Alaska

The state I chose to study is Alaska, also known as the last frontier. It is the largest state in the U.S. Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. The capitol of Alaska is Juneau. Alaska borders Canada, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Beaufort Sea, the Bearing Sea and the Chukchi Sea. Anchorage and Fairbanks are major cities in Alaska. The state bird for Alaska is the willow ptarmigan. The state fish is the king salmon. Alaska’s state mammal is the moose. The state flower is the forget-me-not flower, and the state sport for Alaska is mushing. One famous Alaskan is Lance Mackey. He has won the Iditarod four times in a row, and he is a three-time Yukon quest winner. Mackey was born in Chignik, Alaska. Another famous person is Joe Juneau. He was the co-founder of the city of Juneau. Joe was born in St. Paul, Canada. Another famous person is Libby Riddles. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1985, she was the first woman to win the Iditarod, and she was 29 years old. Alaska’s main industry is the mining industry, producing oil, gold, silver and bronze. The second main industry is the seafood industry because so much crab, salmon and cod are caught. Tourism, farming and timber products are not as major but they make up a good portion of Alaska’s industries. Alaska has a lot of rivers but not many lakes. The main rivers are the Koyukuk River, the Kuskokwim River, the Tanana River and the Yukon River. Alaska’s biggest