The Tanana Valley is a lowland region in central Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, on the north side of the Alaska Range

Alaska Range

The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 650-km-long 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...

 where the Tanana River

Tanana River

The Tanana River is a tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Bright, the name is from the Koyukon tene no, tenene, literally "trail river"....

 emerges from the mountains.

Climate

The region experiences great extremes of temperature during the year. During the winter months, the air is prone to stratification due to temperature inversions, leading to thick fogs. During the summer, the surrounding plains are generally boglike, and include much permafrost

Permafrost

In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...

 and many pingo

Pingo

A pingo, also called a hydrolaccolith, is a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and subarctic that can reach up to in height and up to in diameter. The term originated as the Inuvialuktun word for a small hill. A pingo is a periglacial landform, which is defined as a nonglacial...

es.

Communities

The Tanana Valley is the most populated area of Alaska north of the Alaska Range. Its largest city is Fairbanks

Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...

. Other communities include:

• College
  College, Alaska
  College is a census-designated place in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,493 in 2007....
  
  
• Chena Hot Springs
  Chena Hot Springs, Alaska
  Chena Hot Springs is a hot spring, resort, and community in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States, 56.5 miles northeast of Fairbanks near the Chena River State Recreation Area...
  
  
• Eielson AFB
• Ester
  Ester, Alaska
  Ester is a census-designated place in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the 'Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 2,422 at the 2010 census...
  
  
• Fort Wainwright
  Fort Wainwright
  Fort Wainwright is a United States Army post adjacent to Fairbanks in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
  
  
• Fox
  Fox, Alaska
  Fox is a census-designated place in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2007 census the population was 353.-Geography:...
  
  
• Manley Hot Springs
  Manley Hot Springs, Alaska
  Manley Hot Springs is a census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, Manley Hot Springs is a [[census-designated place]] in [[Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska|Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area]], [[Alaska]], Manley Hot Springs Manley Hot Springs (Too Naaleł Denh in Koyukon) is a...
  
  
• Nenana
  Nenana, Alaska
  Nenana is a Home Rule City in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. Nenana lies at the juncture of the Nenana River and the Tanana River. The population was 402 at the 2000 census. "Nenana" means 'a good place to camp between two rivers.'-History...
  
  
• North Pole
  North Pole, Alaska
  North Pole is a small city in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska metropolitan statistical area. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated its population as of July 1, 2009 at 2,226. The name "North Pole" is often applied to the entire area covered...
  
  
• Two Rivers
  Two Rivers, Alaska
  Two Rivers is an unincorporated area of homes between mile 13 and mile 25 along the Chena Hot Springs Road, northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska...