Special Olympics. He has also participated with Rae Croteau Jr.'s chuckwagon racing team in the summer. (Full article...)

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Topics

v t e State of Alaska
Juneau (capital)
Topics	Index Geography Earthquakes Climate Wildlife History People Transportation Government Delegations Music
Society	Crime Demographics Economy Education Rural dentistry Politics Sports
Regions	The Bush Arctic Aleutian Islands Alaska Peninsula North Slope Southwest Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta Inside Passage Interior Kenai Peninsula Mat‑Su Valley Seward Peninsula Southcentral Southeast Tanana Valley
Largest cities pop. over 25,000	Anchorage Fairbanks Juneau
Smaller cities pop. over 2,000	Bethel Cordova Dillingham Homer Kenai Ketchikan Kodiak Kotzebue Nome North Pole Palmer Petersburg Seward Sitka Soldotna Unalaska Valdez Wasilla Wrangell Utqiaġvik
Boroughs	Aleutians East Anchorage Bristol Bay Denali Fairbanks North Star Haines Juneau Kenai Peninsula Ketchikan Gateway Kodiak Island Lake and Peninsula Matanuska‑Susitna North Slope Northwest Arctic Petersburg Sitka Skagway Wrangell Yakutat Unorganized
Native Corporations	Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Bering Straits Native Corporation NANA Regional Corporation Calista Corporation Doyon, Limited Cook Inlet Region, Inc. Bristol Bay Native Corporation The Aleut Corporation Chugach Alaska Corporation Sealaska Corporation Koniag, Incorporated Ahtna, Incorporated The 13th Regional Corporation
Census Areas	Aleutians West Bethel Dillingham Hoonah–Angoon Kusilvak Nome Prince of Wales–Hyder Southeast Fairbanks Valdez–Cordova Yukon–Koyukuk

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Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres (9,446 sq mi; 24,464 km²) which is larger than the state of New Hampshire. On December 2, 1980, 2,146,580-acre (3,354 sq mi; 8,687 km²) Denali Wilderness was established within the park. Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier. Wintertime activities include dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. The park received 594,660 recreational visitors in 2018. (Full article...)

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The aurora borealis as viewed in Interior Alaska.
Photo credit: Joshua Strang (United States Air Force)

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General images

The following are images from various Alaska-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Mount Sanford in the Wrangell Mountains (from Geography of Alaska)
Image 2Propaganda poster, World War II, depicting Alaska as a death trap for Japan. (from History of Alaska)
Image 3Calving glacier (from Geography of Alaska)
Image 4Aleksandr Baranov, "Lord of Alaska" (from History of Alaska)
Image 5The check that paid for Alaska (from History of Alaska)
Image 6Map of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. (from History of Alaska)
Image 7Near Little Port Walter in Southeast Alaska (from Geography of Alaska)
Image 8Earthquake damage in Anchorage (from History of Alaska)
Image 9Alaska map of Köppen climate classification. (from Geography of Alaska)
Image 10Kenai River on the Kenai Peninsula (from Geography of Alaska)
Image 11Alaska in 1895 (Rand McNally). The boundary of southeastern Alaska shown is that claimed by the United States prior to the conclusion of the Alaska boundary dispute. (from History of Alaska)
Image 12Spanish contact in British Columbia and Alaska (from History of Alaska)
Image 13An Inupiaq woman, Nome, Alaska, c. 1907. (from History of Alaska)
Image 141860 map of Russian America. (from History of Alaska)
Image 15Nushagak River in Southwest Alaska (from Geography of Alaska)
Image 16Buildings burning after the first Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor, June 3, 1942. (from History of Alaska)
Image 17Oil pooled on rocks on the shore of Prince William Sound after the oil spill. (from History of Alaska)
Image 18St. Michael's Cathedral in Sitka. The original structure, built in 1848, burned down in a fire on January 2, 1966. The cathedral was rebuilt from plans of the original structure and contains artifacts rescued from the fire. (from History of Alaska)
Image 19Matanuska glacier (from Geography of Alaska)
Image 20Miners and prospectors climb the Chilkoot Trail during the Klondike Gold Rush. (from History of Alaska)
Image 21Alaska's area compared to the 48 contiguous states (from Geography of Alaska)

