Unorganized Borough, Alaska in the context of "Unalaska, Alaska"

In the United States, a county or county equivalent is an administrative subdivision of a state or territory, typically with defined geographic boundaries and some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes and boroughs, respectively. Counties and other local governments exist as a matter of U.S. state law, so the specific governmental powers of counties may vary widely between the states, with many providing some level of services to civil townships, municipalities, and unincorporated areas. Certain municipalities are in multiple counties. Some municipalities have been consolidated with their county government to form consolidated city-counties or have been legally separated from counties altogether to form independent cities. Conversely, counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island, eight of Massachusetts's 14 counties, and Alaska's Unorganized Borough have no government power, existing only as geographic distinctions.

The United States Census Bureau uses the term "county equivalent" to describe places that are comparable to counties, but called by different names. Louisiana parishes, the organized boroughs of Alaska, independent cities, and the District of Columbia are equivalent to counties for administrative purposes. Alaska's Unorganized Borough is further divided into 11 census areas that are statistically equivalent to counties. In 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau began to also recognize Connecticut's councils of governments, which took over some of the regional powers from the state's former county governments, as county equivalents.

The U.S. state of Alaska is divided into 19 organized boroughs and 11 census areas in the Unorganized Borough. Boroughs and census areas are both treated as county-level equivalents by the Census Bureau.

Delegates to the Alaska Constitutional Convention wanted to avoid the traditional county system and adopted their own unique model with different classes of boroughs varying in powers and duties. Many of the most densely populated regions of the state are part of Alaska's boroughs, which function similarly to counties in other states. There are four different classifications of organized boroughs: "Unified Home Rule" or "Non-unified Home Rule" (may exercise all legislative powers not prohibited by law or charter); "First Class" (may exercise any power not prohibited by law on a non-area wide basis by adopting ordinances); and "Second Class" (must gain voter approval for authority to exercise many non-area wide powers).

There are 3,244 counties and county equivalents in the United States. The 50 states of the United States are divided into 3,007 political subdivisions of states called counties. Two hundred thirty-seven other local governments and geographic places are also first-order administrative divisions of their respective state/district/territory, but are not called counties. The United States Census Bureau refers to the latter as county equivalents. The 237 county equivalents include the District of Columbia and 100 equivalents in U.S. territories (such as those in Puerto Rico). The large majority of counties and equivalents were organized by 1970. Since that time, most creations, boundary changes and dissolutions have occurred in Alaska, Virginia, and Connecticut.

Among the 50 states, 44 are partitioned entirely into counties, with no county equivalents. Louisiana is instead divided into 64 equivalent parishes, while Alaska is divided into 19 equivalent boroughs and 11 sparsely populated census areas, the latter also known collectively as the unorganized borough. Virginia is composed of a mixture of 95 counties and 38 independent cities. Maryland, Missouri and Nevada are each composed entirely of counties, except that each also has exactly one independent city: Baltimore, St. Louis, and Carson City, respectively. The District of Columbia is a single federal district that is not part of any state or county. All of the above 136 exceptional cases are reckoned as county equivalents. The number of counties (or equivalents) per state ranges from the three counties of Delaware, to the 254 counties of Texas. In New England, where the town model predominates, several counties have no corresponding local governments, existing only as historical, legal, and census boundaries, such as the counties of Rhode Island, as well as eight of Massachusetts' 14 counties. On June 6, 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau formally recognized Connecticut's nine councils of government as county equivalents instead of the state's eight counties. Connecticut's eight historical counties continue to exist in name only, and are no longer considered for statistical purposes. In total, the 50 states consist of 3,144 counties and equivalents.

Aleutians West Census Area (Russian: Западные Алеутские острова) is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,232, down from 5,561 in 2010.

It is part of the Unorganized Borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest city is Unalaska, home to about 80% of the population. It contains most of the Aleutian Islands, from Attu Island in the west to Unalaska Island in the east, as well as the Pribilof Islands, which lie north of the Aleutians in the Bering Sea.

Alaska is a state of the United States in the northwest extremity of the North American continent. According to the 2020 United States Census, Alaska is the 3rd least populous state with 733,391 inhabitants but is the largest by land area spanning 570,640.95 square miles (1,477,953.3 km). Alaska is divided administratively into 19 organized boroughs and one Unorganized Borough (which is divided into 11 non-administrative census areas) and contains 149 incorporated cities: four unified home rule municipalities, which are considered both boroughs and cities; ten home rule cities; nineteen first class cities; and 116 second class cities. Alaska's incorporated cities cover only 2.1% of the territory's land mass but are home to 69.92% of its population. The majority of the incorporated land mass consists of the four unified municipalities, each over 1,700 square miles (4,400 km) in size. Only two other cities have an incorporated area exceeding 100 square miles (260 km): Unalaska, which includes the fishing port of Dutch Harbor, and Valdez, which includes the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

Incorporated cities in Alaska are categorized as either "general law" (subdivided into "first class" and "second class") or "home rule". In general, the powers and functions of general law cities and home rule cities are substantially the same, with all legislative powers not prohibited by law or charter. Apart from duties such as conducting elections and holding regular meetings of the governing bodies, the duties of local cities vary considerably and are determined at the local level. Home rule cities and first class cities in the unorganized borough must operate municipal school districts, exercise planning, and land use regulations while organized boroughs take on these responsibilities unless delegated to the city by the borough. Unified home rule cities (and other boroughs) also have the duty to collect municipal property and sales tax for use in their jurisdiction. Home rule cities occur when a community establishes a commission to draft a charter, which is then ratified by voters at an election. Title 29 of the Alaska Statutes, which covers municipal government, requires that a community must have at least 400 permanent residents to incorporate as a home rule or first class city. This status does not diminish if a city's population declines; one home rule city (Nenana) and four first class cities (Hydaburg, Pelican, Seldovia and Tanana) reported populations falling below that threshold in the 2010 Census.