Alaska is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. It is in the Western United States region. The only other non-contiguous U.S. state is Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state in the United States. It borders the Canadian territory of Yukon and the province of British Columbia to the east. It shares a western maritime border, in the Bering Strait, with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south. Technically, it is a semi-exclave of the U.S., and is the largest exclave in the world.
Interior Alaska is the central region of Alaska's territory, roughly bounded by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Denali in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Ray Mountains. The native people of the interior are Alaskan Athabaskans. The largest city in the interior is Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, in the Tanana Valley. Other towns include North Pole, just southeast of Fairbanks, Eagle, Tok, Glennallen, Delta Junction, Nenana, Anderson, Healy and Cantwell. The interior region has an estimated population of 113,154.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,665, down from 97,581 in 2010. The borough seat is Fairbanks. The borough's land area is slightly smaller than that of the state of New Jersey.
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the population of the city proper at 32,515 and the population of the Fairbanks North Star Borough at 95,655, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in Alaska after Anchorage. The Metropolitan Statistical Area encompasses all of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and is the northernmost Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States, located 196 miles by road south of the Arctic Circle.
North Pole is a small city in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Incorporated in 1953, it is part of the Fairbanks metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 2,243, up from 2,117 in 2010. Despite its name, the city is about 1,700 miles (2,700 km) south of Earth's geographic North Pole and 125 miles (201 km) south of the Arctic Circle.
Kotzebue or Qikiqtaġruk is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing the borough. The population of the city was 3,102 as of the 2020 census, down from 3,201 in 2010.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a public land-, sea-, and space-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for classes in 1922. Originally named the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, it became the University of Alaska in 1935. Fairbanks-based programs became the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975.
Growden Memorial Park is an outdoor park in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. Originally called Memorial Park, the park was renamed in 1964 in memory of James Growden who, along with his two sons, lost his life in the tsunami created by the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964. Growden had been active in youth activities in Fairbanks for a number of years.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fairbanks, Alaska, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Denali Borough, and the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the farthest north daily in the United States, and one of the farthest north in the world. The oldest continuously operating daily in Alaska, by circulation it is the second-largest daily in the state. It was purchased by the Helen E. Snedden Foundation in 2016. The Snedden family were longtime owners of the News-Miner, selling it to a family trust for Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder, founders of the Media News Group in 1992.
Lathrop High School is a public high school in Fairbanks in the U.S. state of Alaska, part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. It is named for early Alaska businessman Austin E. "Cap" Lathrop. Lathrop serves the central part of the Fairbanks area, including downtown and the Fort Wainwright Army Post. With an enrollment of 1,047 as of October 1, 2014, it is Fairbanks's largest school.
Chena was a former city in interior Alaska, located in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States, near the confluence of the Chena and Tanana rivers. It incorporated in 1903 and was disincorporated in 1973. The area is now part of the outskirts of Fairbanks, within the CDP of Chena Ridge. Its heyday was in the first two decades of the 20th century, with a peak population of about 400 in 1907. By 1910 the population had fallen to 138.
Norris J. "Jim" Whitaker is an American politician of the Republican Party who served as mayor of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, from 2003 to 2009. Prior to his mayoral term, Whitaker served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003. In October 2003 he was elected borough mayor, defeating the incumbent, fellow Republican Rhonda Boyles. Whitaker was reelected in 2006 with over 77% of the vote. As mayor, Whitaker was known for supporting spending on quality of life services such as parks and recreation, as well as spearheading a campaign to prevent a drastic reduction in the operations of Eielson Air Force Base due to federal budget cuts.
The Big Dipper Ice Arena, colloquially known as "The Big Dipper", is a multi-purpose arena in Fairbanks, Alaska. The arena is owned and operated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Originally constructed as an airplane hangar for the Lend-Lease program in Tanacross, southeast of Fairbanks, the building was dismantled, transported to Fairbanks and reassembled in 1968. It has undergone two major renovations since then. The building is home to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs ice hockey team. The borough's parks and recreation department is headquartered in the building.
West Valley High School (WVHS) is a public high school in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States, one of four standalone high schools and one of ten schools offering instruction in grades nine through twelve in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. Physically located adjacent to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) campus in the census-designated place boundaries of College, WVHS and crosstown rival Lathrop High School cover a combined attendance area encompassing the majority of the urban core and outskirts of Fairbanks, with WVHS's attendance area serving the westernmost portions of that area. The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development reported the school's enrollment at 1,027 on October 1, 2015. The school mascot is the Wolfpack and its colors are red and gold. WVHS is highly regarded as a school that possesses one of the most rigorous educational experiences that can be found anywhere in the state of Alaska. Teachers, students, and administrators have received a myriad of awards that have confirmed West Valley's position as an educationally advanced institution.
Terrence B. "Terry" Miller was an American businessman and politician. Miller served as the fourth lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1978 to 1982. His political career, which began while he was in his early 20s, lasted over two decades and was cut short by his death from lung cancer at age 46.
The Fairbanks Grizzlies were a professional indoor football team based in Fairbanks, Alaska. The team was a member of the Pacific Division of the Intense Conference in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Grizzlies began play in 2008 as a member of the Intense Football League and joined the IFL in 2008 as part of the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football (UIF) merger. The team played their home games at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District is a public school district based in Fairbanks, Alaska (USA). With a student enrollment of slightly over 14,000, it is the state's second largest public school district.
Metropolitan Area Commuter System (MACS) is a public transport agency in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska. The agency provides bus service for much of the urbanized Fairbanks Metropolitan Statistical Area. MACS is part of the borough's transportation department and is the northernmost local bus network in the United States and continental North America.
The history of Fairbanks, the second-largest city in Alaska, can be traced to the founding of a trading post by E.T. Barnette on the south bank of the Chena River on August 26, 1901. The area had seen human occupation since at least the last ice age, but a permanent settlement was not established at the site of Fairbanks until the start of the 20th century.
