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Alaska

T alk about big! Not only is Alaska the largest of all the U.S. states, Alaska also contains a lot of big things. Denali (also known as Mount McKinley) is the highest mountain peak in North America. Alaska is home to the largest national park in the United States, Wrangell-Saint Elias (13.2 million acres), and the country’s largest national forest, Tongass (nearly 17 million acres). Alaska also has the world’s longest chain of active volcanoes. The state’s abundance of wildlife includes major populations of bald eagles and salmon. Alaska is also home to more bears than any other state. It has an estimated 200,000 black bears,

nearly five times the number of bears than the next closest state (Wisconsin). In addition, Alaska is home to approximately 30,000 grizzly bears. Geography

Alaska covers approximately 665,384 square miles (1,723,336 square kilometers). It is more than twice the size of the second- largest state, Texas.

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