, settlement_type =

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = 2010-06-25-CPX-8566a.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = An aerial view of Selawik in 2010 , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_map = Northwest Arctic Borough Alaska incorporated and unincorporated areas Selawik highlighted.svg , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Location in

Northwest Arctic Borough Northwest Arctic Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,793, up from 7,523 in 2010. The borough seat is Kotzebue. The borough was formed on June 2, 1986. Geography According to t ...

and the state of

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., ...

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State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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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 Ag ...

, subdivision_name2 = Northwest Arctic , government_footnotes = , government_type = , leader_title =

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, leader_name = Tillie Ticket , leader_title1 = State senator , leader_name1 =

Donny Olson Donald C. "Donny" Olson (born June 18, 1953) is an American physician, attorney, commercial pilot, reindeer herder, and politician, currently serving as a member of the Alaska Senate, representing the T district since 2001. Early life Olson was ...

( D) , leader_title2 = State rep. , leader_name2 = John Lincoln (D) , established_title = Incorporated , established_date = 1977 , area_footnotes = , area_magnitude = , area_total_km2 = 7.62 , area_land_km2 = 6.04 , area_water_km2 = 1.59 , area_total_sq_mi = 2.94 , area_land_sq_mi = 2.33 , area_water_sq_mi = 0.61 , population_as_of =

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, population_footnotes = , population_total = 809 , population_density_km2 = 133.99 , population_density_sq_mi = 347.06 , timezone = Alaska (AKST) , utc_offset = -9 , timezone_DST = AKDT , utc_offset_DST = -8 , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 0 , elevation_ft = 0 , coordinates = , postal_code_type = ZIP code , postal_code = 99770 , area_code =

907 __NOTOC__ Year 907 ( CMVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Rus'–Byzantine War: Varangian prince Oleg of Novgorod leads the ...

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Area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

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FIPS code The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, American ...

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GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

feature ID , blank1_info = , website = , footnotes = , pop_est_as_of = , pop_est_footnotes = , population_est = , unit_pref = Imperial Selawik () ( Iñupiaq: ''Siiḷivik'' or ''Akuliġaq'') is a city in

Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Northwest Arctic Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,793, up from 7,523 in 2010. The borough seat is Kotzebue. The borough was formed on June 2, 1986. Geography According to ...

, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 829, up from 772 in 2000. ''Selawik'' comes from , which means "place of

sheefish ''Stenodus nelma'', known alternatively as the nelma, sheefish, siifish, inconnu or connie, is a commercial species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It is widespread in the Arctic rivers from the Kola Peninsula (White Sea basin) ...

" in Inupiaq.

Geography

Selawik is located at (66.597043, -160.013674). Selawik is located at the mouth of the

Selawik River The Selawik River is a stream, long, in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alaska. Originating in the Purcell Mountains near the Zane Hills, it flows generally west through the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge to Selawik Lake, which emp ...

where it empties into Selawik Lake, about southeast of

Kotzebue Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing t ...

. Selawik is near the

Selawik National Wildlife Refuge Selawik National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Alaska in the Waring Mountains was officially established in 1980 with the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). This national wildlife refuge is home to mammalian a ...

, a breeding and resting area for migratory waterfowl. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (26.24%) is water.

Demographics

Selawik first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated Inuit village of "Selawigamute." All 100 residents were Inuit. It did not appear again on the census until 1920, that time as Selawik. It has appeared on every successive census to date. It formally incorporated in 1963. As of the census of 2000, there were 772 people, 172 households, and 147 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 188 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 3.24%

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 on ...

, 0.13%

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 have o ...

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 ...

, 94.82% Native American, 0.78%

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 ...

, 0.13%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, and 0.91% from two or more races. 0.13% of the population 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. There were 172 households, out of which 68.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 29.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.5% were non-families. 12.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.49 and the average family size was 4.78. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 48.1% under the age of 18, 12.7% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 10.6% from 45 to 64, and 5.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 19 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,625, and the median income for a family was $27,639. Males had a median income of $50,278 versus $40,417 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $8,170. About 34.6% of families and 34.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 36.2% of those under age 18 and 22.7% of those age 65 or over.

History

A Lt.

Lavrenty Zagoskin Lavrenty Alekseyevich Zagoskin (russian: link=no, Лаврентий Алексеевич Загоскин; 21 May 1808 – 22 January 1890) was a Russian naval officer and explorer of Alaska. Zagoskin was born in 1808 in the Russian district of ...

of the Imperial Russian Navy first reported the village in the 1840s as "Chilivik." In his census study in 1880,

Ivan Petrof Ivan Petrof (1842? - 1896) (commonly spelled "Petroff" in sources) was a Russian-born soldier, writer, and translator who for many years was regarded as a major authority on Alaska. According to historian Terrence Cole, Petrof "holds the distinc ...

counted 100 "Selawigamute" people. Around 1908, the village site had a small wooden schoolhouse and church. The village now has expanded across the Selawik River onto three banks, linked by bridges.

Education

The Davis-Ramoth Memorial School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had about 270 students, with

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...

making up the majority.Home
Davis-Ramoth Memorial School. Retrieved on March 26, 2017.

References

{{authority control Cities in Alaska Cities in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Populated places of the Arctic United States