Utqiaġvik is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska and is located north of the Arctic Circle. The location has been home to the Iñupiat, an indigenous Inuit ethnic group, for more than 1,500 years. In an October 2016 referendum, city voters narrowly approved to change its name from Barrow to its traditional Iñ upiaq name, Utqia ġvik.
About Utqiagvik, Alaska in brief
Utqiaġvik is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska and is located north of the Arctic Circle. The location has been home to the Iñupiat, an indigenous Inuit ethnic group, for more than 1,500 years. In an October 2016 referendum, city voters narrowly approved to change its name from Barrow to its traditional Iñ upiaq name, Utqia ġvik. The name Barrow was derived from Point Barrow, and was originally a general designation, because non-native Alaskan residents found it easier to pronounce than the Inupiat name. In 1901, a United States Post Office was opened. In 1889, a whaling supply and rescue station was built and is the oldest wood-frame building in the world. In the late 20th century, a famous pilot and humorist, Will Rogers, made an unannounced visit to the city. The city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the northernmost public communities in the World. It is also the northern most city in the United States. Nearby Point Barrows is the country’s northernmost point. The population of the city was 4,581 at the 2000 census and 4,212 at the 2010 census. In 2016, the city voted to restore its old IñUpiat name, UUT-kee-AH-vik, and it was officially adopted on December 1, 2016. A spelling variant of this name was adopted by the Ukpeaęvik Iñupsiat Corporation when it was established in 1973.
The UUT is the name of a community of Inuit people who live in the northern part of the state and have lived in the area since the early 1800s. In 1867, British Royal Navy officers came to the area to explore and map the Arctic of North America. Yankee whalers sailed here, learning about the bowhead whale. Later, the military came, setting up a radar station, and in 1947 a science center was founded at Barrow. In 1888, a Presbyterian church was built by United States missionaries and is still used today. The United States Army established a meteorological research station and magnetic research station at Utqi-A-vik in 1881. It was converted for use as the Cape Smythe Whaling and Whaling Trading Trading Station in 1896. In 1896, the building was converted to a retail retail and retail trading station and is now the retail retail trading and trading station. In 1935, the famous pilot Will Rogers made a unannounced trip to the town to make an unplanned stop at Cape Smy Smythe Trading Trading Trading and Trading Station. In 1936, the town’s first post office was opened and was used as an unlicensed humorist’s cafe. The town’s name is derived from the Inuit word utqiq, also used for ‘potato’, which means ‘place for gathering wild roots’
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This page is based on the article Utqiagvik, Alaska published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 01, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
