Anchorage is a municipality in Southern Alaska and a seaport on the Knik and Turnagain arms of Cook Inlet, at the base of the Chugach Mountains.

Anchorage is the largest city in the state and serves as the transportation, commercial, and communications center for much of central and Western Alaska. It is connected by Glenn Highway to the Alaska Highway, a road to Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

It is also served by Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, which is a major international hub for air freight.

A campus (established in 1954) of the University of Alaska and Alaska Pacific University (1959) are in Anchorage.

The community was established in 1915 as the construction headquarters of the Alaska Railroad to Fairbanks. Anchorage incorporated in 1920, and engineers of the U.S. Army laid out the city in a grid during the decade.

It grew rapidly during World War II, when it became the headquarters for the U.S. Alaska Defense Command. In 1942 the Alaska Highway was built as part of the defense of the West Coast, connecting the region to the rest of the country.

A major earthquake on March 27, 1964, caused several deaths and extensive damage, but the city was rebuilt quickly.

Anchorage experienced another boom in its economy in the late 1960s, when oil was discovered in Prudhoe Bay and other oil fields. The Alaska Pipeline, which is used to transport oil, was built in the mid-1970s.