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Map of Alaska boroughs and census areas

The U.S. state of Alaska is not divided into counties, as are 48 other states (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 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.

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.

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, possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island"	&0000000000002697.0000002,697	&0000000000006988.0000006,988 sq mi (&0000000000018099.00000018,099 km 2)
Municipality of Anchorage	020	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	1986	-	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.	&0000000000260283.000000260,283	&0000000000001697.0000001,697 sq mi (&0000000000004395.0000004,395 km 2)
Bristol Bay Borough	060	Naknek	Second	1962	-	Bristol Bay, named in 1778 by Capt. James Cook, RN "in honour of the Admiral Earl of Bristol," England.	&0000000000001258.0000001,258	&0000000000000505.000000505 sq mi (&0000000000001308.0000001,308 km 2)
Denali Borough	068	Healy	Home Rule	1990	-	From Denali, the tallest North American mountain, from Dena'ina for "great one"	&0000000000001893.0000001,893	&0000000000012750.00000012,750 sq mi (&0000000000033022.00000033,022 km 2)
Fairbanks North Star Borough	090	Fairbanks	Second	1964	-	Fairbanks and Polaris, the North Star	&0000000000082840.00000082,840	&0000000000007366.0000007,366 sq mi (&0000000000019078.00000019,078 km 2)
Haines Borough	100	(Consolidated city-borough)	Home Rule, Third	1968 (Consolidated 2002)	-	After Haines, from Mrs. F. E. Haines	&0000000000002392.0000002,392	&0000000000002344.0000002,344 sq mi (&0000000000006071.0000006,071 km 2)
City and Borough of 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, co-founder of the city	&0000000000030711.00000030,711	&0000000000002716.0000002,716 sq mi (&0000000000007034.0000007,034 km 2)
Kenai Peninsula Borough	122	Soldotna	Second	1964	-	The Kenai Peninsula, which may be from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet	&0000000000049691.00000049,691	&0000000000016013.00000016,013 sq mi (&0000000000041473.00000041,473 km 2)
Ketchikan Gateway Borough	130	Ketchikan	Second	1963	-	Ketchikan, and for its gateway location on the Alaska-Canadian border	&0000000000014077.00000014,077	&0000000000004840.0000004,840 sq mi (&0000000000012536.00000012,536 km 2)
Kodiak Island Borough	150	Kodiak	Second	1963	-	Kodiak Island, which may be named for the Koniagmiut, or Koniag, people	&0000000000013913.00000013,913	&0000000000006560.0000006,560 sq mi (&0000000000016990.00000016,990 km 2)
Lake and Peninsula Borough	164	King Salmon	Home Rule	1989	-	The borough's many large lakes, and the Alaska Peninsula	&0000000000001823.0000001,823	&0000000000023782.00000023,782 sq mi (&0000000000061595.00000061,595 km 2)
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	170	Palmer	Second	1964	-	Named for the valley that the Matanuska and Susitna form	&0000000000059322.00000059,322	&0000000000024682.00000024,682 sq mi (&0000000000063926.00000063,926 km 2)
North Slope Borough	185	Barrow	Home Rule	1972	-	The Alaska North Slope	&0000000000007385.0000007,385	&0000000000088817.00000088,817 sq mi (&0000000000230035.000000230,035 km 2)
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	&0000000000007208.0000007,208	&0000000000035898.00000035,898 sq mi (&0000000000092975.00000092,975 km 2)
City and Borough of Sitka	220	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	1971	-	Derived from Tlingit Shee At'iká, meaning "People on the outside of Shee (Baranof Island)."	&0000000000008835.0000008,835	&0000000000002874.0000002,874 sq mi (&0000000000007444.0000007,444 km 2)
Municipality of Skagway Borough	230	-	First	2007	-	-	&0000000000000862.000000862	&0000000000000452.000000452 sq mi (&0000000000001171.0000001,171 km 2)
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]	&0000000000078486.00000078,486	&0000000000323440.000000323,440 sq mi (&0000000000837706.000000837,706 km 2)
City and Borough of Wrangell	-	-	Unified Home Rule	2008	formerly part of Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area	-	&0000000000002448.0000002,448	&0000000000002570.0000002,570 sq mi (&0000000000006656.0000006,656 km 2)
City and Borough of Yakutat	282	(Consolidated city-borough)	Home Rule	1992	-	Yakutat Bay and the Yakutat Alaska Native people	&0000000000000808.000000808	&0000000000007650.0000007,650 sq mi (&0000000000019813.00000019,813 km 2)

