Alaska

Capital: Juneau

Population: 626,932

Entered the Union: January 3, 1959

As the: 49th state

Motto: North to the Future

Nicknames: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun

Origin of Name: From the Aleut word meaning "great land," or "that which the sea breaks against"

Major Industries: Oil, Fisheries, Wood

Historical Sites: Sitka National Historical Park Totem Pole Collection

Points of Interest: Denali National Park, Mendenhall Glacier in North Tongass National Forest, and the active volcanoes in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes at the Katmai National Park