How Big is Alaska?

Compare Maine to Alaska

Maine compared to Alaska

Alaska Is Big!

  • You could fit Maine into Alaska 19 times! One-fifth the size of the Lower 48, Alaska is bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined!
  • Alaska is also far-flung: 12.1 times wider (east to west) and 4.4 times taller (north to south) than Maine. 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 11 times as much inland water (in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers) as Maine. 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. Maine has 228 miles of coastline!

Population Density

  • Maine has 37 times more people per square mile.
  • If Maine's population density were the same as Alaska’s, only 34,977 people would live in Maine rather than 1,305,728 (based on 2003 data).

High Point

  • Alaska’s high point, Mt. Denali (20,320 feet), rises 2.9 miles above Maine’s high point, Katahdin (Baxter Peak), at 5,267 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.

Road Density

  • Alaska has 640 sq. miles of land for every mile of paved road. Maine has 27 sq. miles of land for every mile of road. In other words, Alaska’s land-to-road ratio is 23.3 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.

Air Travel

  • Alaska has 10.3 times more active pilots per capita than Maine.
  • Alaska has 102 seaplane bases, far more than any other state.