57°34′48″N135°29′14″W / 57.58000°N 135.48722°W /57.58000; -135.48722
Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated tosoutheast orsoutheastern,[1] and sometimes called theAlaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of theU.S. state ofAlaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of theCanadian province ofBritish Columbia (and a small part ofYukon). The majority of southeast Alaska is situated inTlingit Aaní, much of which is part of theTongass National Forest, the United States' largestnational forest. In many places, theinternational border runs along the crest of theBoundary Ranges of theCoast Mountains (seeAlaska boundary dispute). The region is noted for its scenery and mild, rainyclimate.
The largest cities in the region areJuneau,Sitka, andKetchikan. This region is also home toHyder, the easternmost town in Alaska.
Southeast Alaska has a land area of 35,138 square miles (91,010 km2),[2] comprising much of theAlexander Archipelago. The largest islands are, from North to South,Chichagof Island,Admiralty Island,Baranof Island,Kupreanof Island,Revillagigedo Island andPrince of Wales Island. Major bodies of water of southeast Alaska includeGlacier Bay,Lynn Canal,Icy Strait,Chatham Strait,Stephens Passage,Frederick Sound,Sumner Strait, andClarence Strait.
The archipelago is the northern terminus of theInside Passage, a protected waterway of convoluted passages between islands and fjords, beginning inPuget Sound inWashington state. This was an important travel corridor forTlingit,Haida, andTsimshian Native peoples, as well as gold-rush era steamships. In modern times it is an important route forAlaska Marine Highway ferries as well ascruise ships.
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Southeast Alaska includes seven entireboroughs and twocensus areas, in addition to the portion of theYakutat Borough lying east of141° West longitude. Although it has only 6.14 percent of Alaska's land area, it is larger than the state ofMaine, and almost as large as the state ofIndiana. The southeast Alaskan coast is roughly as long as thewest coast of Canada.
The2010 census population of southeast Alaska was 71,616 inhabitants, representing approximately 10% of the state's total population. About 45% of residents in the southeast Alaska region were concentrated in the city ofJuneau, the state capital. As of 2018, the number of settlements in southeast Alaska that have a population of at least 1,000 people has grown to nine.
Populations are taken from the2020 census.[3]
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Southeast Alaska includes theTongass National Forest (which managesAdmiralty Island National Monument andMisty Fjords National Monument),Glacier Bay National Park, andSitka National Historical Park. Glacier Bay is the sixth largestnational park in theUnited States. On August 20, 1902,PresidentTheodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve, which formed the heart of theTongass National Forest that covers most of the region.
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The climate of southeast Alaska is dominated by a mid-latitudeoceanic climate (KöppenCfb) in the south, an oceanic, marine sub-polar climate (KöppenCfc) in the central region aroundJuneau, and asubarctic climate (KöppenDfc) to the far northwest and the interior highlands of the archipelago. Southeast Alaska is also the only region in Alaska where the average daytime high temperature is above freezing during the winter months, except for in the southern parts of theAleutian islands such asUnalaska.
Southeast Alaska is atemperate rain forest within thePacific temperate rain forest zone, as classified by theWorld Wildlife Fund'secoregion system, which extends from northernCalifornia toPrince William Sound. The most common tree species aresitka spruce andwestern hemlock.
Wildlife includesbrown bears,black bears, endemicAlexander Archipelago wolf packs,Sitka black-tailed deer,humpback whales,orcas, five species ofsalmon,bald eagles,harlequin ducks,scoters, andmarbled murrelets.
TheEcological Atlas of Southeast Alaska, published by Audubon Alaska in 2016, offers an overview of the region's landscape, birds, wildlife, human uses, climate change, and more, synthesizing data from agencies and a variety of other sources.
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This area is the traditional homeland of theTlingit, and home of a historic settling ofHaida as well as a modern settlement ofTsimshian. The region is closely connected toSeattle and the AmericanPacific Northwest economically and culturally.
Major industries in southeast Alaska includecommercial fishing andtourism (primarily the cruise ship industry). The regional economic development organization Southeast Conference publishes an annualSoutheast Alaska By the Numbers which summarizes the region's economy, and in 2024 included data on total jobs, wages, tourism jobs, seafood sales, regional population, and healthcare jobs.[4]
Logging has been an important industry in the past, but has been steadily declining with competition from other areas and the closure of the region's major pulp mills; the Alaska Forest Association described the situation as "desperate" in 2011.[5] Its members include Alcan Forest Products (owned by Canadian Transpac Group, one of the top 5 log exporters in North America[6]) and Viking Lumber, which is based inCraig, Alaska.[7] Debates over whether to expand logging in the federally owned Tongass are not uncommon.[8][9]
Mining remains important in the northern area with theJuneau mining district containing theKensington mine owned byCoeur Mining andAdmiralty mining district, primarily Greens Creek operated byHecla Mining, hosting active mines as of 2025. Gold was discovered in 1880 and played an important part in the early history of the region,[10] although as of 2025 Greens Creek is notably focused on silver.
