List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska

The U.S. state of Alaska is not divided into counties, as 48 other states are (Louisiana having parishes instead), but it is divided into boroughs. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Alaska's eighteen organized boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However, unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states, the organized boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. The area not part of any organized borough is referred to as the unorganized borough.

For the 1970 census, the U.S. Census Bureau, in cooperation with the state, divided the unorganized borough into 11 census areas, each roughly corresponding to an election district. However, these areas exist solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation. They have no government of their own. Boroughs and census areas are both treated as county-level equivalents by the Census Bureau.

Some areas in the unorganized borough receive limited public services directly from the Alaska state government, usually law enforcement from the Alaska State Troopers and educational funding.

Six consolidated city-county governments exist—Juneau City and Borough, City and Borough of Haines, Sitka City and Borough, Yakutat City and Borough, Wrangell City and Borough, as well as the state's largest city, Anchorage. Though its legal name is the Municipality of Anchorage, it is considered a consolidated city-borough under state law.

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 55-2,3,4 codes, which are used by the United States Census Bureau to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry.^[1] Alaska's code is 02, which when combined with any county code would be written as 02XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.

Contents 1 List of boroughs 2 Census areas in the Unorganized Borough 3 Notes 4 References 4.1 General References 5 See also

List of boroughs

Borough	FIPS code [2]	Borough seat [3]	Class [4][5][6][7]	Established [3]	Origin	Etymology	Population [3]	Area [3]	Map
Aleutians East Borough	013	Sand Point	Second	1987	-	Its location in the east Aleutian Islands, which are themselves of uncertain linguistic origin; possibly derived from Chukchi word aliat ("island")	&100000000000027440000002,744	&100000000000069880000006,988 sq mi (&1000000000001809900000018,099 km2)
Anchorage	020	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	1975	-	Derived from the presence of a safe place to anchor and unload supplies for construction of the Alaska Railroad circa 1913, thereby creating a community.	&10000000000260283000000260,283	&100000000000016970000001,697 sq mi (&100000000000043950000004,395 km2)
Bristol Bay Borough	060	Naknek	Second	1962	-	Named in 1778 by Capt. James Cook for George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol.	&100000000000012580000001,258	&10000000000000505000000505 sq mi (&100000000000013080000001,308 km2)
Denali Borough	068	Healy	Home Rule	1990	-	From Denali, the tallest North American mountain, which means "great one" in the Dena'ina language	&100000000000018930000001,893	&1000000000001275000000012,750 sq mi (&1000000000003302200000033,022 km2)
Fairbanks North Star Borough	090	Fairbanks	Second	1964	-	Named for its borough seat of Fairbanks, named in turn for Charles Fairbanks (1852 - 1918), U.S. Senator from Indiana and vice president under Theodore Roosevelt, and for Polaris, the North Star	&1000000000008284000000082,840	&100000000000073660000007,366 sq mi (&1000000000001907800000019,078 km2)
Haines Borough	100	(Consolidated city-borough)	Home Rule	1968 (Consolidated 2002)	-	After Haines, which was itself named for Mrs F.E. Haines, the key fundraiser for the construction of a Presbyterian mission in the town.	&100000000000023920000002,392	&100000000000023440000002,344 sq mi (&100000000000060710000006,071 km2)
