Byron Mallott

Advance Alaska Natives through community engagement, information and research, collaboration, and leadership development.

State of Alaska is a U.S. state situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent. Bordering the state to the east are the Canadian territory of Yukon and the Canadian province of British Columbia; to the north is the Arctic Ocean; and to the west and south is the Pacific Ocean with Russia farther west across the Bering Strait. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 4th least populous, and the least densely populated of the 50 states in the U.S. Approximately half of Alaska’s residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Its economy is dominated by the oil, natural gas, and fishing industries, resources which it has in abundance. Tourism is also a significant part of the economy. Although it had been occupied for thousands of years by indigenous people, from the 18th century onward, European powers considered the territory of Alaska ripe for exploitation and trade. The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.