CLIMATE OF ALASKA TOPOGRPHIC FEATURES – Alaska is the
westernmost extension of the North American Continent. Its east-
west span covers a distance of 2,000 miles, and from north to
south a distance of 1,100 miles. The State’s coastline, 33,000
miles in length, is 50 percent longer than that of the
conterminous United States. In addition to the Aleutian Islands,
hundreds of other islands, mostly undeveloped, are found along
the northern coast of the Gulf of Alaska, the Alaska Peninsula,
and the Bering Sea Coast. Alaska contains 375 million acres of
land and many thousands of lakes. There are 12 major rivers plus
three major tributaries of the Yukon, all of which drain two-
thirds of the State. Four rivers, the Yukon, Stikine, Alek, and
Taku, can be classed as major international rivers. The two
longest mountain ranges are the Brooks Range which separates the
Arctic region from the interior and the Alaska-Aleutian Range
which extends westward along the Alaska Peninsula and the
Aleutian Islands, and northward abou