Stuff u should know about the 49th state...

Alaska was not even a tent city till after 1910 !

Alaska was admitted to statehood on Jan 3, 1959.

State Capital: Juneau (located in southeast panhandle)

Nicknames: Great Land and The Last Frontier

Motto: North to the Future

State bird: Willow Ptarmigan

State fish: King Salmon

State flower: Forget-me-not

State gem: Jade

State tree: Sitka Spruce

State insect: Dragonfly (it eats mosquitos!)

Alaska has more than 3 milliion lakes!

It is 1/5th the size of the entire United States.

It comprises 586,412 square miles or approximately 365,000,000 acres.

There is 47,300 miles of coast line, and more than 3,000 rivers.

From it's East to West borders it is over 2,400 miles,

and from North to South it is over 1,420 miles.

It's Yukon River is the 3rd largest river in the United States.

Alaska's Lake Iliamna, at 1,150 square miles, is the largest fresh water lake.

Just north of Haines, on the Chilkat River about 4,000 bald eagles gather in the fall

and winter months for the late salmon runs which makes it the

largest concentration of Bald Eagles in the world.

Wood-Tikchik State Park with 2.5 million acres of wilderness is the largest State Park in the Nation.

The population of Alaska translates into approximately one square mile per person.

The highest temperature recorded was 100 degrees in 1915 recorded at Ft. Yukon.

The lowest temperature was recorded at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971 at -80 degrees.

Barrow (one of Alaska's most northern cities) has sunlight from May 10 to August 2--84 continuous days,

but then it never sees the sun from November 18 to January 24--67 days.

The McNeil River area Sanctuary has the world's largest concentration of brown bears in their natural habitat.

Some villages in Alaska are "dry" and it is against the law to transport liquor into them,

even for personal consumption. (tough huh?)

Alaska is home to the King Salmon (located on the Kenai Peninsula) and the record weight of: 97 lb 4 oz fish taken from

the Kenai River in Alaska on May 17, 1985 by Les Anderson.

Alaska is also home to the Pacific Halibat with a IGFA Record weight of 368 lb fish taken out of

Gustavus, Alaska on July 5, 1991 by Celia H. Dueitt.

most snowfall in a season: 974.5 inches at Thompson Pass in 1952-53.