Southeast Alaska - Geography

Geography

Southeast Alaska is the northern terminus of the Inside Passage, a protected waterway of convoluted passages between islands and fjords, beginning in Puget Sound in Washington state. This was an important travel corridor for Tlingit and Haida Native peoples, as well as gold-rush era steamships. In modern times it is an important route for Alaska Marine Highway ferries as well as cruise ships. Southeast Alaska has a land area of 35,138 miles (56,549 km)(sq), comprising six entire boroughs and three census areas, in addition to the portion of the Yakutat Borough lying east of 141° West longitude. Although it has only 6.14 percent of Alaska's land area, it is larger than the state of Maine, and almost as large as the state of Indiana. The Southeast Alaskan coast is roughly as long as the west coast of Canada. The 2000 census population of Southeast was 72,954 inhabitants, about 42 percent of whom were concentrated in the city of Juneau.

• Haines Borough
• Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
• Juneau Borough
• Ketchikan Gateway Borough
• Petersburg Census Area
• Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area
• Sitka Borough
• Skagway Borough
• Wrangell Borough
• Yakutat Borough (the part east of 141° W longitude; 12,506.53 km² / 4,828.80 sq mi, or about 63.12 percent of the borough)

It includes the Tongass National Forest, Glacier Bay National Park, Admiralty Island National Monument, Misty Fjords National Monument, Alaska's Inside Passage, and myriad large and small islands. The largest islands are, from North to South, Chichagof Island, Admiralty Island, Baranof Island, Kupreanof Island, Revillagigedo Island and Prince of Wales Island. Major bodies of water of Southeast Alaska include Glacier Bay, Lynn Canal, Icy Strait, Chatham Strait, Stephens Passage, Frederick Sound, Sumner Strait, and Clarence Strait.

On August 20, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve, which formed the heart of the Tongass National Forest that covers most of the region.