Petersburg Census Area, Alaska

Petersburg Census Area was a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was part of the unorganized borough and therefore had no borough seat, although its largest community was Petersburg. The population was 3,815 at the 2010 census. It was previously known as the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area until June 1, 2008, when Wrangell, formerly a part of the census area, was incorporated as a city-and-borough. The Petersburg Census Area ceased to exist in 2013 when Petersburg incorporated as a borough, although Kake and several other parts of the former census area, including Tracy Arm, remain unorganized. A map of the old Petersburg Census Area boundaries can be seen here:

Geography

File:Map of Alaska highlighting Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area.svg

Map of the former Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area

The census area had a total area of 5,684 square miles (14,720 km²), of which 3,282 square miles (8,500 km²) of it was land and 2,402 square miles (6,220 km²) of it (42.3%) was water.

Adjacent boroughs and census areas

• Sitka City and Borough, Alaska - west, northwest
• Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska - northwest, north
• City and Borough of Wrangell - southeast
• Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska - south

Also shared eastern border with British Columbia, Canada.

• Kitimat-Stikine Regional District, British Columbia - northeast, east

National protected areas

• Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (part of the Gulf of Alaska unit)
  • Hazy Islands Wilderness
• Tongass National Forest (part)
  • Coronation Island Wilderness
  • Kuiu Wilderness
  • Petersburg Creek-Duncan Salt Chuck Wilderness
  • Stikine-LeConte Wilderness (part)
  • Tebenkof Bay Wilderness

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1960	4,181		—
1970	4,913		17.5%
1980	6,167		25.5%
1990	7,042		14.2%
2000	6,684		−5.1%
2010	3,815		−42.9%
Est. 2012	3,844		0.8%
U.S. Decennial Census 2012 Estimate

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,815 people, 1,599 households, and 1,027 families residing in the census area. The population density was 1.2 people per square mile (0.4/km²). There were 1,994 housing units at an average density of 0.6/sq mi (0.2/km²). The racial makeup of the census area was 71.1% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 16.1% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 1.1% from other races, and 8.5% from two or more races. 3.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,599 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the census area the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 33.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.5 years. For every 100 females there were 108.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.2 males.

Cities and towns

• Kake
• Kupreanof
• Petersburg
• Port Alexander

See also

• List of airports in the Petersburg Census Area