AK · GEOID 02188

Northwest Arctic Borough area

Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska covers 40,619.8 square miles: 35,672.3 square miles of land and 4,947.5 square miles of water.

Official Census measurements2026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area35,672.3 mi²
Water area4,947.5 mi²
Total area40,619.8 mi²
National land rank#4

County outline

Generalized outline of Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Northwest Arctic Borough is located

Northwest Arctic Borough highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. Alaska is shown at 35% of the common scale. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 87.8% of Northwest Arctic Borough’s measured area and water for 12.2%. Its combined area converts to 105,204.7 square kilometers or approximately 25,996,659 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land35,672.30592,390.84622,830,275.2
Water4,947.47512,813.9013,166,384
Total40,619.78105,204.74725,996,659.2

How Northwest Arctic Borough compares

By original Census land area, Northwest Arctic Borough ranks #4 of 30 in Alaska and #4 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 4.765 times the Alaska county-equivalent median of 7,486.4 square miles. It accounts for 6.2% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Alaska ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

What stands out about Northwest Arctic Borough?

Northwest Arctic Borough has more land than 3,218 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Northwest Arctic Borough35,672.3 mi²
Alaska median7,486.4 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Northwest Arctic Borough at #4 nationally by total area, the same position as its land rank. Changing the area definition does not change its position in this release.

Its water share is 12.2%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 11 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Northwest Arctic Borough in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#3Bethel Census Area, Alaska40,654.9Compare
#4Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska35,672.3This county
#5Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska24,839.3Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 67.004772, -160.022075. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 92,390,842,308 m²; AWATER: 12,813,899,695 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How many acres of land are in Northwest Arctic Borough?

The land measurement converts to approximately 22,830,275 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 25,996,659 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

Download the complete CSV or JSON dataset