With the issuance of this stamp in 2009, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood. Comprising more than 570,000 square miles of land, Alaska is the largest of the 50 states and home to approximately 670,000 residents. The name of the state derives from an Aleut word meaning “great land.”

The stamp features a photograph by Jeff Schultz of a dog musher taken in 2000 near Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range. Text on the stamp reads “1959 ALASKA.”