Alaska became a state in January 1959 and is the 49th state.

The blanket toss is not only a game, but a system of sighting whales. The Eskimos used to choose the person with the best eyesight and toss him up in a blanket high enough to spot whales out at sea.

The word Cheechako, is a person new from the "Outside" (somewhere other than Alaska). It is derived from the Indian word chee meaning new or fresh, and chako meaning to come or approach.  A Sourdough has spent a winter or two in the state.

Eskimo ice cream is a native delicacy traditionally made from whipped berries, seal oil and snow. Sometimes shortening, raisins and sugar are added or substituted.

The igloo is an Alaskan dwelling usually made of driftwood, whalebone and sod.  It is the Canadian Eskimos, not the Alaskan, who built igloos from blocks of snow.

The name Alaska is derived from the Aleut word Alyeska, meaning great land.

Other than English, Alaskan languages include: Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Aleut, and several dialects of Athabascan and Eskimo.  Twenty Native languages are spoken in Alaska.  Interestingly, the Athabascan and Navajo languages have a similar linguistic base.  The Navajos live in New Mexico and Arizona.

Alaska has the longest day of the year in the U.S. No sunset for 82 days in summer. Alaska also has the longest night with no sunrise for 67 days in winter.

Alaska has two time zones and six climatic zones and has the eastern-most as well as the western-most point in the U.S.

Alaska has more coastline (33, 904 miles) than the rest of the U.S. combined.  It has the Eastern, Western, and Northern points of the United States (most Eastern because the Aleutian chain crosses the International Date Line).

Alaska sustains about 1000 earthquakes measuring 3.5 or higher on the Richter scale every year.  In 1964 an earthquake under Prince William Sound measured 9.2 on the Richter scale, killed 131 people, and released 10 million times more energy than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima Japan.

10% of the world's active volcanoes are located in Alaska.

The Japanese held two Alaska islands-Attu and Kiska-for nearly a year during World War II.

There are no penguins in Alaska (they live in Antarctica); however, Alaska has polar bears and Antarctica does not.

The Alaska flag (shown below) has a blue field for the sky and the forget-me-not, the state flower. The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly of the Union. The dipper is for the Great Bear, symbolizing strength.

For additional information see the Alaska State Local Facts.