In the 2010s, mines increasingly began to be explored and eventually completed in neighboringBritish Columbia, upstream of important rivers such as theUnuk and theStikine, which became known as the transboundary mining issue. In 2014, the dam breach at theMount Polley mine focused attention on the issue, and an agreement between Canada and Alaska was drafted in 2015.[11]
The proposedKerr Sulphurets Mitchell exploration is upstream of the Unuk. Mines upstream of the Stikine include the Red Chris, which is owned by the same company (Imperial Metals) as the Mount Polley mine.[12]
Major hospitals includeBartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau and PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center in Ketchikan.Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium runs healthcare facilities across 27 communities as of 2022, including hospitals in Sitka and Wrangell;[13] although it originally served Native Americans only, it has expanded access and combined with other local facilities over time.[14][15]
Due to the fishing and ferries in the region, ship building and maintenance are economically significant.
Ketchikan hosts a shipbuilding yard owned byVigor Industrial.[16]
Tourists visit southeast Alaska primarily in the summer, and most visit viacruise ships, which run from April 15 to October 30.[17] In 2019, around 1.3 million people visited Alaska by cruise ship.[18]
The northbound Inside Passage cruise commonly starts from either Seattle or Vancouver, Canada and stops in various ports including Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway.[19] One-way trips will end in Whittier or Seward.[19]
An alternative Gulf of Alaska cruise starts in Whittier (Anchorage) and also passes through southeast Alaska's Inside Passage.[20]
The cruise ship industry became prominent in the 1960s after cruise ship entrepreneurStanley B. McDonald repurposed a transport ship named Princess Pat, foundingPrincess Cruises to do leisure cruises which expanded into southeast Alaska by 1969.[21] The TV seriesThe Love Boat was set on a Princess cruise and featured episodes in Alaska;[22] it also helped to popularize cruising generally which helped it grow rapidly between 1977 and 1987.[21]
Prior to Princess cruises, Chuck West created a tourism agency in 1947 under the name Arctic Alaska Tours which was renamed Westours, which originally arranged trips for travelers on steamships.[23][22]
TheUniversity of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) publishes research on the Alaska economy; the former director Gunnar Knapp published extensively on the economics of fishing.[24]
The border between Alaska and the Canadian province ofBritish Columbia was the subject of theAlaska boundary dispute, where the United States and theUnited Kingdom claimed different borderlines at the Alaskan panhandle. While the British foreign affairs were in favor of support of the Canadian argument, the event resulted in what was thought of as a betrayal, leading to alienation of the British from the new nation ofCanada.[25]
Due to the extremely rugged, mountainous nature of Southeastern Alaska, almost all communities (with the exception ofHyder,Skagway, andHaines) have no road connections outside of their locale, so aircraft and boats are the major means of transport. TheAlaska Marine Highway passes through this region.
Alaska Airlines is by far the largest air carrier in the region, with Juneau'sJuneau International Airport serving as the aerial hub for all of southeast, and Ketchikan'sKetchikan International Airport serving as a secondary hub for southern southeast Alaska. Alaska'sbush airlines andair taxis serve many of the smaller and more isolated communities and villages in the regions. Many communities are accessible by air only byfloatplane, as proper runways are often difficult to construct on the steep island slopes.
Southeast Alaska is primarily served by the state-runAlaska Marine Highway, which links Skagway, Haines,Hoonah,Juneau,Sitka,Petersburg,Wrangell,Ketchikan and other outlying communities withPrince Rupert, BC andBellingham, Washington; and secondarily by thePrince of Wales Island-basedInter-Island Ferry Authority, which provides the only scheduled passenger and auto ferry service to the island. A new Authority, the Rainforest Islands Ferry Authority, was created and in 2014 may possibly operate the North End route. The Authority would connect Coffman Cove with Wrangell and Petersburg. Small companies like Sitka-based Allen Marine and other independent operators in theLynn Canal occasionally also offer marine passenger service. Ship traffic in the area is seasonally busy withcruise ships.
