Alaska Fun Facts – the Cold, Hard Facts that Every Visitor to Alaska Must Know
Many visitors flock to Alaska without having pondered over Alaska’s rich history and heritage. As a result, they fail to cherish some of the unique moments, which they behold. Obviously, you do not want to be one of them. Hence, for the curious Alaskan visitor, I’ve compiled a list of Alaskan fun facts, which would be handy for your next trip to Alaska.
1. When buying native Alaskan art, please make sure you buy the authentic one. The silver hand logo identifies the work as the authentic work of an Alaskan Native Artisan.
2. Aurora Borealis [northern lights] can be seen an average of 243 days a year in FairBanks. The northern lights are produced by charged electrons and protons striking the earth’s upper atmosphere. The electrons and protons are released through sunspot activity on the sun and emanate into space. A few drift the one-to-two day course to earth, where they are pulled to the most northern and southern latitudes by the planet’s magnetic forces.
3. “Outside” means anywhere but Alaska and includes the lower 48 states.
4. Barrow has no sunset for about 84 days [May-August] as the sun circles above the horizon.
5. The Muldrow Glacier at 32 miles is the longest glacier on the north side of the Alaska Range in the Denali National Park and Preserve.
6. Interior Alaska is known for it’s many natural geothermal hot springs
7. The “Slope” – also known as the “North Slope” – is the gently sloping tundra around Prudhoe Bay.
8. The trans-Alaska pipeline was completed in 1977. It cost 48 billion to build, roughly $1 billion per 100 miles. It stretches from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. The pipeline crosses three mountain ranges – The Brooks Range, Alaska Range and the Chugach Range.
9. The purchase of Alaska from Russia was laughingly referred as “Seward’s Folly”.Named after William Henry Seward, Secretary of State under Andrew Johnson, who pushed for the U.S to purchase Alaska.
10. The word “Denali” means the “The Great One”.
11. Juneau, the capital of Alaska, has no road access to the rest of the state!
12. Alaska contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the U.S.
13. Alaska is less than 3 miles from Russia.
14. Kodiak Island is the 2nd largest island in the U.S.
15. Alaska is the only state to have coastlines on three different seas – The Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea.
16. More than 1/2 of the world’s active glaciers are in Alaska.
17. The word permafrost evolved as a contraction of the words “permanent frost”, referring to ground that stays frozen for two years or longer. The northern third of Alaska is covered with permafrost.
18. “Akutak” is the Yup’ik word for Alaska native [Eskimo] ice cream – a combination of whipped berried, seal oil and snow.
19. Cheechako means tenderfoot or greenhorn and refers to those with less than one year of Alaskan residence. A Sourdough is a long time Alaskan resident.
20. The Yukon river is the longest river in Alaska, the fifth largest river in North America and the third largest in the U.S.
