Alaska.com: Alaska's Travel Website

Alaska can be divided into five broad regions.

Inside Passage

Southeastern Alaska is a land of forested islands and shoreline. It was settled first by Indians and then by Russian, British and American arrivals. Its busy history is one of gold mining, timber cutting and salmon fishing. Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka are the major cities. Cruise passengers often see bears, bald eagles and whales.

Southcentral

This is a land of mountains, rugged coasts, broad forests and rivers dashing from glaciers. Anchorage, the state's largest city, is here. Its history include prospectors, salmon fishermen and the Alaska Railroad. Wildlife includes bears, bald eagles and whales.

Interior

The Interior holds North America's largest peak, 20,320-foot Denali (Mount McKinley). Vast forests of birch and spruce are warm in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter, although the long winter nights feature dazzling displays of the northern lights. Gold prospectors and missionaries at the end of the 19th century found long-established Indian settlements. Fairbanks is the region's largest city.

Western

Lush Kodiak Island, the stormy and volcanic Aleutian Islands, the legendary gold-boom town of Nome. Incredibly rich nesting grounds for migratory birds in the Yukon and Kuskokwim river drainages. The brown bears of Kodiak and Katmai. This is big country, where few roads connect far-flung towns and villages.

Northern

Arctic Alaska covers the northern third of the state -- and only a few thousand people. Caribou and polar bears live here, sharing territory with oil companies working the North Slope. Some villagers hunt bowhead whales and live off the land, maintaining traditions 10,000 years old. In Barrow, the sun stays up for weeks during the summer, but winter brings a two-month-long night.