Alaska Regions

Regions
There are no officially defined borders demarcating the various regions of Alaska, but there are six widely accepted regions:

South Central
Main article: South Central Alaska
The most populous region of Alaska, containing Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Kenai Peninsula. Rural, mostly unpopulated areas sout

h of the Alaska Range and west of the Wrangell Mountains also fall within the definition of South Central, as do the Prince William Sound area and the communities of Cordova and Valdez.[12]

Southeast
Main article: Southeast Alaska
Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage, this is the region of Alaska closest to the contiguous states. As such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following the Alaska Purchase. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States. It contai

ns the state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, at one time Alaska’s largest city.[13] The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital surface transportation link throughout the area and country, as only three communities (Haines, Hyder and Skagway) enjoy direct connections to the contiguous North American road system.[14]