Alaska

A

Population Patterns

Since 1867 the populations of the main communities in Alaska have fluctuated considerably. In 1890, settlement was almost entirely along the coast, and the only sizable community was Juneau. By 1900, when the gold rush was under way, Nome had become the largest population center. Ten years later, it had shrunk to one-tenth its former size, and many other gold-mining centers had disappeared altogether. However, the Panhandle communities of Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Wrangell had maintained their size, and Fairbanks, Kodiak, and the community of Kenai had begun to develop.

By the 1930s, Anchorage had grown to become one of the largest communities in the territory. Most of Alaska’s population increase after World War II has been concentrated in the Anchorage area and in other parts of south central Alaska. Between 1940 and 1960 the total population of south central Alaska, the focus of military activity in the state, tripled in size to about 155,000. Southeastern Alaska grew steadily, but not spectacularly. Fairbanks developed as the hub of the Interior and occupies a central position in highway and air transportation. The remaining sections of the state still have by far the smallest populations.

B

Principal Cities

Most of the principal cities in Alaska lie along the coast in the southern part of the state. All of them are small by comparison with the chief cities of nearly all other states.

Anchorage, with a population (2005 estimate) of 275,043, is by far the largest city in Alaska. It serves as the chief commercial center of southern Alaska and as the principal transportation center of the entire state.

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Fairbanks has a population of 31,142. As the terminus for the Alaska Railroad and the Parks Highway to Anchorage, it is also the jumping-off point for cargoes destined for Prudhoe Bay. The statewide offices of the University of Alaska are located in Fairbanks.

Juneau, with a population of 30,987, is the state capital and the largest city in the Alaska Panhandle. It is also a port and commercial center. Sitka was the capital of Russian America and the first capital of the territory of Alaska. The port city is now a government and education center, a significant tourist destination, and a center for fisheries, with a population of 8,986. Ketchikan, with a population of 7,446, ranks as one of the leading salmon-fishing ports in the world.

Other communities of note in Alaska include Kodiak, which was established as a Russian fur-trading center late in the 18th century and is now one of the oldest communities in Alaska. Dutch Harbor-Unalaska is a globally significant fishing port and the main city for the Aleutian Islands, while Petersburg is a major fishing port in southeastern Alaska. Nome, which was once the largest city in Alaska, is now the state’s principal port on the Bering Sea and a trade center. Seward serves as the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad and another of the state’s chief ports. Barrow, located near Point Barrow, is the northernmost community in the United States.

C

Religion

The first Russian Orthodox church in Alaska was built at Sitka in 1816 to serve the Russian colony there and as a base for missionary work among the indigenous peoples. It was replaced in 1848 by the Cathedral of Saint Michael, which, after a fire in 1966, has been completely rebuilt and is now a major tourist destination in addition to being a functioning parish of the Russian Orthodox Church. There are other churches and chapels of the diocese along the coast and in the Aleutians. The church has a seminary for priests in Kodiak.

Several Protestant denominations, including the Lutherans and the Presbyterians, were already active in Alaska in the 19th century. Presbyterians originally founded Sheldon Jackson College at Sitka as a mission and an industrial school for Native Americans. The Episcopal Church sent missionaries to the Yukon River valley in the 1880s, and Fairbanks is the seat of an Episcopal missionary bishopric.

Other Protestant denominations in Alaska include the United Methodists, whose churches are part of a larger regional conference with headquarters at Portland, Oregon, and the Southern Baptists, who form the largest of the Baptist congregations.

In the 1880s the Society of Jesus (see Jesuits) became the second Roman Catholic religious order to enter Alaska, replacing the Catholic Oblate fathers, and working particularly in the Yukon River region. In 1951 the Roman Catholic diocese of Juneau was created.

V

Education and Cultural Institutions

A

Education

Until 1912, the only federally supported schools in Alaska were run through various missionary groups exclusively for Alaska Natives. The immigrant American population built their own schools based on private donations. The territorial government, established in 1912, built an educational system for nonindigenous peoples, while the federal government continued to run Native schools until the 1970s. Today the state of Alaska provides the primary financial support for all public schools in the state. Private schools, primarily associated with religious groups, are self-supporting.

A

1

Higher Education

The University of Alaska, established in 1917 as the Alaska Agricultural and School of Mines, became a university in 1935. It currently is divided into three major units based in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau, and has community colleges and extension centers in almost every large Alaskan community. The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a world leader in research concerning the Arctic, Antarctic, fisheries, volcanology, and numerous other fields.

Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka is private and retains an identification with the Presbyterian Church. Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, founded by the Methodist Church, is also private. There is also a religious college in Glenallen and an Orthodox seminary in Kodiak.

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