North Slope Borough, Alaska

The North Slope Borough stretches across the top of Alaska from Point Hope to the Canadian border and from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean. It spans 89,000 square miles of unique tundra and upland landscape, and features one of the most challenging climates on earth. The region is home to a predominantly Inupiat Eskimo population living in eight far-flung communities. Inupiat culture draws its inspiration from the land and sea. Cultural practices revolve around traditional whaling and other subsistence hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering activities throughout the region. Commercial whaling attracted outside interest in the late 19th century, and the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 has generated enormous industrial activity in succeeding decades. [1]

1. North Slope Borough Assembly, prepared by URS Corporation, North Slope Borough Comprehensive Plan, 2005, www.co.north-slope.ak.us, accessed January, 2014.