Alaska is a large state that is 500 miles  north of Washington.  It became the 49th state in 1959, which made it the first new state in 47 years.

Juneau
Juneau is Alaska’s state capital and is located inside the largest rain forest in North America.  The 2000 population was 30711.  Juneau was founded as a gold mining camp in 1880.  The attractions include the Mt. Roberts Tram, the State Museum, and the Menden -Hall Glacier.  Flight seeing and a salmon hatchery are also popular Juneau attractions.

History
Native Americans lived in Alaska when the Russians came to explore the land in 1778.  The same year, Captain Cook explored and got a lot of information.  Then Seward bought the land for around 7.2 million dollars in 1867.  Many people called it Seward’s Folly.  Oil was discovered in Prudow Bay and ever since then the population has been growing slowly. 

Population
Even if Alaska is huge in area, it is still fairly small in population.  Almost one half of all of the Alaskans live in Anchorage (260283) but Los Angeles is still 10 times larger than that.  Some areas in Alaska are completely inhabited.  There is also a surprisingly young population.  Almost one third of the Alaskans are under 18.  The population for the year 2000 was 626,932.  69.3% of the population is white.  American Indians. Eskimos, and Aleuts are 15.6%.  There are 5.4% of two or more races and Hispanics are 4.1%.  4% of Alaskans are Asians, African Americans own 3.5%, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are 0.5%. 

State Symbols
Sport                     Dog Mushing
Gem                     Jade
Mineral                 Gold
Fish                      Sitka Spruce
Flower                 Forget-me-Not
Bird                     Willow Ptarmigan
Fossil                   Wooly Mammoth
Insect                    Four Spot Skimmer Dragonfly
Song                   “Alaska’s Flag”
Marine Mammal   Bowhead Whale
Land Mammal      Moose
Motto                  “North to the Future”
Holidays               Seward’s Day (Mar.31)
                             Alaska Day (Oct. 18)

Alaskan Events
January             Winter Sunrise
Russian             Christmas
February            Fur Rendezvous
March                Mountain Golf
                           Iditarod
April                  Alaska Folk Festival
May                    Jazz & Classics Festival
                           Kodiak Crab Festival
                           Little Norway Festival
July                     Eskimo Indian Olympics
August                State Fair
September           State Fair
                           Alaska Day Celebration
November           Alaska Great Shootout
                           Athabaskan Fiddling Festival

The Iditarod
The Iditarod is an 1161-mile dog-mushing race that has run from Anchorage to Nome since 1983.  The race first ran to Nome in 1973, and has been the most famous Alaskan race ever since.  The Iditarod starts the first Saturday in March and ends about ten days later.  The first racer to get past all of the 31 checkpoints wins $30,000 and a new truck.  “The last great race” is a nickname for the Iditarod.  Each musher (driver) has his/her own tactics, dog diet, strategy, training schedule, dog care ideas, dog stamina, and, of course, ability.  The needed equipment include an arctic parka, a heavy sleeping bag, dog and human food, a pair of snowshoes, and plenty of booties for the dogs’ paws.

Geography
Alaska is the largest state in area. (It is twice as big as Texas!) There is mostly frozen ground so there are little-no trees up in the north.  During summer the sun doesn’t set for 84 days.  In the winter, there are extremes of temperature, precipitation, sunlight, and wind in Alaska.

Famous Alaskans
Joe Redington Senior         Organized Iditarod Race,
                                           Took Part In 8 Races
Libby Riddles                     First Woman To Win The Iditarod
Tommy Moe                       Olympic Skier
Jewel                                   Singer and Performer
John Griffith London          Author
Henry Ernest Gruening       Politician
Micheal James Henry          Railroad Engineer
Merle Smith                        Aviator In Pioneer Hall Of Fame
Carl Ben Eielson                 Pilot

Major Careers
Out of many careers in Alaska, mining, including drilling for oil, is the largest, employing 31%.  The next largest, with 15%, is transportation, communication, and utilities.  Also, 14% of the jobs in Alaska are government, but finance, insurance, and real estate form another 14%.  Community, business, and personal services are 9% and construction is 4%.  In addition, 3% of the jobs belong to manufacturing, as 2% belongs to fishing & agriculture.

Wildlife
In Alaska there is a lot of wildlife.  The largest Alaskan river is the Yukon and the largest lake is Lake Iliamna.  The animals include ducks, geese, mountain goats, grizzly, brown, and polar bears, elk, caribou, deer, and grouse.  Other animals are musk oxen, fur seals, shrimp, herring, cod, crab, halibut, salmon, clams, mountain sheep and moose.

Future
In Alaska’s future there is a good chance there will be a large increase in population.  Tourism also has a great chance of increasing in Alaska.

Who I Interviewed And What I Learned I interviewed Chris Mottet on January 7, 2005, in the SOAR classroom.  Mr. Mottet was an excellent choice for an interview because he has lived in Alaska for 13 and a half years, 8 years permanently.  (He comes back to Washington every 2 weeks to be with his family.)  He works for Conocle Philips and he went to Parry, a technical college in Yakima.  There he studied instrumentation. Mr. Mottet was interested in living in Alaska because of the adventure and the interesting work there.  He says that people in Alaska have a certain uniqueness that he likes.  He loves living in Alaska because it is very beautiful and remote. It is hard to produce oil in Alaska and still protect wildlife.  I agree with him about that.  See, it is hard to find oil in Alaska.  Another problem in Alaska is the Global Warming. Mr. Mottet believes that in the future of Alaska there will be a big increase in population.  I told him that at the end of the month of February, I get to go to Alaska.  He was enthusiastic, and told me of a few good sights to see. Overall I am very glad that Mr. Mottet was available for an interview!  Thank you Mr. Mottet!

Bibliography “Alaska State Symbols & Emblems”http://web.ask.com/redir?bpg=http%3a% Brandt, Sue R.  State Flags.  New York: Franklin Watts, 1992. Fitzgerald, Patrick F., Naske, Claus M.  “Alaska.” The World Book Encyclopedia.  2002. Kummer, Patricia K.  Alaska.  Mankato: Capstone Press Geography Department Mottet, Chris. Personal Interview.   January 7, 2005 Shearer, Benjamin F. and Barbara S.  State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols State Grams: Alaska-The Last Frontier.  Orem: Culture Grams, 1959. “State Symbols”http://www.commerce.state.ak.us

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