How Far Away Is Alaska From the Lower 48 States and How Close Is Alaska To Russia?

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Karen Hill

You’d have to travel across 500 miles (805 km) of Canada to get to the next closest U.S. state, Washington.

Part of Alaska is actually much closer to Russia.

Alaska’s Little Diomede Island, at the extreme western end of the Seward Peninsula, is only 2.5 miles (4 km) from Big Diomede Island, which belongs to Russia.

Almost a third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle, but its northernmost point, at Point Barrow, is still 1,300 miles (2,093 km) from the North Pole.

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