Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Information & Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Links at HealthHaven.com

Northwest Arctic Borough
	Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska
	Map
	; Location in the state of Alaska
	; Alaska's location in the U.S.
	Statistics
Founded	June 2, 1986
Seat	Kotzebue
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 40,762 sq mi (105,573 km²); ; 4,864 sq mi (12,598 km²), 11.93%
Population; - (2000); - Density	; 7,208; 0/sq mi (0/km²)
	Website: www.nwabor.org

Northwest Arctic Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska, formed on June 2, 1986. The borough seat is Kotzebue.^[1]

[edit] Geography

The borough has a total area of 40,762 square miles (105,573 km²), of which, 35,898 square miles (92,976 km²) of it is land and 4,864 square miles (12,597 km²) of it (11.93%) is water. By land area, it is slightly bigger than the state of Indiana.

Its coastline is limited by the Chukchi Sea. The Kotzebue Sound, a significant wildlife area, is a prominent water body within the Northwest Arctic Borough. Within this Borough at Kotzebue Sound was recorded the largest polar bear sighted in history, a male weighing 2002 pounds.^[2]

[edit] Adjacent boroughs and census areas

North Slope Borough, Alaska - north
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska - east
Nome Census Area, Alaska - south

[edit] National protected areas

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (part of the Chukchi Sea unit)
- Chamisso Wilderness
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (part)
Cape Krusenstern National Monument
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (part)
- Gates of the Arctic Wilderness (part)
Kobuk Valley National Park
- Kobuk Valley Wilderness
Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge (part)
- Koyukuk Wilderness (part)
Noatak National Preserve (part)
- Noatak Wilderness (part)
Selawik National Wildlife Refuge (part)
- Selawik Wilderness (part)

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 7,208 people, 1,780 households, and 1,404 families residing in the borough. The population density was 0 people per square mile (0/km²). There were 2,540 housing units at an average density of 0 per square mile (0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 12.32% White, 0.21% Black or African American, 82.46% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 3.70% from two or more races. 0.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 40.00% reported speaking Inupik or "Eskimo" at home [1].

There were 1,780 households out of which 55.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.90% were married couples living together, 19.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.10% were non-families. 16.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.87 and the average family size was 4.36.

In the borough the population was spread out with 41.50% under the age of 18, 10.00% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 15.50% from 45 to 64, and 5.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 114.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 120.70 males.