List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska

Map of Alaska boroughs and census areas

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

Five consolidated city-county governments exist—Juneau City and Borough, City and Borough of Haines, Sitka City and Borough, Yakutat 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.

Alphabetical List

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government 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.

Boroughs

Borough	FIPS Code[2]	Borough Seat [3]	Founded [3]	Origin	Etymology	Population [4]	Area [4]	Map
Aleutians East Borough	013	Sand Point	1987		Its location in the east Aleutian Islands, possibly from Chuckchi aliat, "island"	.	. mi² (. km²)
Municipality of Anchorage	020	(Consolidated city-borough)	1986		Derived from the fact that ships often had to dock here and transfer cargo	.	. mi² (. km²)
Bristol Bay Borough	060	Naknek	1962		Bristol Bay, eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea.	.	. mi² (. km²)
Denali Borough	068	Healy	1990		From Denali, the tallest North American mountain, from Dena'ina for "great one"	.	. mi² (. km²)
Fairbanks North Star Borough	090	Fairbanks	1964		Fairbanks and Polaris, the North Star	.	. mi² (. km²)
Haines Borough	100	Haines	1968		After Haines, from Mrs. F. E. Haines	.	. mi² (. km²)
City and Borough of Juneau	110	(Consolidated city-borough)	1970	The City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding borough to form the municipality	Joseph "Joe" Juneau, co-founder of the city	.	. mi² (. km²)
Kenai Peninsula Borough	122	Soldotna	1964		The Kenai Peninsula, which may be from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet	.	. mi² (. km²)
Ketchikan Gateway Borough	130	Ketchikan	1963		Ketchikan, and for its gateway location on the Alaska-Canadian border	.	. mi² (. km²)
Kodiak Island Borough	150	Kodiak	1963		Kodiak Island, which may be named for the Koniagmiut, or Koniag, people	.	. mi² (. km²)
Lake and Peninsula Borough	164	King Salmon	1989		The borough's many large lakes, and the Alaska Peninsula	.	. mi² (. km²)
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	170	Palmer	1964		Named for the valley that the Matanuska and Susitna form	.	. mi² (. km²)
North Slope Borough	185	Barrow	1972		The Alaska North Slope	.	. mi² (. km²)
Northwest Arctic Borough	188	Kotzebue	1986		Its geographic location	.	. mi² (. km²)
City and Borough of Sitka	220	(Consolidated city-borough)	1971		Derived from Tlingit Shee At'iká, meaning "People on the outside of Shee (Baranof Island)."	.	. mi² (. km²)
City and Borough of Yakutat	282	(Consolidated city-borough)	1992		Yakutat Bay and the Yakutat Alaska Native people	.	. mi² (. km²)

Census areas in the Unorganized Borough

Map of Alaska highlighting the Unorganized Borough

The Unorganized Borough is that part of the U.S. state of Alaska not contained in any of its 16 organized boroughs. It encompasses over half of Alaska's area, 970,500 km² (374,712 mi²), an area larger than France and Germany combined. 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/city (as of 2000)	Etymology	Population [4]	Area [4]	Map
Aleutians West Census Area	016	Unalaska	Location in the western Aleutian Islands	.	. mi² (. km²)
Bethel Census Area	050	Bethel	City of Bethel, the largest settlement in the census area	.	. mi² (. km²)
Dillingham Census Area	070	Dillingham	The city of Dillingham, the largest settlement in the area. The city was named after United States Senator Paul Dillingham (1843-1923), who had toured Alaska extensively with his Senate subcommittee in 1903.	.	. mi² (. km²)
Nome Census Area	180	Nome	City of Nome, the largest settlement in the census area.	.	. mi² (. km²)
Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area	201	Craig	Prince of Wales Island and the city of Ketchikan	.	. mi² (. km²)
Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	232	Skagway	The cities of Skagway, Hoonah, and Angoon	.	. mi² (. km²)
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	240	Tok	Its location, southeast of Fairbanks	.	. mi² (. km²)
Valdez-Cordova Census Area	261	Valdez	Cities of Valdez and Cordova	.	. mi² (. km²)
Wade Hampton Census Area	270	Hooper Bay	Wade Hampton III (1818–1902), a Confederate cavalry leader during the American Civil War	.	. mi² (. km²)
Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area	280	Petersburg	The cities of Wrangell and Petersburg, the largest settlements in the census area	.	. mi² (. 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	.	. mi² (. km²)

References

• CountyState.info Alaska. Official Borough Websites. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. - official sites

1. ^ FIPS Publish 6-4. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
2. ^ ^{a b} EPA County FIPS Code Listing. EPA. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
3. ^ ^{a b} National Association of Counties. NACo - Find a county. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Alaska QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. State & County QuickFacts. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.

See also

• List of Alaska borough and census area name etymologies

	State of Alaska Juneau (capital)
Topics	Geography | Climate | Wildlife | History | Demographics | Transportation | Government | Music | Economy | Culture
Regions	Aleutian Islands | Arctic Alaska | Bush Alaska | Interior | Kenai Peninsula | Mat‑Su Valley | North Slope | Panhandle | 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 | Unalaska | 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 | Yakutat | Unorganized
Census Areas	Aleutians West | Bethel | Dillingham | Nome | Prince of Wales‑Outer Ketchikan | Skagway‑Hoonah‑Angoon | Southeast Fairbanks | Valdez‑Cordova | Wade Hampton | Wrangell‑Petersburg | Yukon‑Koyukuk

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