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Alaska is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined.〔https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS21729.pdf CRS Report for Congress on international borders〕 About of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington State. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States that is part of the continental U.S. but is not part of the contiguous U.S.〔The other three exclaves of the United States are the Northwest Angle of Minnesota, Point Roberts, Washington, and Alburgh, Vermont.〕 Alaska is also the only state, other than Hawaii, whose capital city is accessible only via ship or air, because no roads connect Juneau to the rest of the continent. The state is bordered by Yukon and British Columbia, Canada to the east, the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west, and the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Because it extends into the Eastern Hemisphere, it is technically both the westernmost and easternmost state in the United States, as well as also being the northernmost. Alaska is the largest state in the United States in terms of land area at , over twice as large as Texas, the next largest state. If the state's westernmost point were superimposed on San Francisco, California, its easternmost point would be in Jacksonville, Florida. It is larger than all but 18 sovereign nations. Alaska is home to 3.5 million lakes of or larger.〔(Alaska Facts )〕 Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover (mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands). Frozen water, in the form of glacier ice, covers some of land and of tidal zone. The Bering Glacier complex near the southeastern border with Yukon, Canada, covers alone. ==Regions== *South Central Alaska is the southern coastal region and contains most of the state's population. Anchorage and many growing towns, such as Palmer, and Wasilla, lie within this area. Petroleum industrial plants, transportation, tourism, and two military bases form the core of the economy here. *The Alaska Panhandle, also known as Southeast Alaska, is home to many of Alaska's larger towns including the state capital Juneau, tidewater glaciers and extensive forests. Tourism, fishing, forestry and state government anchor the economy. *Southwest Alaska is largely coastal, bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is sparsely populated, and unconnected to the road system, but incredibly important to the fishing industry. Half of all fish caught in the western U.S. come from the Bering Sea, and Bristol Bay has the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery. Southwest Alaska includes Katmai and Lake Clark national parks as well as numerous wildlife refuges. The region comprises western Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay and its watersheds, the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. It is known for wet and stormy weather, tundra landscapes, and large populations of salmon, brown bears, caribou, birds, and marine mammals. *The Alaska Interior is home to Fairbanks. The geography is marked by large braided rivers, such as the Yukon River and the Kuskokwim River, as well as Arctic tundra lands and shorelines. *The Alaskan Bush is the remote, less crowded part of the state, encompassing 380 native villages and small towns such as Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue and, most famously, Barrow, the northernmost town in the United States. The northeast corner of Alaska is covered by the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which covers. Much of the northwest is covered by the larger National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, which covers around . The Arctic is Alaska's most remote wilderness. A location in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska is from any town or village, the geographic point most remote from permanent habitation in the USA. With its numerous islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (55,000 km) of tidal shoreline. The island chain extending west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula is called the Aleutian Islands. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians. For example, Unimak Island is home to Mount Shishaldin, a moderately active volcano that rises to above sea level. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland. One of North America's largest tides occurs in Turnagain Arm just south of Anchorage. Tidal differences can be more than . (Many sources say Turnagain has the second-greatest tides in North America, but it has since been shown that several areas in Canada have larger tides, according to an Anchorage Daily News article dated 6/23/03.) The Aleutian Islands cross longitude 180°, so Alaska can be considered the easternmost state as well as the westernmost. Alaska and, especially, the Aleutians are one of the extreme points of the United States. The International Date Line jogs west of 180° to keep the whole state, and thus the entire continental United States, within the same legal day. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Geography of Alaska」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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