Sitka, Alaska

city-borough in Alaska, USA

Sitka (Tlingit: Sheetʼká; Russian: Ситка) is a city in Alaska, originally founded as New Archangel (Russian: Ново-Архангельск / Новоaрхангельск, romanized: Novo-Arkhangelsk / Novoarkhangelsk) by the Russian Rule between 1799 and 1867, and was the capital of Russian America.

Sitka, Alaska
Downtown Sitka in 1984
Downtown Sitka in 1984
Coordinates: 57°03′12″N 135°20′05″W / 57.05333°N 135.33472°W / 57.05333; -135.33472
Country United States
State Alaska
Colonized1799, 1804
Incorporated[1]November 5, 1913 (city)
September 24, 1963
(borough)
December 2, 1971
(unified municipality)
Named forTlingit for “People on the outside of Shee
Area
 • City and Borough4,815.14 sq mi (12,471.16 km2)
 • Land2,870.06 sq mi (7,433.42 km2)
 • Water1,945.09 sq mi (5,037.75 km2)
 • Urban
2 sq mi (5 km2)
Elevation
26 ft (8 m)
Population
 • City and Borough8,458
 • Density2.95/sq mi (1.14/km2)
 • Urban
7,668
Time zoneUTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-8 (AKDT)
Area code907
FIPS code02-70540
GNIS feature ID1414736
Websitewww.cityofsitka.com

References change

  1. From November 1867 to February 1873, the earliest American settlers in Sitka established and conducted affairs under a "provisional city government", as Alaskan communities were prohibited from legally incorporating until the U.S. Congress passed legislation allowing them to do so in 1900. Mayors of Sitka under this government included William Sumner Dodge and John Henry Kinkead. See Atwood, Evangeline; DeArmond, Robert N. (1977). Who's Who in Alaskan Politics. Portland, Oregon: Binford & Mort for the Alaska Historical Commission. p. 24.; Wheeler, Keith (1977). "Learning to cope with 'Seward's Icebox'". The Alaskans. Alexandria, Virginia: Time–Life Books. pp. 57–64. ISBN 0-8094-1506-2.
  2. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  3. "QuickFacts: Sitka city and borough, Alaska". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 9, 2023.