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Alaska officially became the
49th state on January 3,1959.
View
the Alaska Statehood Act from the National Archives collection.
Alaskans elect a governor and
a lieutenant governor to four-year terms. The governor, who
appoints the heads of all 14 state departments and many other
officials, is considered one of the most powerful governors
in the U.S.
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| The Alaska State
Legislature includes a Senate and House of Representatives.
Forty representatives are elected to two-year terms; twenty
senators serve four-year terms.
Two basic forms
of local government exist in Alaska: the city and the borough.
The borough is similar to the county in many other states.
Alaska is unique because most of it has not been organized
into political units. Currently, thirteen organized boroughs
cover about one-third of the state.
Alaska’s two
U.S. senators serve six year terms of office; the one U.S.
Representative serves a two-year term.
The Alaska State
Capitol, located in Juneau, was originally constructed in
1931 as the Federal and Territorial Building. When Alaska
became a state in 1959, the building became property of the
state. Other than Honolulu, Hawaii, Juneau is the only capitol
city in the U.S. that is only accessible by boat or plane.
| Official
state holidays: |
| Seward's
Day |
Last
Monday in March |
Seward's
Day commemorates the signing of the treaty by which
the United States bought Alaska from Russian, signed
on March 30, 1867. |
| Alaska
Day |
October
18 |
Alaska
Day is the anniversary of the formal transfer of
the territory and the raising of the US. flag at
Sitka on October 18, 1867. |
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