alaska

the largest state in the US, in northwestern North America, with coasts on the Arctic and North Pacific oceans and on the Bering Sea, separated from the contiguous 48 US states by Canada; population 686,293 (est. 2008); capital, Juneau; statehood: Jan. 3, 1959 (49). The territory was purchased from Russia in 1867. After oil was discovered in 1968, a pipeline was completed in 1977 to carry the oil from the North Slope to Valdez.