List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska

See also: List of United States counties and county equivalents

Boroughs and Census Areas of Alaska
Borough •   City-borough •   Census area
Location	State of Alaska
Number	19 Organized boroughs 10 Census areas
Populations	(Organized boroughs):452 (Yakutat) – 291,826 (Anchorage) (Census areas):2,150 (Hoonah-Angoon) – 17,013 (Bethel)
Areas	(Organized boroughs):452 square miles (1,170 km2) (Skagway) – 88,817 square miles (230,030 km2) (North Slope) (Census Areas):3,760 square miles (9,700 km2) (Prince of Wales-Hyder) – 145,900 square miles (378,000 km2) (Yukon-Koyukuk)
Government	Borough government
Subdivisions	Communities, consolidated city-county

The U.S. state of Alaska is divided into 19 organized boroughs and one "Unorganized Borough". Alaska and Louisiana are the only states that do not call their first-order administrative subdivisions counties (Louisiana uses parishes instead).

Many of the most densely populated regions of the state are part of Alaska's boroughs, which function 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. The U.S. Census Bureau, in cooperation with the state, divides the Unorganized Borough into 10 census areas, each roughly corresponding to an election district, thus totaling 29 county equivalents. 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. Alaska's code is 02, so each code is of the format 02XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.

List of boroughs

Borough	FIPS code	Borough seat	Class	Established	Origin	Etymology	Density	Population	Area	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")	0.45	3,141	6,988 sq mi (18,099 km2)
Municipality of Anchorage	020	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	1964/1975	Anchorage Borough formed in 1964, merged with city in 1975 to form unified city-borough	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.	171.18	291,826	1,697 sq mi (4,395 km2)
Bristol Bay Borough	060	Naknek	Second	1962	-	Named in 1778 by Capt. James Cook for George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol.	1.98	997	505 sq mi (1,308 km2)
Denali Borough	068	Healy	Home Rule	1990	-	From Denali, the tallest North American mountain, which means "great one" in the Dena'ina language	0.14	1,826	12,750 sq mi (33,022 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	13.30	97,581	7,366 sq mi (19,078 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.	1.08	2,508	2,344 sq mi (6,071 km2)
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, prospector and co-founder of the city.	11.58	31,275	2,716 sq mi (7,034 km2)
Kenai Peninsula Borough	122	Soldotna	Second	1964	-	The Kenai Peninsula, whose named may be derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet.	3.45	55,400	16,013 sq mi (41,473 km2)
Ketchikan Gateway Borough	130	Ketchikan	Second	1963	-	The borough seat of Ketchikan and the borough's gateway location on the Alaska-Canada border.	2.77	13,477	4,840 sq mi (12,536 km2)
Kodiak Island Borough	150	Kodiak	Second	1963	-	Named after Kodiak Island, which may itself be named for the Koniag people	2.08	13,592	6,560 sq mi (16,990 km2)
Lake and Peninsula Borough	164	King Salmon	Home Rule	1989	-	The borough's many large lakes, and the Alaska Peninsula	0.07	1,631	23,782 sq mi (61,595 km2)
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	170	Palmer	Second	1964	-	Named for the valley that the Matanuska and Susitna Rivers form.	3.62	88,995	24,682 sq mi (63,926 km2)
North Slope Borough	185	Barrow	Home Rule	1972	-	The Alaska North Slope along the Brooks Range.	0.11	9,430	88,817 sq mi (230,035 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.	0.21	7,523	35,898 sq mi (92,975 km2)
Petersburg Borough	195	Petersburg	Home Rule	2013	Incorporated after voters approved borough formation in December 2012.	Named for Norwegian immigrant Peter Buschmann, founder of the former city of Petersburg.	1.16	3,273	3,829 sq mi (9,917 km2)
City and Borough of 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)."	3.09	8,881	2,874 sq mi (7,444 km2)
Municipality of Skagway	230	(Consolidated city-borough)	First	2007	-	Derived from Tlingit word Shgagwèi, meaning "a windy place with white caps on the water."	2.14	968	452 sq mi (1,171 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.	0.24	78,149	323,440 sq mi (837,706 km2)
City and Borough of Wrangell	275	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	2008	formerly part of Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area	Ferdinand von Wrangel, Russian administrator of Alaska, 1840-49.	0.93	2,369	2,570 sq mi (6,656 km2)
City and Borough of Yakutat	282	(Consolidated city-borough)	Home Rule	1992	-	Yakutat Bay and the Yakutat Alaska Native people	0.09	662	7,650 sq mi (19,813 km2)

Census areas in the Unorganized Borough

Map of Alaska highlighting the Unorganized Borough

The Unorganized Borough is the portion of the U.S. state of Alaska not contained in any of its 19 organized boroughs. It encompasses over half of Alaska's area, 970,500 km² (374,712 mi²), an area larger than any other U.S. state. As of the 2000 census 13% of Alaskans (81,803 people) reside in it.

Currently unique among the United States, Alaska is not entirely subdivided into organized county equivalents. (South Dakota and Texas are among states that in the past have had unorganized counties.) For the 1980 census, the United States Census Bureau divided the unorganized borough into 12 census areas to facilitate census taking in the vast unorganized area. As new boroughs incorporate, these areas have been altered or eliminated to accommodate, such that there are currently 10 census areas:

Census area	FIPS code	Largest town (as of 2000)	Etymology	Density	Population	Area	Map
Aleutians West Census Area	016	Unalaska	Location in the western Aleutian Islands.	1.27	5,561	4,397 sq mi (11,388 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").	0.42	17,013	40,633 sq mi (105,239 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.	0.26	4,847	18,675 sq mi (48,368 km2)
Hoonah–Angoon Census Area	105	Hoonah	The cities of Hoonah and Angoon	0.29	2,150	7,444 sq mi (19,280 km2)
Kusilvak Census Area	158	Hooper Bay	Kusilvak Mountains (Known as Wade Hampton prior to 2015)	0.44	7,459	17,194 sq mi (44,532 km2)
Nome Census Area	180	Nome	City of Nome, the largest settlement in the census area.	0.41	9,492	23,001 sq mi (59,572 km2)
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	198	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)	1.42	5,559	3,760 sq mi (9,738 km2)
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	240	Deltana	Its location, southeast of Fairbanks	0.28	7,029	24,814 sq mi (64,268 km2)
Valdez-Cordova Census Area	261	Valdez	Cities of Valdez and Cordova	0.28	9,636	34,319 sq mi (88,886 km2)
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	290	Fort Yukon	Yukon River ("great river" in Gwich’in), which flows through the census area; and the city of Koyukuk	0.04	5,588	145,900 sq mi (377,879 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.

Other sources

• Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development

• Local Government On-Line, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development

• "Alaska Statutes, Title 29, Chapter 04. Classification of Municipalities". Local Government On-Line, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
• "Municipal Government Structure in Alaska". Local Government On-Line, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. 2003-09-15. Retrieved 2008-07-16.

• "Differences among Home Rule, First Class, Second Class and Third Class Boroughs" (PDF). Local Boundary Commission, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. 1994-02-25. Retrieved 2008-07-16.

• "Alaska Boroughs - "Official" sites". Official Borough Websites. CountyState.Info. Retrieved 2007-09-13.

See also

• List of cities and census-designated places in Alaska
• List of cities in Alaska
• List of places in Alaska
• List of communities in Alaska