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What to see in Alaska
Alaska is valuable for other reasons. Radar stations in the state protect Americans from a sneak attack over the North Pole. Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, is known as the "Air Crossroads of the World" because of its strategic location; it serves as a refueling base for flights between Asia and Europe and between the United States and Asia.
Other cities in Alaska include Juneau and Sitka. Juneau is the state capital, but if you visit, you'll have to travel by plane or boat since there aren't any roads going into the city. At 4,710 square miles, Sitka is the largest city in area in the country. The Alaskan Islands of Attu and Kiska were captured by the Japanese during World War II.
Bush pilots bring Inuits, or Eskimos, living in remote villages their supplies. You can see Inuit still driving their traditional dog sleds to hunt caribou and polar bears. But go soon because snowmobiles are rapidly replacing the dog sleds. Speaking of dog sleds, a famous international dog sled race takes place in Alaska on the Iditarod Trail.
Visit the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, named for the smoke and gas that rises from the fumaroles, or volcanic vents. Alaska has more active volcanoes than any other state. But if you're in Alaska, be careful. It's very easy to get lost in the state's Arctic regions during a "white out" when blowing snow makes it impossible to tell land from sky.
Alaska gets its name from an Aleutian word that means "peninsula," "great lands," or "land that is not an island." The Aleuts are people who live on the Aleutian Islands, which lie off Alaska's mainland. The state is also known as the "Last Frontier" because man has not yet explored all of its vast land where killer whales, moose, walrus, kodiak, and polar bears live in the wild. The abbreviation for Alaska is AK.