Alaska is a state in the Western United States, on the northwest extremity of the country's west coast. A semi-exclave of the U.S., it borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon to the east and has a maritime border with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug to the west, just across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas of the Arctic Ocean, while the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough (often referred to as the Mat-Su Borough; Russian: Матануска-Суситна) is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its county seat is Palmer, and the largest community is the census-designated place of Knik-Fairview. The borough is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Statistical Area, along with the municipality of Anchorage on its south. The Mat-Su Borough is so designated because it contains the entire Matanuska and Susitna rivers. These rivers empty into Cook Inlet, which is the southern border of the Mat-Su Borough. This area is one of the few agricultural areas of Alaska.

The largest city in Alaska, Anchorage is a big place — you’ll find hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, and cross-country ski trails, connections to five stunning national parks.

Valdez (; Alutiiq: Suacit) is a city in the Chugach Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to the 2010 US Census, the population of the city is 3,976, down from 4,036 in 2000. The city was named in 1790 after the Spanish Navy Minister Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán. A former Gold Rush town, it is located at the head of a fjord on the eastern side of Prince William Sound. The port did not flourish until after the road link to Fairbanks was constructed in 1899. It suffered catastrophic damage during the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and is located near the site of the disastrous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill. Today, it is one of the most important ports in Alaska, a commercial fishing port as well as a freight terminal.