Famous Places: ALASKA

Brown Bears of Alaska

 Alaska is the largest and state in the United States. Breathtakingly beautiful, it is spread over 570,374 square miles. Alaska shares its border with Canada in east, the Arctic Ocean in north and the pacific in west and south. The state got its name from the Aleut word alyeska which means great land. The state have incredible natural beauty of endless coastline, teeming wildlife, rivers, fjords, green temperate rain forests, majestic mountain peaks and glorious glaciers. The state is 4^th least populous and the least densely populated of the 50 US states.

1. Who sold Alaska to USA?

Ans: Russia.

2. On 3 January 1959, American President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49^th state of the USA although US had acquired Alaska on 30 March, 1867 for $ 7.2 million.

3. Name the region of the state which is home to over half of the state’s population?

Ans: The South-central region.

The Tsimshian people

4. Alaska’s mostly unpopulated areas of the Alaska Range and west of the Wrangell Mountains also fall within the definition of South-central.

5. Name the group of the indigenous people who came to Alaska from British Columbia in 1887.

Ans: The Tsimshian people.

6. US President Grover Cleveland granted the Tsimshians the permission to settle on Annette Island. They founded the town of Metlakatla.

7. Which national park was developed by the 1912 eruption of the Novarupta volcano?

Ans: Katmai National Park.

8. Major oil and gas reserves are found in the Alaska North Slope and Cook Inlet basins. Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope is the highest yielding oil field in the United States and on North America, typically producing about 400,000 barrels per day.

9. Which sporting event is annually held for the Eskimos of Alaska in every July?

Ans: World Eskimo- Indian Olympics.

10. Some of Alaska's popular annual events are the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome, World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, the Alaska Hummingbird Festival in Ketchikan, the Sitka Whale Fest, and the Stikine River Garnet Fest in Wrangell.

11. What is the nickname of Alaska?

Ans: The Last Frontier.

Mount McKinley

12. The motto of Alaska is “North to the Future”. “Forget me not” is the state flower of Alaska. The official state song of Alaska is "Alaska's Flag" which was adopted in 1955; it celebrates the flag of Alaska.

13. Name the tallest peak of the North America which is in Alaska?

Ans: Mount McKinley.

14. The highest recorded temperature in Alaska is 37.8 ºC in Fort Yukon on June 27, 1915 and the lowest recorded temperature is -62.2 ºC in Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971 (till this blog was published).

Nature Beauty

15. Name the earthquake which killed 133 people and several villages in 1964.

Ans: The Good Friday Earthquake.

16. The Battle of Attu was fought between United States and the Empire of Japan on Attu Island the coast of Alaska. The battle took place from 11 May to 30 May 1943.