Akun Island ( ale, Akungan) is one of the Fox Islands subgroup of the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

in the Aleutians East Borough of southwestern

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. ...

Geography

The island lies east of Akutan Island and southwest of

Unimak Island Unimak Island ( ale, Unimax, russian: Унимак) is the largest island in the Aleutian Islands chain of the U.S. state of Alaska. Geography It is the easternmost island in the Aleutians and, with an area of , the ninth largest island in the ...

, across the Unimak Pass strait. The Krenitzin Islands lie to the south and southeast, across the Avatanak Strait. Akun Island has a land area of 64.39 sq mi (166.77 km²). It is long, wide.

Population

It is unpopulated, except for airport workers and a few people controlling the cattle. Akun Island is home to a small but significant population of cows. They are no longer domesticated but the population is controlled. Three domesticated horses also inhabit the island.

Airport

With the cessation of amphibious airplane service to Akutan on Akutan Island, the Akutan Seaplane Base closed in 2012. It was replaced by a new $75.5m land-based airstrip 6 miles across the water on Akun Island, named

Akutan Airport Akutan Airport is a state-owned public-use airport serving Akutan, a city on Akutan Island in the Aleutians East Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is located on Akun Island, east of Akutan Island. Scheduled air service is subsidi ...

. It was built by Kiewit, R&M Consultants, and DOT. The airport was connected to Akutan by an expensive hovercraft shuttle, which couldn't operate safely when winds were too strong or waves too high. Operating costs were very high. Currently, a helicopter provides the link between Akun and Akutan. The airport has a small hotel, which is used when a flight arrives but the hovercraft is unable to run.New airport, and now a new hotel, for tiny Akutan
, ''Alaska Dispatch News'', December 24, 2012, Retrieved 2013-07-10

References

{{authority control Fox Islands (Alaska) Islands of Aleutians East Borough, Alaska Islands of Alaska