Kotzebue, Alaska
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Kotzebue is a city located in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 3,082.
Kotzebue gets its name from the Kotzebue Sound, which was named after Otto von Kotzebue, who explored the sound while searching for the Northwest Passage in the service of Russia in 1818.
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Geography
Kotzebue is located at 66°53'50" North, 162°35'8" West (66.897192, -162.585444)Template:GR.
Kotzebue lies on a sand spit at the end of the Baldwin Peninsula in the Kotzebue Sound. It is 53 km (33 miles) north of the arctic circle on Alaska's western coast.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 74.2 km² (28.7 mi²). 69.9 km² (27.0 mi²) of it is land and 4.3 km² (1.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 5.76% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 3,082 people, 889 households, and 656 families residing in the city. The population density is 44.1/km² (114.1/mi²). There are 1,007 housing units at an average density of 14.4/km² (37.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 19.47% White, 0.32% Black or African American, 71.19% Native American, 1.82% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.78% from other races, and 6.36% from two or more races. 1.17% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 889 households out of which 50.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% are married couples living together, 17.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% are non-families. 19.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 2.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.40 and the average family size is 3.93.
In the city the population is spread out with 39.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 17.2% from 45 to 64, and 4.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 26 years. For every 100 females there are 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 104.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $57,163, and the median income for a family is $58,068. Males have a median income of $42,604 versus $36,453 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,289. 13.1% of the population and 9.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 14.9% of those under the age of 18 and 6.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
History
There is archaeological evidence that Inupiat people have lived at Kotzebue since at least the 1400s. Because of its location, Kotzebue was a trading and gathering center for the entire area. The Noatak, Selawik and Kobuk Rivers drain into the Kotzebue Sound near Kotzebue to form a center for transportation to points inland. In addition to people from interior villages, inhabitants of the Russian Far East came to trade at Kozebue. Furs, seal-oil, hides, rifles, ammunition, and seal skins were some of the items traded. People also gathered for competitions like the current World Eskimo Olympics [[1] (http://www.weio.org)].
With the arrival of the whalers, traders, gold seekers, and missionaries the trading center expanded and acquired the name Kikiktagruk or Qikiqtagruk, which means "a place that is shaped like a long island," in Inupiaq, the language of the Inupiat, which is a reference to the spit.
The name of the town was later changed to Kotzebue after the name of the Kotzebue Sound.
Reindeer herding was introduced in the area in 1897. Although Alaska had caribou, the wild form of reindeer, the domesticated reindeer were brought from Europe.
A United States post office was established in 1899.
Kotzebue is currently the largest town in northwest Alaska.
| Regions of Alaska | Missing image Alaska_state_flag.png Flag of Alaska |
|---|---|
| Alaskan Bush | Interior | North Slope | Panhandle | South Central | Tanana Valley | |
| Largest cities | |
| Anchorage | Barrow | Bethel | Fairbanks | Homer | Juneau | Kenai | Ketchikan | Kodiak | Kotzebue | Nome | Palmer | Petersburg | Seward | Sitka | Unalaska | Valdez | Wasilla | |
| Boroughs and census areas | |
| Aleutians East | Aleutians West | Anchorage | Bethel | Bristol Bay | Denali | Dillingham | Fairbanks North Star | Haines | Juneau | Kenai Peninsula | Ketchikan Gateway | Kodiak Island | Lake and Peninsula | Matanuska-Susitna | Nome | North Slope | Northwest Arctic | Prince of Wales - Outer Ketchikan | Sitka | Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon | Southeast Fairbanks | Valdez-Cordova | Wade Hampton | Wrangell-Petersburg | Yakutat | Yukon-Koyukuk |