Southcentral Alaska in the context of "Tour skating"

Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. At 1,706 sq mi (4,420 km) of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the U.S.

Anchorage is in Southcentral Alaska, at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south. First settled as a tent city near the mouth of Ship Creek in 1915 when construction on the Alaska Railroad began, Anchorage was incorporated as a city in November 1920. In September 1975, the City of Anchorage merged with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough, creating the Municipality of Anchorage. The municipal city limits span 1,961.1 sq mi (5,079.2 km), encompassing the urban core, a joint military base, several outlying communities, and almost all of Chugach State Park. Because of this, less than 10 percent of the Municipality (or Muni) is populated, with the highest concentration of people in the 100 square-mile area that makes up the city proper, on a promontory at the headwaters of the inlet, commonly called Anchorage, the City of Anchorage, or the Anchorage Bowl.

The Matanuska River (Dena'ina: Ch'atanhtnu; Ahtna: Ts'itonhna’) is a 75-mile (121 km) long river in Southcentral Alaska, United States. The river drains a broad valley south of the Alaska Range eponymously known as the Matanuska Valley.

The Kenai Peninsula (Dena'ina: Yaghenen) is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (/ˈkiːnaɪ/, KEE-ny) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe, the Kahtnuht’ana Dena’ina ("People along the Kahtnu (Kenai River)"), who historically inhabited the area. They called the Kenai Peninsula Yaghanen ("the good land").

Matanuska-Susitna Valley (/mætəˈnuːskə suːˈsɪtnə/; known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about 35 miles (56 km) north of Anchorage, Alaska.It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displayed annually in Palmer at the Alaska State Fair.It includes the valleys of the Matanuska, Knik, and Susitna Rivers.11,000 of Mat-Su Valley residents commute to Anchorage for work (as of 2008).It is the fastest growing region in Alaska and includes the towns of Palmer, Wasilla, Big Lake, Houston, Willow, Sutton, and Talkeetna. The Matanuska-Susitna Valley is primarily the land of the Dena'ina and Ahtna Athabaskan people.

The valleys are shaped by three mountain ranges: the Alaska Range, the Talkeetna Mountains and the Chugach Mountains. The Matanuska-Susitna Valley was carved by glaciersleaving thousands of lakes.The Mat-Su rivers and lakes are home to the spawning grounds of chinook, coho, sockeye, pink, and chum salmon.The area is home to 31 state parks and campgrounds.

The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (970-kilometer) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest end to the White River in Canada's Yukon Territory in the southeast. Denali, the highest mountain in North America, is in the Alaska Range. The range is part of the American Cordillera.

The Alaska Range is one of the highest mountain ranges in the world, after the Himalayas and the Andes.