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Recognized content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. ((WikiProject Alaska))) or categorized correctly. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

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Featured pictures

2010-kodiak-bear-1
Alaska Purchase (hi-res)
Alaska wild berries
Heinrich Berann NPS Panorama of Denali without labels
Malaspina-panorama-no-type
MtRedoubtedit1
Parque estatal Chugach, Alaska, Estados Unidos, 2017-08-22, DD 94
Russian-American Co - 1 Ruble (7559)
Whales Bubble Net Feeding-edit1
Yukon Delta

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Grizzly Denali edit

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Related WikiProjects


Alaska	U.S. States
Alaska Project Divisions
People Physical geography History Economy	Communities Government Transportation Culture Alaska Natives

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State facts

Nicknames: The Last Frontier, Land of the Midnight Sun, Land of the Noonday Moon, Seward's Folly
Capital: Juneau
Governor: Michael J. Dunleavy (R)
Lieutenant Governor Kevin Meyer (R)
Attorney General: Kevin G. Clarkson

Senators: Dan Sullivan (R), Lisa Murkowski (R)
Representatives: Don Young (R)

Total area: 663,268 mi²
- Land: 571,936 mi²
- Water: 91,332 mi²
Highest elevation: 20,310 ft (Denali)

Population 741,894 (2016 est)
Admission to the Union: January 3, 1959 (49^th)

State symbols:

Dog: Alaskan Malamute
Bird: Willow Ptarmigan
Insect: Four-spot Skimmer Dragonfly
Colors: None
Fish: King Salmon
Flower: Alpine Forget-me-not
Gem: Jade
Sport: Dog Mushing
Songs: Alaska's Flag

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Tasks

Open tasks for Wikipedia:WikiProject Alaska.
Edit or discuss these tasks.

Shortcuts: Recent changes | Categories | History

Urgent: An editor in Alaska able/willing to actively work with the Wikipedia Ambassador Program to provide direction/oversight for any articles within the project which are being improved upon under the program.
To Rate: Unassessed Alaska articles, Unknown-importance Alaska articles
To Nominate at WP:FAC:
To Improve to Featured standard: Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, Juneau, Alaska, History of Alaska
Collaboration:
To Expand: Category:Alaska stubs, Alaskeros, Sheldon Jackson, Scouting in Alaska
- Governor articles: Steve Cowper, Bill Sheffield, Keith Harvey Miller, Waino Edward Hendrickson
To Clean up: Diomede Islands
To Merge:
To Destub: See: Category:Alaska stubs
To Deorphan:
To Categorize:
To Create: Articles on incoming (2019) legislators (and updating outgoing ones), Articles for new 2010 Census CDPs: Badger, Alaska, Chena Ridge, Alaska, Eureka Roadhouse, Alaska, Farmers Loop, Alaska, Goldstream, Alaska, Loring, Alaska, Point Possession, Alaska, South Van Horn, Alaska, Steele Creek, Alaska, Whitestone, Alaska
Lists to de-redlink: List of mayors of Anchorage DoneDavid chamberlain (talk) 20:49, 2 February 2014 (UTC)
Lists to complete: List of mayors of Fairbanks, Alaska
Wanted Pics/Graphics:
Wanted New Pics: See Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Alaska
Common mistakes to avoid (and correct):
- Knik, Alaska, the ghost town, and Knik River, Alaska, the CDP, are not the same place. In fact, they are approximately an hour's drive away from each other.
- Despite its name of "City and Borough of Yakutat," this entity is a borough, not a consolidated city-borough.

See the talk page (or archives of same) of WP:ALASKA, or of the articles in question, for more information.

Maintain: add ((WikiProject Alaska)) to the talk pages of Alaska-related articles and add the articles to Wikipedia:WikiProject Alaska/Recent changes (if not done already by a bot) so related changes link works.
To expand: Rie Muñoz, Rosita Worl

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