Alaska – Alaska's capital is Juneau

(Pronounced uh-las-kah)

NOTE:

We are going to assume that you can already picture Alaska as a snowswept landscape.

To remember the capital of the US state Alaska, use the following mnemonic:

Imagine Alaska with a desert dune in the shape of an 'O' (Juneau) on it.

Before it was a U.S. state, Alaska was a region that belonged to Russia. America bought it from the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million. It's one of two states that are not part of the U.S. mainland (the other is Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean). Alaska's neighbour to the east is Canada. The Bering Strait and Russia lie to the west. It's a cold state, particularly in the north where snow is possible all year round. Alaska's economy is based mainly on oil production, fishing and tourism. In the 1880s Alaska was the focus of a "goldrush" when prospectors erected towns of tents and shacks as a mining industry grew up.

Alaska's capital, Juneau, is the second-largest U.S. city by area, although its population is only about 32,000. Unlike every other state capital in the U.S., it has no roads linking it to the rest of the state. This is due to the extremely rugged surrounding terrain. While the fishing industry remains a major part of Juneau's economy, its major economic activity is tourism. Cruise ships bring a million or more tourists to the city each year in the summer. The biggest employer is government – both state and Federal.