Profile: Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin, who has been chosen as John McCain's running mate in the US elections, is the youngest and first female governor of Alaska.
In an election which will be about change, so-called "hockey mum" Ms Palin has a reputation for government reform and an approval rating higher than 80%.
The 44-year-old is also a former runner-up of the 1984 Miss Alaska beauty pageant.
The mother of five will be the second female vice-presidential nominee of a major party, following Geraldine Ferraro as Democratic nominee in 1984.
Speculation moved to Ms Palin after airport officials confirmed a private plane flew from Alaska to Ohio ahead of the official announcement in the state.
Ms Palin, like Mr McCain, calls herself a maverick and was considered an outside bet for the role.
She is pro-life, a fiscal and social conservative and holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association.
Ms Palin hunts, eats moose burgers, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles and owns a float plane, according to US reports.
She rose to attention in Alaska after blowing the whistle on ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders.
Ms Palin, who has been governor of her state for less than two years, was selected above more well-known names.
At 44, she is a generation younger than Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.
She may also appeal to women voters who could have felt disillusioned by Mr Obama's decision not to pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate.
Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, on February 11, 1964, Ms Palin moved to Alaska with her family as an infant.
In the 1980s, she earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for the intensity of her play as captain for the Wasilla High School Warriors basketball team.
She has a journalism degree from the University of Idaho, where she also studied politics. She admitted using marijuana when it was legal in Alaska.
Her husband, Todd, is a Native Yup'ik Eskimo who works for BP outside the fishing season and is a champion snowmobiler.
The couple eloped after she finished college and reportedly recruited two residents from a nearby elderly care home as witnesses for the ceremony.
Their eldest son, Track, joined the US Army on September 11 last year and will be deployed to Iraq next month.