ALASKA

Missionaries to Alaska
Tim Moore
Ronnie and Rebecca Starr

People/Language/Ethnicity of Alaska
White: 434,534 (69.3%); Black: 21,787 (3.5%); American Indian and Alaska Native: 98,043 (15.6%); Asian: 25,116 (4.0%); Other race: 9,997 (1.6%); Two or more races: 34,146 (5.4%); Hispanic/Latino: 25,852 (4.1%).

The Alaska Native population includes Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts. About half of all Alaska Natives are Eskimos. (Eskimo is used for Alaska Natives; Inuit is used for Eskimos living in Canada.) The two main Eskimo groups, Inupiat and Yupik, are distinguished by their language and geography. The former live in the north and northwest parts of Alaska and speak Inupiaq, while the latter live in the south and southwest and speak Yupik.

About a third of Alaska Natives are American Indians. The major tribes are the Alaskan Athabaskan in the central part of the state, and the Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida in the southeast.

The Aleuts, native to the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, the lower Alaska and Kenai Peninsulas, and Prince William Sound, are physically and culturally related to the Eskimos. About 15% of Alaska Natives are Aleuts.

Overview of Alaska
Land area: 571,951 sq mi. 10 largest cities (2000): Anchorage, 260,283; Juneau (capital), 30,711; Fairbanks, 30,224; Sitka, 8,835; Ketchikan, 7,922; Kenai, 6,942; Kodiak, 6,334; Bethel, 5,471; Wasilla, 5,469; Barrow, 4,581.

2002 resident population est.: 643,786.

Source and Copyright: InfoPlease, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001. The World Factbook 2002.