St. George (, ) is a city in

Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska Aleutians West Census Area () is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 5,232, down from 5,561 in 2010. It is part of the Unorganized Borough, Alaska, Unorganize ...

, United States. It is the main settlement of St. George Island in the

Pribilofs The Pribilof Islands (formerly the Northern Fur Seal Islands; , ) are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of Unalaska and 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Cape Newenham. The i ...

, a small island group in the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67, down from 102 in 2010 and the lowest figure since records began in 1880.

History

The island was discovered by

Gavriil Pribylov Gavriil Loginovich Pribylov (; first name also spelled Gavriel, Gerasim or Gerassim, last name also spelled Pribilof) (died 1796) was a Russian navigator who discovered the Bering Sea islands of St. George Island and St. Paul Island in 1786 and ...

on June 25, 1786, during a search for the breeding grounds of

northern fur seal The northern fur seal (''Callorhinus ursinus'') is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily (Arctocephalinae) and the only living species in the ...

s. The island is named after Pribylov's ship, the ''St. George''. St. George Island was the first of the Pribilofs to be discovered. Built in 1935, the sole church on the island is St. George Church, an

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

in the Diocese of Alaska of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...

. On February 29, 1996 the

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

''All American'' ran aground on the island without loss of life. All_American_ship_wreck_St_George_Island_1996

Geography

St. George is located at (56.605546, −169.559584). According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (80.94%) is water. The city is served by an airport with scheduled service to St. Paul Island Airport and

Unalaska Airport Tom Madsen (Dutch Harbor) Airport is a state-owned public-use airport in City of Unalaska, on Amaknak Island in the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located near the Bering Sea coast of Unalaska Island, southw ...

provided by

Grant Aviation Grant Aviation is a regional airline that serves the town of Kenai, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Bristol Bay, and the Aleutian Chain in Alaska, United States. The airline was formed in 1971 as Delta Air Services based in Emmonak. The current owners ...

Alaska Central Express Alaska Central Express is an airline based at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It is a cargo and small package express service. History The airline was established as Yutana Airlines in 1987 and ...

also offers flights to Anchorage.

Climate

Demographics

St. George first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an unincorporated Aleut village. Of its 92 residents, 88 were Aleut and 4 were White. It returned again in 1890 with 93 residents, reporting 49 Natives (presumably Aleut), 36 Creoles (Mixed Russian & Native), and 8 Whites. It did not report on the 1900 census. From 1910 to 1940, it reported as "St. George Island." In 1950, it reported as St. George. In 1960, it reported again as "St. George Island." From 1970-onwards, it has reported as St. George. It formally incorporated in 1983. As of the census of 2000, there were 152 people, 51 households, and 42 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 67 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.11%

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

and 7.89%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. There were 51 households, out of which 47.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.6% were non-families. 15.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.29. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 36.8% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 113.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $57,083, and the median income for a family was $60,625. Males had a median income of $50,625 versus $31,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $21,131. About 4.9% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.

Education

St. George is served by the Pribilof Island School District. In 2004, the district began offering 9–12th grade to St. George students via video conference. Students have a choice: they can live at home and attend

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

classes or they can leave home and attend a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

like Mt. Edgecumbe High School. In 2017, St. George School was closed entirely due to low enrollment. The district now offers a correspondence program for grades K-10.

Geography and wildlife

The island is notable as being the breeding site of over 75% of the known population of

red-legged kittiwake The red-legged kittiwake (''Rissa brevirostris'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in the Pribilof Islands, Bogoslof Island, and Buldir Island in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, and the Commander Islands, Russi ...

s. In 2016, a new species of

beaked whale Beaked whales (systematic name Ziphiidae) are a Family (biology), family of cetaceans noted as being one of the least-known groups of mammals because of their deep-sea habitat, reclusive behavior and apparent low abundance. Only three or four of ...

, '' Berardius beringiae'', was discovered near the island. St. George Island is considered part of the

Bering Sea Volcanic Province The Bering Sea Volcanic Province, also called the Bering Sea Basalt Province, is a group of volcanic fields in western Alaska, United States. Sites * Imuruk Lake volcanic field *Teller volcanic field * St. George Island * St. Lawrence Island *Nuni ...

References

External links

*
St. George Tanaq Corporation
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George, Alaska Cities in Alaska Cities in Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska Historic American Buildings Survey in Alaska Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean Populated places established in 1983 1983 establishments in Alaska Pribilof Islands