Alaska Is Big!

You could fit Illinois into Alaska 11 times! One-fifth the size of the Lower 48, Alaska is bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined!
Alaska is also far-flung: 11.5 times wider (east to west) and 3.6 times taller (north to south) than Illinois. From north to south, Alaska measures 1420 miles, the distance from Denver to Mexico City, and east to west 2500 miles, the distance from Savannah, GA to Santa Barbara, CA. See detailed Alaska maps.
Alaska also has the most northern point (Point Barrow) and the most western point (Cape Wrangell, Alaska -- further west than Hawaii) in the U.S.

Water & Coastline

Alaska has 111 times as much inland water (in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers) as Illinois. In fact, Alaska has 3 million lakes over twenty acres big.
Alaska has more than 50% of the entire U.S. coastline, or 6,640 miles. Illinois has 0 miles of coastline!

Illinois has 221 times more people per square mile.
If Illinois's population density were the same as Alaska’s, only 57,247 people would live in Illinois rather than 12,653,544 (based on 2003 data).

Alaska’s high point, Mt. Denali (20,320 feet), rises 3.6 miles above Illinois’s high point, Charles Mound, at 1,235 feet.
Not only is Mt. Denali the highest mountain in North America, but Alaska has 15 other peaks higher than any in the continental U.S.

Alaska has 640 sq. miles of land for every mile of paved road. Illinois has 10 sq. miles of land for every mile of road. In other words, Alaska’s land-to-road ratio is 62.6 times greater.
Only 20% of Alaska’s roads are paved versus on average 91% for the other 49 states. During the long, cold grip of winter, Alaskans build ice roads to traverse rivers and ground that is otherwise too soft to drive.