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 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	&0000000000005465.0000005,465	&0000000000004397.0000004,397 sq mi (&0000000000011388.00000011,388 km 2)
Bethel Census Area	050	Bethel	City of Bethel, the largest settlement in the census area	&0000000000016006.00000016,006	&0000000000040633.00000040,633 sq mi (&0000000000105239.000000105,239 km 2)
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.	&0000000000004922.0000004,922	&0000000000018675.00000018,675 sq mi (&0000000000048368.00000048,368 km 2)
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	105	Hoonah	The cities of Hoonah and Angoon	&0000000000002574.0000002,574	&0000000000007444.0000007,444 sq mi (&0000000000019280.00000019,280 km 2)
Nome Census Area	180	Nome	City of Nome, the largest settlement in the census area.	&0000000000009196.0000009,196	&0000000000023001.00000023,001 sq mi (&0000000000059572.00000059,572 km 2)
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)	&0000000000006115.0000006,115	&0000000000003760.0000003,760 sq mi (&0000000000009738.0000009,738 km 2)
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	240	Tok	Its location, southeast of Fairbanks	&0000000000006174.0000006,174	&0000000000024814.00000024,814 sq mi (&0000000000064268.00000064,268 km 2)
Valdez-Cordova Census Area	261	Valdez	Cities of Valdez and Cordova	&0000000000010195.00000010,195	&0000000000034319.00000034,319 sq mi (&0000000000088886.00000088,886 km 2)
Wade Hampton Census Area	270	Hooper Bay	Wade Hampton III (1818–1902), a Confederate cavalry leader during the American Civil War	&0000000000007028.0000007,028	&0000000000017194.00000017,194 sq mi (&0000000000044532.00000044,532 km 2)
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)	&0000000000004260.0000004,260	&0000000000003301.0000003,301 sq mi (&0000000000008550.0000008,550 km 2)
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	290	Galena	Yukon River ("great river" in Gwich’in), which flows through the census area; and the city of Koyukuk	&0000000000006551.0000006,551	&0000000000145900.000000145,900 sq mi (&0000000000377879.000000377,879 km 2)

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 Geography | Climate | Wildlife | History | People | Demographics | Transportation | Government | Music | Economy | Culture | Visitor Attractions 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

From Familypedia

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 Alaska are divided into 16 boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However, uniquely within the United States, 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.

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.

Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka and Yakutat have consolidated city-borough governments.

Boroughs and census areas are both treated as county-level equivalents by the Census Bureau.

Current borough seats are given in parentheses, where they exist.

The links in the column FIPS borough code / FIPS census area code are to the Census Bureau information page for that borough or census area.

List of 27 boroughs and census areas in the U.S. state of Alaska:

1. ^ The FIPS borough code (or census area code) is the five-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the United States. The three-digit number is unique to each individual county within a state, but to be unique within the entire United States, it must be prefixed by the state code. This means that, for example, while Aleutians East Borough, Alaska is number 013, there is also an Arlington County, Virginia that is also 013, and a Bienville Parish, Louisiana that is also 013. While Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska is number 261, Kenedy County, Texas is also number 261. To uniquely identify Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, you would need to use the state code of 02 plus the Borough code of 013. Thus the unique identifier for the entire United States for Aleutians East Borough, Alaska would be 02013, and for the Valdez-Cordova Census Area would be 02261, etc.

See also

• List of Alaska borough and census area name etymologies

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