Alaska Is Big!

You could fit Mississippi into Alaska 14 times! One-fifth the size of the Lower 48, Alaska is bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined!
Alaska is also far-flung: 12.9 times wider (east to west) and 4.3 times taller (north to south) than Mississippi. 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 12 times as much inland water (in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers) as Mississippi. 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. Mississippi has 44 miles of coastline!

Mississippi has 60 times more people per square mile.
If Mississippi's population density were the same as Alaska’s, only 47,873 people would live in Mississippi rather than 2,881,281 (based on 2003 data).

Alaska’s high point, Mt. Denali (20,320 feet), rises 3.7 miles above Mississippi’s high point, Woodall Mountain, at 806 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. Mississippi has 19 sq. miles of land for every mile of road. In other words, Alaska’s land-to-road ratio is 33.8 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.