Summer States No. 49 - Alaska

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another installment of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this wacky, wacky world! Today we'll be taking a look at the forty-ninth state to be admitted into the United States, Alaska. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's dive straight into it!

     Alaska Facts:

• Date of Statehood: January 3, 1959
• Capital: Juneau
• Population: 710,231 (2010)
• Size: 664,988 square miles
• Motto: North to the Future
• Tree: Sitka Spruce
• Flower: Forget-me-not
• Bird: Willow Ptarmigan

     Fun Facts:

• Russia controlled most of the land that is now Alaska until 1867, when Secretary of State William Seward bought the land for 7.2 million, or about 2 cents an acre.  
• Alaska contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States.
• The state of Rhode Island can fit into Alaska roughly 420 times.

     Alaska on a map:

     

    Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/alaska