Alaska
(
i/??læsk?/)
is a U.S.
state
situated in the northwest extremity of the North American
continent.
Bordering the state to the east is Yukon,
a Canadian
territory, and the Canadian
province
of British
Columbia,
the Arctic
Ocean
to the north, and the Pacific
Ocean
to the west and south, with Russia
(specifically, Chukotka
Autonomous Okrug
and Kamchatka
Krai)
further west across the Bering
Strait.
Alaska is the largest
state
in the United
States
by area, the 4th
least populous
and the least
densely populated
of the 50 United
States.
Approximately half of Alaska's 731,449[3]
residents live within the Anchorage
metropolitan area.
Alaska's economy is dominated by theoil,
natural
gas,
and fishing
industries, resources which it has in abundance. Tourism
is also a significant part of the economy.