Southwest Alaska - Demographics

Demographics

Southwest Alaska had a population of 53,349 as of the 2000 census, less than one-tenth of Alaska's inhabitants. The population is in large part Alaska Native, with 58.1% identifying as entirely or partly "Native American" in the 2000 census. About 121 towns and villages, generally far apart and with populations in the hundreds, exist in the region.

Southwest Alaska can be considered to be the areas assigned to 4 of the 12 land-holding Alaska Native Corporations in 1971 for selection of land and for corporate organization of villages under ANCSA.

The Calista Corporation region is in the Yukon/Kuskokwim delta, the lower and middle reaches of the Kuskokwim River drainage, and the Bering Sea coast from the Yukon to Cape Newenham. It contains 56 villages with a total population of about 23,000 people; Bethel (5,471), is the largest and is the commercial hub for the Kuskokwim region. The Calista region is outlined by the combined Wade Hampton and Bethel Census Areas. Calista owns 4,997,263 acres (20,223 km²) of the 41,713,612 acres (168,809 km²) in the region, almost all the rest is owned by the state or federal government.

In the Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) region Dillingham (2,466), is the largest town. The BBNC region has 29 villages and a total population of about 8000. The Corporation region includes part of the Alaska Peninsula, the Bering Sea coast west to Cape Newenham and the lands draining onto that coast, as well as parts of the Alaska and Aleutian Ranges. The combined areas of the Dillingham Census Area, the Bristol Bay Borough, and the Lake and Peninsula Borough are almost coincident with the BBNC area.

Koniag, Incorporated has a region which covers the Kodiak Archipelago and part of the Alaska Peninsula. Kodiak (6,334) on Kodiak Island is the largest town and the commercial hub of the area. The Corporation region is very similar to, but not exactly the same area as the Kodiak Island Borough, which has a population of about 14,000 people in 11 communities.

Aleut Corporation's lands are on the Aleutian Islands and the western end of the Alaska Peninsula. The Corporation area is exactly the same as the Aleutians East Borough and the Aleutians West Census Area combined. Unalaska/Dutch Harbor (4,283), is the largest town. About 8000 people live in the region, in about a dozen towns, and several military towns.

Natives in Southwest Alaska are mainly Central Yupik in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Bristol Bay areas, Alutiiq on the eastern Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island, Aleut in the Aleutians, Pribilofs, and the western Alaska Peninsula, and a few Dena'ina Athabaskans near the western shore of Cook Inlet.