Alaska

How is the land laid out?

In the north is a plain going from mountains to the Arctic Ocean: the North Slope. South of it is the Brooks Range of the Rocky Mountains. South of it are the lowlands of the Yukon River.¹ Then come the Kuskokwin Mountains, which are flanked southward by a river with almost the same name, followed by the Alaska Range, which is topped by Mount McKinley,² rising over 6,000 meters. A small river separates these from the Wrangell Mountains: Mount Blackburn tops 5,000 meters. These coastal mountains are extended southwest in the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands, and southeast along the Alaska-British Columbia border. Besides the Aleutians, Alaska includes several other large islands; the biggest are Kodiak in the Gulf of Alaska, and Saint Lawrence and Nunivak in the Bering Sea.

UNESCO honors one local area as a natural World Heritage Site: Kluane/Wrangell-Saint Elias/ Glacier Bay/ Tatshenshini-Alsek (partly in Alaska).

Who lives there?

In most of Alaska, English is the first language. In west central Alaska it is dialects of Yupik. In all parts, most everyone is Christian. The largest city is the state capital, Anchorage, with about a quarter milion people.

Within the Area

Aleutians East Borough, Aleutians West Census Area, Anchorage Borough, Bethel Census Area, Bristol Bay Borough, Denali Borough, Dillingham Census Area, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Haines Borough, Juneau Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Kodiak Island Borough, Lake and Peninsula Borough, Mantanuska-Susitna Borough, North Slope Borough, Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area, Sitka Borough, Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, Yakutat Borough and Yukon-Kiyukuk Census Area

Northwest Arctic Borough, Nome Census Area and Wade Hampton Census Area

Footnotes

1. North America's third longest river.
2. Also called Mount Denali.