Juneau	110	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	1970	The City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding borough to form the municipality	Joseph "Joe" Juneau, prospector and co-founder of the city.	&1000000000003071100000030,711	&100000000000027160000002,716 sq mi (&100000000000070340000007,034 km2)
Kenai Peninsula Borough	122	Soldotna	Second	1964	-	The Kenai Peninsula, whose named may be derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet.	&1000000000004969100000049,691	&1000000000001601300000016,013 sq mi (&1000000000004147300000041,473 km2)
Ketchikan Gateway Borough	130	Ketchikan	Second	1963	-	The borough seat of Ketchikan and the borough's gateway location on the Alaska-Canadian border.	&1000000000001407700000014,077	&100000000000048400000004,840 sq mi (&1000000000001253600000012,536 km2)
Kodiak Island Borough	150	Kodiak	Second	1963	-	Named after Kodiak Island, which may itself be named for the Koniag people	&1000000000001391300000013,913	&100000000000065600000006,560 sq mi (&1000000000001699000000016,990 km2)
Lake and Peninsula Borough	164	King Salmon	Home Rule	1989	-	The borough's many large lakes, and the Alaska Peninsula	&100000000000018230000001,823	&1000000000002378200000023,782 sq mi (&1000000000006159500000061,595 km2)
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	170	Palmer	Second	1964	-	Named for the valley that the Matanuska and Susitna Rivers form.	&1000000000005932200000059,322	&1000000000002468200000024,682 sq mi (&1000000000006392600000063,926 km2)
North Slope Borough	185	Barrow	Home Rule	1972	-	The Alaska North Slope along the Brooks Range.	&100000000000073850000007,385	&1000000000008881700000088,817 sq mi (&10000000000230035000000230,035 km2)
Northwest Arctic Borough	188	Kotzebue	Home Rule	1986	In 1986, residents of Kotzebue and 10 other area villages voted to form the Northwest Arctic Borough (with boundaries coincident with those of NANA), to be economically based on taxing the Red Dog mine, then under development.	Its geographic location and position above the Arctic Circle.	&100000000000072080000007,208	&1000000000003589800000035,898 sq mi (&1000000000009297500000092,975 km2)
Sitka	220	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	1971	-	Derived from Tlingit word Shee At'iká, meaning "People on the outside of Shee (Baranof Island)."	&100000000000088350000008,835	&100000000000028740000002,874 sq mi (&100000000000074440000007,444 km2)
Skagway	230	-	First	2007	-	Derived from Tlingit word Shgagwèi, meaning "a windy place with white caps on the water."	&10000000000000862000000862	&10000000000000452000000452 sq mi (&100000000000011710000001,171 km2)
Unorganized Borough	-	-	-	1961	The Borough Act of 1961 created The Unorganized Borough including all of Alaska not within a Unified, Home rule, First class or Second class borough.	A legal entity in Alaska, covering those parts of Alaska not within an incorporated borough; it is administered by the state of Alaska.[8]	&1000000000007848600000078,486	&10000000000323440000000323,440 sq mi (&10000000000837706000000837,706 km2)
Wrangell	-	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	2008	formerly part of Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area	Ferdinand von Wrangel, Russian administrator of Alaska, 1840-49.	&100000000000024480000002,448	&100000000000025700000002,570 sq mi (&100000000000066560000006,656 km2)
Yakutat City and Borough	282	(Consolidated city-borough)	Home Rule	1992	-	Yakutat Bay and the Yakutat Alaska Native people	&10000000000000808000000808	&100000000000076500000007,650 sq mi (&1000000000001981300000019,813 km2)

Census areas in the Unorganized Borough

The Unorganized Borough is that part of the U.S. state of Alaska not contained in any of its 18 organized boroughs. It encompasses over half of Alaska's area, 970,500 km² (374,712 mi²), an area larger than any other US state. As of the 2000 census 13% of Alaskans (81,803 people) reside in it.

Unique among the United States, Alaska is not entirely subdivided into organized county equivalents. In 1970, the United States Census Bureau divided the unorganized borough into 11 census areas to facilitate census taking in the vast unorganized area.

