Adak, Alaska facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Adak, Alaska
City
Adak in 2006
Adak, Alaska Location in Alaska
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Census Area	Aleutians West
Incorporated	2001
Area
• Total	71.47 sq mi (185.10 km2)
• Land	32.43 sq mi (84.00 km2)
• Water	39.03 sq mi (101.10 km2)
Elevation	164 ft (50 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	171
• Density	5.27/sq mi (2.04/km2)
Time zone	UTC−10 (Hawaii-Aleutian (HST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−9 (HDT)
ZIP Code	99546
Area code(s)	907
FIPS code	02-00065
GNIS feature ID	1418109
Website	adak-ak.gov

Adak (/ˈeɪdæk/; Aleut: Adaax, pronounced /ˈaðɑχ/), formerly Adak Station, is a city located on Adak Island, in the Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 171, down from 326 in 2010. It is the westernmost municipality in the United States and the southernmost city in Alaska. (See Extreme points of the United States.) The city is the former location of the Naval Air Facility Adak, NAVFAC Adak.

Geography

Adak is located on Kuluk Bay, on Adak Island, in the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands Recording District, and in the 3rd Judicial District. It lies 1,200 miles (1,930 km) southwest of Anchorage and 450 miles (724 km) west of Dutch Harbor at 51.872° North, 176.636° West (Sec. 10, T096S, R195W, Seward Meridian), near the Russian end of the arc that makes up this volcanic island chain. Flight time to Anchorage is 3 hours or longer, depending on weather. Adak is the southernmost community in Alaska and on the same latitude as Haida Gwaii in Canada, and London, England. It is less than three degrees of latitude north of the 49th parallel, which forms the western part of the land border between the Contiguous United States and Canada.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 127.3 square miles (330 km²), of which 122.4 square miles (317 km²) is land and 4.9 square miles (13 km²) (3.87%) is water.

Climate

Adak has a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc), characterized by persistently overcast skies, moderate temperatures, high winds, significant precipitation, and frequent cyclonic storms. Winter squalls produce wind gusts in excess of 100 knots (120 mph; 190 km/h). During the summer, extensive fog forms over the Bering Sea and North Pacific. Average temperatures range from 20 to 60 °F (−7 to 16 °C), but wind chill factors can be severe. Average annual precipitation is 65.6 inches (1,670 mm) annually, concentrated markedly in fall and winter. December is the wettest single month on average, while June and July are markedly the driest months, with thunderstorms virtually unknown here. Snowfall averages nearly 100 inches (250 cm) per winter season, which however tends to melt soon after falling. With 263 rainy days per year, Adak has the second highest number of any inhabited locality in the United States after Hilo, Hawaii.

History and culture

Great Sitkin Island view with Telephoto from Adak, AK

19th century

The Aleutian Islands were historically occupied by the Unanga, more commonly known now as the Aleuts. The once heavily populated island was eventually abandoned in the early 19th century as the Aleutian Island hunters followed the Russian fur trade eastward, and famine set in on the Andreanof Island group. However, they continued to hunt and fish actively around the island over the years, until World War II broke out.

Military involvement and the naval station

Adak Army installations allowed U.S. and Canadian forces to mount a successful offensive against the Japanese-held islands of Kiska and Attu. After the war, Adak was developed as a naval air station, playing an important role during the Cold War as a submarine surveillance center. Large earthquakes rocked the island in 1957, 1964 and 1977.

Abandoned military buildings on Adak Island. These buildings house a basketball court, squash court, saunas, bowling alley, and more, all in an unusable state of disrepair.

At its peak, the station housed over 6,000 naval and Coast Guard personnel and their families. In 1994, the base was downsized, the local McDonald's and both the family housing and schools were closed. The station officially closed on March 31, 1997, as a result of 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). The Aleut Corporation purchased Adak's facilities under a land transfer agreement with the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Navy/Department of Defense. This agreement was finalized in March 2004. About 30 families with children relocated to Adak in September 1998, most of them Aleut Corp. shareholders, and the former high school was reopened at that time as a K–12 institution. The community incorporated as a second-class city in April 2001. Substantially all of the infrastructure and facilities on Adak are owned by Aleut Corporation, which is currently developing Adak as a commercial center via their subsidiary companies. For example, properties in active use are leased by Adak Commercial Properties, LLC.

Since World War II, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard developed facilities and recreation opportunities at Adak. At its peak, Adak had a college, a McDonald's restaurant, a Baskin-Robbins ice cream stand, movie theater, roller skating rink, swimming pool, ski lodge, bowling alleys, skeet range, auto hobby shop, photo lab, and racquetball & tennis courts. A new $18-million hospital was built in 1990, just seven years prior to the closure of the station. By March 2003, six years after the closure of the station, most of these facilities had closed.

As of March 2021, the U.S. Navy is considering reopening the air base at Adak.

Demographics

Adak first appeared on the 2000 U.S. Census as a census-designated place (CDP), although it previously was the Adak Naval Station from 1970 to 1990. In 2001, it formally incorporated as a city. As of the 2010 census, Adak was the only city in Alaska to have a majority Asian population (171 of 326 residents). Akutan and Kodiak have Asian pluralities.

2020 census

See also

In Spanish: Adak (Alaska) para niños