Fairbanks, Alaska

"Fairbanks" redirects here. For other uses, see Fairbanks (disambiguation).

Fairbanks
Downtown Fairbanks in summer Downtown Fairbanks in summer
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Area
• Total	32.624 sq mi (84.50 km2)
• Land	31.746 sq mi (82.22 km2)
• Water	0.878 sq mi (2.27 km2)
Population  (2020)
• Total	32,515
Website	www.fairbanksalaska.us

Fairbanks is a city in Alaska. It is the borough seat of Fairbanks North Star Borough. In 2020, 32,515 people lived there.

The only city in Alaska with more people is Anchorage.

Fairbanks was founded in 1901, and is named after Charles W. Fairbanks, an American Senator and Vice President. It was found on the Chena River. The University of Alaska has one of its main campuses in Fairbanks.

Climate

Being so far north, Fairbanks has long, very cold winters. It is normal for the temperature to be −15 °F (−26 °C) to −25 °F (−32 °C), and it can get as cold as −60 °F (−51 °C).

The summers are short but warm by Alaska standards. It is usually around 70 °F (21 °C), but it can get as warm as 90 °F (32 °C). In the winter the days are very short, on the winter solstice it is light outside for less than three hours. In the summer the opposite is true, it can be light outside for twenty two hours a day. This is called the midnight sun.