Census area	FIPS code [2]	Largest town (as of 2000)	Etymology	Population [3]	Area [3]	Map
Aleutians West Census Area	016	Unalaska	Location in the western Aleutian Islands.	&100000000000054650000005,465	&100000000000043970000004,397 sq mi (&1000000000001138800000011,388 km2)
Bethel Census Area	050	Bethel	City of Bethel, the largest settlement in the census area, which is itself named for the Biblical term Bethel ("house of God").	&1000000000001600600000016,006	&1000000000004063300000040,633 sq mi (&10000000000105239000000105,239 km2)
Dillingham Census Area	070	Dillingham	The city of Dillingham, the largest settlement in the area, which was itself named after United States Senator Paul Dillingham (1843-1923), who had toured Alaska extensively with his Senate subcommittee in 1903.	&100000000000049220000004,922	&1000000000001867500000018,675 sq mi (&1000000000004836800000048,368 km2)
Hoonah–Angoon Census Area	105	Hoonah	The cities of Hoonah and Angoon	&100000000000025740000002,574	&100000000000074440000007,444 sq mi (&1000000000001928000000019,280 km2)
Nome Census Area	180	Nome	City of Nome, the largest settlement in the census area.	&100000000000091960000009,196	&1000000000002300100000023,001 sq mi (&1000000000005957200000059,572 km2)
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	201	Craig	Prince of Wales Island and the town of Hyder (Known as Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan prior to the expansion of Ketchikan Gateway Borough in 2008)	&100000000000061150000006,115	&100000000000037600000003,760 sq mi (&100000000000097380000009,738 km2)
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	240	Deltana	Its location, southeast of Fairbanks	&100000000000061740000006,174	&1000000000002481400000024,814 sq mi (&1000000000006426800000064,268 km2)
Valdez-Cordova Census Area	261	Valdez	Cities of Valdez and Cordova	&1000000000001019500000010,195	&1000000000003431900000034,319 sq mi (&1000000000008888600000088,886 km2)
Wade Hampton Census Area	270	Hooper Bay	Wade Hampton III (1818–1902), a Confederate cavalry leader during the American Civil War	&100000000000070280000007,028	&1000000000001719400000017,194 sq mi (&1000000000004453200000044,532 km2)
Petersburg Census Area	280	Petersburg	The city of Petersburg, the largest settlement in the census area (Known as Wrangell-Petersburg prior to the incorporation of Wrangell City-Borough in 2008)	&100000000000042600000004,260	&100000000000033010000003,301 sq mi (&100000000000085500000008,550 km2)
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	290	Galena	Yukon River ("great river" in Gwich’in), which flows through the census area; and the city of Koyukuk	&100000000000065510000006,551	&10000000000145900000000145,900 sq mi (&10000000000377879000000377,879 km2)

Notes

^ A: Because census areas in the Unorganized Borough have their own FIPS codes, this code listed and linked is for the entire State of Alaska.

References

• Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development - maps and profiles of boroughs and census areas, including those that have changed since the 2000 census.

General References

See also

• List of Alaska borough and census area name etymologies

State of Alaska Juneau (capital) Topics Index Geography Climate Wildlife History People Transportation Government Delegations Music Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Health (Rural dentistry) Politics Regions Aleutian Islands Arctic Alaska Bush Alaska Inside Passage Interior Kenai Peninsula Mat‑Su Valley North Slope Southeast Seward Peninsula Southcentral Southwest Tanana Valley Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta Largest cities Anchorage Barrow Bethel Dillingham Fairbanks Homer Juneau Kenai Ketchikan Kodiak Kotzebue Nome Palmer Petersburg Seward Sitka Soldotna Unalaska (Dutch Harbor) Valdez Wasilla Boroughs Aleutians East Anchorage Bristol Bay Denali Fairbanks North Star Haines Juneau Kenai Peninsula Ketchikan Gateway Kodiak Island Lake and Peninsula Matanuska‑Susitna North Slope Northwest Arctic Sitka Skagway Wrangell Yakutat Unorganized Census Areas Aleutians West Bethel Dillingham Hoonah‑Angoon Nome Petersburg Prince of Wales‑Hyder Southeast Fairbanks Valdez‑Cordova Wade Hampton Yukon‑Koyukuk

List of U.S. counties and county-equivalents by political division (state / federal district) Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming