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.
Contents |
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" | 2,697 | 6,988 sq mi (18,099 km2) |
 |
| 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. | 260,283 | 1,697 sq mi (4,395 km2) |
 |
| 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. | 1,258 | 505 sq mi (1,308 km2) |
 |
| Denali Borough | 068 | Healy | Home Rule | 1990 | - | From Denali, the tallest North American mountain, from Dena'ina for "great one" | 1,893 | 12,750 sq mi (33,022 km2) |
 |
| Fairbanks North Star Borough | 090 | Fairbanks | Second | 1964 | - | Fairbanks and Polaris, the North Star | 82,840 | 7,366 sq mi (19,078 km2) |
 |
| Haines Borough | 100 | (Consolidated city-borough) |
Home Rule, Third | 1968 (Consolidated 2002) |
- | After Haines, from Mrs. F. E. Haines | 2,392 | 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, co-founder of the city | 30,711 | 2,716 sq mi (7,034 km2) |
 |
| Kenai Peninsula Borough | 122 | Soldotna | Second | 1964 | - | The Kenai Peninsula, which may be from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet | 49,691 | 16,013 sq mi (41,473 km2) |
 |
| Ketchikan Gateway Borough | 130 | Ketchikan | Second | 1963 | - | Ketchikan, and for its gateway location on the Alaska-Canadian border | 14,077 | 4,840 sq mi (12,536 km2) |
 |
| Kodiak Island Borough | 150 | Kodiak | Second | 1963 | - | Kodiak Island, which may be named for the Koniagmiut, or Koniag, people | 13,913 | 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 | 1,823 | 23,782 sq mi (61,595 km2) |
 |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough | 170 | Palmer | Second | 1964 | - | Named for the valley that the Matanuska and Susitna form | 59,322 | 24,682 sq mi (63,926 km2) |
 |
| North Slope Borough | 185 | Barrow | Home Rule | 1972 | - | The Alaska North Slope | 7,385 | 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 | 7,208 | 35,898 sq mi (92,975 km2) |
 |
| 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)." | 8,835 | 2,874 sq mi (7,444 km2) |
 |
| Municipality of Skagway Borough | 230 | - | First | 2007 | - | - | 862 | 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.[8] | 78,486 | 323,440 sq mi (837,706 km2) |
 |
| City and Borough of Wrangell | - | - | Unified Home Rule | 2008 | formerly part of Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area | - | 2,448 | 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 | 808 | 7,650 sq mi (19,813 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 | 5,465 | 4,397 sq mi (11,388 km2) |
 |
| Bethel Census Area | 050 | Bethel | City of Bethel, the largest settlement in the census area | 16,006 | 40,633 sq mi (105,239 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. | 4,922 | 18,675 sq mi (48,368 km2) |
 |
| Hoonah-Angoon Census Area | 105 | Hoonah | The cities of Hoonah and Angoon | 2,574 | 7,444 sq mi (19,280 km2) |
 |
| Nome Census Area | 180 | Nome | City of Nome, the largest settlement in the census area. | 9,196 | 23,001 sq mi (59,572 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) |
6,115 | 3,760 sq mi (9,738 km2) |
 |
| Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | 240 | Tok | Its location, southeast of Fairbanks | 6,174 | 24,814 sq mi (64,268 km2) |
 |
| Valdez-Cordova Census Area | 261 | Valdez | Cities of Valdez and Cordova | 10,195 | 34,319 sq mi (88,886 km2) |
 |
| Wade Hampton Census Area | 270 | Hooper Bay | Wade Hampton III (1818–1902), a Confederate cavalry leader during the American Civil War | 7,028 | 17,194 sq mi (44,532 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) |
4,260 | 3,301 sq mi (8,550 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 | 6,551 | 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
- ^ "FIPS Publish 6-4". National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip6-4.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ a b "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA.gov. http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/codes/ak.html. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ a b c d e f National Association of Counties. "NACo - Find a county". http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/state.cfm&state.cfm&statecode=AK. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
- ^ "- Home Rule/Borough/ Home Rule Boroughs" (FTP). Local Boundary Commission, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. ftp://ftp.dcbd.dced.state.ak.us/DCBD/Municipal_charters/Charters - Home Rule/Borough/. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "Certificates/Boroughs Municipal Certificates (of incorporation) - Boroughs" (FTP). Local Boundary Commission, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. ftp://ftp.dcbd.dced.state.ak.us/DCBD/Municipal Certificates/Boroughs. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "Alaska Taxable 2004 Municipal Taxation - Rates and Policies" (PDF). Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. January, 2005. http://www.dced.state.ak.us/dca/osa/pub/04Taxable.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "Background on Boroughs in Alaska" (PDF). Local Boundary Commission, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. November 2000. http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/lbc/pubs/Bkg_Boro_Govt.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "Governmental Unit Boundary Data Content Standard (Working Draft, Version 2.0)" (PDF). Subcommittee on Cultural and Demographic Data, Federal Geographic Data Committee, United States Census Bureau, United States Department of Commerce. February, 1999. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/standards/scdd/GUSTD.V2.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- 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
- 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. http://www.dced.state.ak.us/dca/LOGON/pubs/29_04.htm. 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. http://www.dced.state.ak.us/dca/logon/muni/muni-structure.htm. 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. ftp://ftp.dcbd.dced.state.ak.us/DCBD/Borough_Information/Boro_Clas.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- "Alaska Boroughs - "Official" sites". Official Borough Websites. CountyState.Info. http://www.countystate.info/alaska.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
See also
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