Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for 2 cents an acre. Alaska was admitted to the Union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959. This state is one-fifth the size of the rest of the United States. Alaska's 378,242,560 acres are three times that of France. Alaska is the most sparsely populated state in the Union, with about 1.3 square miles (3.4 km) for every person. The total population is approximately 606,000.
Alaska is bounded on the north by the Artic Ocean and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. To the east is the land mass of northern Canada and to the west the Bering Sea separates Alaska from Siberia, Russia by 55 miles. Two extensive mountain systems span the Alaskan mainland, and 17 of the 20 highest mountains in the United States are in the 49th state. It has 3 million lakes, 5,000 glaciers and 29 volcanoes. The regional and climate variations in this state are great. The maritine climate of the Aleutian Islands, which stretch a thousand miles across the North Pacific, is dramatically different than the bitter cold winters and hot summers of the continental climate of Alaska's interior.
There are 226 tribes in Alaska, with 7 major Native groups: Tsimpshian; Tlingit; Haida; Athabaskan; Inupiaq; Yup'ik and Aleut.
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Web Page Reviewed: on 9/98