Enjoy these interesting facts about Alaska.

• Only one city in Alaska has a larger population than the town of Framingham, Mass. (which has less than 70,000 people)
• About 5 percent of Alaska is covered by glaciers.
• There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes in Alaska.
• There are more than three million lakes in Alaska!
• An unnamed draftsman created the state seal in 1910. It consists of a rising sun shining on forests, lake, fishing and shipping boats, and agricultural and mining activities.
• The state motto is North to the Future.
• The jade is the official state gemstone.
• One half of Alaska's population lives in the Anchorage area.
• The term Alaska native refers to Alaska's original inhabitants including Aleut, Eskimo and Indian groups.
• The wild forget-me-not is the official state flower. The Territorial Legislature adopted it in 1917.
• The willow ptarmigan is the official state bird. The Territorial Legislature adopted it in 1955.
• The Sitka spruce is the official state tree. The Territorial Legislature adopted it in 1962.
• The native peoples of Alaska include Aleuts, Inupiat Eskimos, Yupik Eskimos, and the Athapaskan, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes.
• Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, covers 1,955 square miles (including the entire political municipal district). The state of Rhode Island covers 1,045 squre miles while Delaware also covers 1,955.
• More than half the world's active glaciers are in Alaska.
• Lake Iliamna is Alaska's largest lake with 1000 square miles of surface area.
• In 1926 13-year-old Bennie Benson from Cognac, Alaska designed the state flag.
• Alaska has been called America's Last Frontier.
• The Yukon River flows 1400 miles through central Alaska and into the Bering Sea. The river begins in Canada and is a total of 2300 miles long.
• If New York City had the same population density as Alaska, only 16 people would be living in Manhattan
• Alaska is larger than the next four largest states combined!
• Alaska contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States.
• Alaska is less than 3 miles from Russia! This is the distance between Big and Little Diomede Island.
• The Malaspina Glacier near Yakutat is larger than the state of Rhode Island!
• Kodiak Island is the 2nd largest island in the United States.
• Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined!
• Alaska is one-fifth the size of the "Lower 48," larger than the next three biggest states combined, more than twice the size of Texas and 488 times larger than Rhode Island.
• Alaska is as big as France, England, Italy and Spain combined
• There are more private airplane pilots per capita in Alaska than in any other state.
• Most of America's salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska.
• Dog mushing is the official state sport. The Alaska Legislature adopted it in 1972.
• Gold is the official state mineral. It was named the state mineral in 1968.
• The four-spot skimmer dragonfly is the official state insect.
• Every four years Alaskans elect a Governor and a Lieutenant Governor to four-year terms.

Alaska