The Denali Borough is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. As of the 2020 census the population of the borough was 1,619, down from 1,826 in 2010. The

borough seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

and most populated community is Healy, and its only incorporated place is

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

. The borough was incorporated in December 1990. The area was previously a part of the

Unorganized Borough The Unorganized Borough is composed of the portions of the U.S. state of Alaska which are not contained in any of its 19 organized boroughs. While referred to as the "Unorganized Borough," it is not a borough itself, as it forgoes that level of ...

, with the Upper Railbelt School District serving as the region's rural education attendance area (which was replaced by a school district under the borough's umbrella upon incorporation). The earliest inhabitants were nomadic native Alaskans. A mining camp was established near Healy prior to 1902, and construction of the Alaska Railroad brought additional settlers to the area in the early 1920s.

Clear Space Force Station Clear Space Force Station is a United States Space Force radar station for detecting incoming ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles to NORAD's command center and to provide Space Surveillance data to the United States Space Force. ...

, the Usibelli Coal Mine and tourism at the

Denali National Park and Preserve Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve ...

have brought growth and development.

Geography

The borough has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. The borough contains

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

highest point A list of highest points typically contains the name, elevation, and location of the highest point in each of a set of geographical regions. Such a list is important in the sport of highpointing. A partial list of highpoint lists is below: World ...

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

(formerly Mount McKinley), from which it derives its name, at 6,190.5 m (20,310 ft).

National protected area

(part) **

Denali Wilderness Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve e ...

(part)

Adjacent boroughs and census areas

* Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area - west/north *

Fairbanks North Star Borough The Fairbanks North Star Borough is a borough located in the state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,665, down from 97,581 in 2010. The borough seat is Fairbanks. The borough's land area is slightly smaller than that o ...

- northeast * Southeast Fairbanks Census Area - east *

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Matanuska-Susitna Borough (often referred to as the Mat-Su Borough) is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its county seat is Palmer, and the largest community is the census-designated place of Knik-Fairview. The borough is part of ...

- south

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 1,893 people, 785 households, and 452 families residing in the borough. The population density was 0.148 people per square mile (0.057/km²). There were 1,351 housing units at an average density of 0.106 per square mile (0.041/km²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the borough was 85.74%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 1.43%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 4.75% Native American, 1.53%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.37%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.95% from other races, and 5.23% from two or more races. 2.48%. were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. Of the 785 households 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.40% were married couples living together, 4.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.30% were non-families. 35.00% of households were one person and 1.40% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.03. The age distribution was 23.80% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 36.80% from 25 to 44, 29.70% from 45 to 64, and 3.10% 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 139.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 147.10 males. Denali Borough is the 63rd highest-income county in the United States, and highest-income county in Alaska, by personal per capita income .

2020 Census

Politics

Communities

City

** Clear **

Clear AFS Clear Space Force Station is a United States Space Force radar station for detecting incoming ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles to NORAD's command center and to provide Space Surveillance data to the United States Space Force. Cle ...

Census-designated places

* Cantwell *

Denali Park Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve ...

Ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

* Healy

Other unincorporated communities

* Kantishna * Suntrana * Usibelli

Historical locations

Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

Popular culture

In the ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...

'' Saga by

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series ''Twilight'', which has sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 differ ...

, the Denali vampire coven (consisting of Tanya, Kate, Irina, Eleazar and Carmen and later Garrett) lives in Denali because of the lack of sunlight. The film '' Into the Wild'', based on a

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

of the same name, featured a bus where

Christopher McCandless Christopher Johnson McCandless (; February 12, 1968 – August 1992), also known by his pseudonym "Alexander Supertramp", was an American adventurer who sought an increasingly nomadic lifestyle as he grew up. McCandless is the subject of '' Int ...

died became a destination for film fans. The 1940s bus was taken to a remote trail about 60 years ago (from 2020) by a road crew, according to Denali Borough Mayor, Clay Walker. Visitors to the site had to cross the Teklanika River. In 2019 a newlywed Belarusian woman drowned trying to cross the swollen river on her way to the site. Another drowning took place in 2010. A stranded Brazilian had to be rescued in April 2020 and five Italians were rescued in February 2020, with one suffering from severe frostbite. In total 15 bus-related search and rescue operations for visitors to the bus were carried out between 2009 and 2017. In June 2020 the bus was removed because of public safety concerns. It was air-lifted by a US army

Chinook helicopter The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name ...

. Alaskan authorities are quoted as saying the bus would be kept in a "secure location" until a decision is made about its future. Clay Walker said, "It (the bus) is part of our history and it does feel a little bittersweet to see a piece of our history go down the road."

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 63, 47, 20, N, 150, 11, 30, W, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-AK_source:GNIS-enwiki_scale:2000000 1990 establishments in Alaska Populated places established in 1990