Welcome!

With adventures aplenty, numerous outdoor activities, exciting cities, and a vast landscape with a variety of rivers, parks, and natural resources, Alaska is not only a fun place to visit, it is a great place to call home.

The Alaska Flag Song

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue -
Alaska’s flag. May it mean to you:

The blues of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes, and flow’rs nearby,
The gold of the early Sourdough’s dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams,
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The “Bear,” the “Dipper,” and shining high
The great North Star with its steady light,
Over land and sea a beacon bright
Alaska’s flag to Alaskans dear
The simple flag of the last frontier.

In January 1927, the Alaska Department of the American Legion sponsored a contest for children in grades seven through twelve to design the flag that would represent the future State of Alaska. The winner of the contest was John “Benny” Bell Benson, a thirteen year-old Aleut student from Chignik living in an orphanage in Seward. The blue background of the flag represents the sky and the Forget-Me-Not flower. The eight stars of gold represent the Big Dipper and the North Star. Benny’s design was adopted by the Alaska Territorial Legislature on May 2, 1927. The state song was initially a poem written by Mari Drake in 1935 and was set to music by Elinor Dusenberry in 1938.

Alaska State Facts:

State Bird – Alaska Willow Ptarmigan
State Fish – Salmon
State Flower – Forget-Me-Not
State Tree – Sitka Spruce
State Song – Alaska’s Flag
State Motto – North to the Future
State Nickname – The Last Frontier

Alaska became the 49th state in the Union on January 3, 1959. Alaska, the largest state in the country, has a total land area of 586,400 square miles and accounts for one-fifth the landmass of the combined continental United States. Alaska also has one-half of the coast line of the United States.  The state is home to 17 of the top 20 peaks in North America including Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest mountain, which is 20,320 feet high and located in the Denali National Park.

Alaska's population was estimated at 626,932 following the 2000 Census.