Alaska became the 49th state of the United States in 1959.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed Alaska a state on January 3, 1959. Its admission followed congressional approval of the Alaska Statehood Act, signed by President Eisenhower in July 1958. Alaska had been a U.S. territory since 1912 and had originally been purchased from Russia in 1867.
Alaska’s admission created the 49-star American flag. Hawaii joined the Union later that same year, on August 21, becoming the fiftieth state and producing the 50-star flag still used today. Because the two admissions occurred in the same year, they are sometimes reversed in memory.
Alaska is the largest U.S. state by area and is separated from the contiguous United States by Canada. Its statehood was significant not only for its geography and natural resources but also for completing the modern outline of the Union’s states.