Aleutians West Census Area

The Aleutians West Census Area is a sparsely populated administrative region in western Alaska that spreads across hundreds of miles of ocean and consists of numerous islands. The area includes the Aleutian Islands themselves as well as several other island groups that sit in cold waters between the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea.

The administrative region was established in 1980 by the US Census Bureau as a statistical district to better conduct census activities in this sparsely populated part of Alaska. The islands themselves, however, had been home to Aleutian peoples for thousands of years long before this modern administrative division was created.

The Aleutian islands have been home to Aleut peoples for thousands of years, and their descendants continue to live in today's communities while maintaining strong ties to the sea. This connection shapes daily life and local work, where fishing and seafood processing remain central to how people earn their living.

The islands are not connected by roads, so airplanes and boats are the only ways to travel between communities or reach the area. Visitors should expect unpredictable weather, long waits for transportation, and limited supply options, since logistics are challenging in this remote region.

The westernmost point of the United States sits on Attu Island within this area, while the Pribilof Islands further east in the Bering Sea hold critical importance for seal populations. This meeting of geographic extremes makes the region a place of global navigational and ecological importance.