Alaska

Russian America until its 1867 purchase, Alaska is a vast resource-and-frontier state — fishing, gold, and the oil of Prudhoe Bay piped down the trans-Alaska line — over a deep foundation of Alaska Native peoples. By far the largest state in area and the least densely settled, it reaches across the Arctic and the Aleutians. Statehood came only in 1959.

• Existed: 1784 CE – present
• Type: Entity
• Government: U.S. State
• Capital: Juneau