List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska

The U.S. state of Alaska is not divided into counties, like the other 48 states (Louisiana has parishes), but instead is divided into boroughs. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are in Alaska's 19 organized boroughs, which are somewhat similar to counties in other states. Unlike in the other states, the organized boroughs do not completely cover all of the land in the state. The areas that are not part of any organized borough are called the unorganized borough.

Map of Alaskan boroughs and census areas

For the 1970 census, the US and state divided the unorganized borough into 11 census areas. Each is roughly the same as an election district. However, these areas are solely for statistical analysis and presentation, and 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 — the City and Borough of Juneau, City and Borough of Skagway, Sitka City and Borough, Yakutat City and Borough, Wrangell City and Borough, and 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, used by the United States Census Bureau to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. 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	Borough seat	Class	Established	Origin	Meaning of name	Density	Population (2020)	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")	0.49	3,420	6,985 sq mi (18,091 km2)
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.	170.62	291,247	1,707 sq mi (4,421 km2)
Bristol Bay Borough	060	Naknek	Second	1962	-	Named in 1778 by Capt. James Cook for George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol.	1.75	844	482 sq mi (1,248 km2)
Denali Borough	068	Healy	Home Rule	1990	-	From Denali, the tallest North American mountain, which means "great one" in the Dena'ina language	0.13	1,619	12,641 sq mi (32,740 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	13.04	95,655	7,335 sq mi (18,998 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.	0.89	2,080	2,343 sq mi (6,068 km2)
Juneau	110	(Consolidated city-borough)	Unified Home Rule	1970	The cities of Juneau and Douglas merged with the surrounding borough to form the municipality	Joseph "Joe" Juneau, prospector and co-founder of the city.	11.93	32,255	2,704 sq mi (7,003 km2)
Kenai Peninsula Borough	122	Soldotna	Second	1964	-	The Kenai Peninsula, whose name may be derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet.	3.67	58,799	16,017 sq mi (41,484 km2)
Ketchikan Gateway Borough	130	Ketchikan	Second	1963	-	The borough seat of Ketchikan and the borough's gateway location on the Alaska-Canada border.	2.87	13,948	4,857 sq mi (12,580 km2)
Kodiak Island Borough	150	Kodiak	Second	1963	-	Named after Kodiak Island, which may itself be named for the Koniag people	1.96	13,101	6,689 sq mi (17,324 km2)
Lake and Peninsula Borough	164	King Salmon	Home Rule	1989	-	The borough's many large lakes, and the Alaska Peninsula	0.06	1,476	23,832 sq mi (61,725 km2)
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	170	Palmer	Second	1964	-	Named for the valley that the Matanuska and Susitna Rivers form.	4.33	107,081	24,707 sq mi (63,991 km2)
North Slope Borough	185	Utqiaġvik	Home Rule	1972	-	The Alaska North Slope along the Brooks Range.	0.12	11,031	88,824 sq mi (230,053 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.	0.22	7,793	35,663 sq mi (92,367 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.	1.17	3,398	2,901 sq mi (7,514 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)."	2.95	8,458	2,870 sq mi (7,433 km2)
Skagway	230	(Consolidated city-borough)	First	2007	-	Derived from Tlingit word Shgagwèi, meaning "a windy place with white caps on the water."	2.86	1,240	434 sq mi (1,124 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	77,157	319,852 sq mi (828,413 km2)
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.	0.83	2,127	2,556 sq mi (6,620 km2)
Yakutat	282	(Consolidated city-borough)	Home Rule	1992	-	Yakutat Bay and the Yakutat Alaska Native people	0.09	662	7,623 sq mi (19,743 km2)

Census areas in the Unorganized Borough

Map of Alaska highlighting the Unorganized Borough

The Unorganized Borough is part of the U.S. state of Alaska not in any of its 19 organized boroughs. It is over half of Alaska's area, 837,700 km² (323,440 mi²), an area larger than any other US state.

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 12 census areas to facilitate census taking in the large unorganized area. With later changes due to the creation of new boroughs, there are now 11 such areas.

Census area	FIPS code	Largest town (as of 2000)	Meaning of name	Density	Population (2020)	Area	Map
Aleutians West Census Area	016	Unalaska	Location in the western Aleutian Islands.	1.19	5,232	4,393 sq mi (11,378 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").	0.46	18,666	40,627 sq mi (105,223 km2)
Chugach Census Area	063	Valdez	The Chugach people (Part of Valdez–Cordova Census Area prior to January 02, 2019)	0.75	7,102	9,530 sq mi (24,683 km2)
Copper River Census Area	066	Glennallen	The Copper River (Part of Valdez–Cordova Census Area prior to January 02, 2019)	0.11	2,617	24,692 sq mi (63,952 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	4,857	18,334 sq mi (47,485 km2)
Hoonah–Angoon Census Area	105	Hoonah	The cities of Hoonah and Angoon	0.36	2,365	6,555 sq mi (16,977 km2)
Kusilvak Census Area	158	Hooper Bay	Kusilvak Mountains (Known as Wade Hampton prior to 2015)	0.49	8,368	17,077 sq mi (44,229 km2)
Nome Census Area	180	Nome	City of Nome, the largest settlement in the census area.	0.44	10,046	22,969 sq mi (59,489 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)	1.09	5,753	5,268 sq mi (13,644 km2)
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	240	Deltana	Its location, southeast of Fairbanks	0.27	6,808	24,831 sq mi (64,312 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	5,343	145,576 sq mi (377,040 km2)

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

• 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. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
• "Municipal Government Structure in Alaska". Local Government On-Line, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. September 15, 2003. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
• "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. February 25, 1994. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
• "Alaska Boroughs - "Official" sites". Official Borough Websites. CountyState.Info. Retrieved September 13, 2007.