Population:

47th largest U.S. State by population, with 698,473 people (2009 estimate).
1st largest state in the country by area, at 663,268 square miles.

Largest city: Anchorage

Median income:$68,460 (2008 estimate)

Climate:
Yearly rainfall: Varies greatly; Anchorage gets an average of 16 inches per year
Yearly snowfall: Varies greatly; Anchorage gets an average of 75 inches per year
Temperatures (High/Low) in capital city of Anchorage:
January, 22/9; July, 65/52

Foreclosures:
Foreclosure activity for 2009 increased in Alaska over the prior year. There was a total of 2,442 properties with filings. That works out to a rate of one filing for every 116 households, which is more than double the average in the United States as a whole, and a little less than one percent of the state’s housing units.

Those figures represent a 25 percent increase over 2008 and an 83 percent increase over 2007.

In 2008 there were about 23,200 existing homes (including condos, co-ops, and single-family homes but excluding new homes) sold in Alaska, compared to about 26,400 sold in 2007.

Economy:
Alaska has the fourth highest median household income in the country, due mostly to the fact that it is a top oil and natural gas producer. The state accounts for 20 percent of domestic oil production and derives 80 percent of its revenues from the resource. Production peaked in 1988 though, and has since fallen by 65 percent. Thanks to an abundance of protected natural wilderness, the tourism is now the second biggest private employer in Alaska, and is a billion dollar industry.

Noteworthy:
Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire in 1867 at a cost of about 2 cents per acre, but didn't become a state until 1959.