North Star

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North Star

North Star: see Polaris.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Fairbanks North Star Borough is a borough located in the state of Alaska, United States. It is part of the 'Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and is slightly smaller in size than the state of New Jersey. As of 2000 the population was 82,840, while 85,930 was the estimate in 2004. The borough seat is Fairbanks.

Government

The borough assembly consists of nine members elected at large for each seat. Members serve three-year terms. A borough mayor is the chief administrative officer and is elected for a three-year term.

Borough Mayor - Jim Whitaker Term Ends October 2009

Assembly Members: October 2008 - October 2009

Seat A - Bill Stringer
Seat B - Luke Hopkins
Seat C - Kelly E. Brown
Seat D - Tammie Wilson
Seat E - Tim Beck
Seat F - Nadine Winters
Seat G - Mike Musick
Seat H - Joseph Blanchard II
Seat I - Guy Sattley

The borough operates a public library system; the main library is the Noel Wien Public Library.

Geography

The borough has a total area of 7,444 square miles (19,280 km²), of which, 7,366 square miles (19,078 km²) of it is land and 78 square miles (201 km²) of it (1.04%) is water.

Adjacent boroughs and census areas

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska - north
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska - southeast
Denali Borough, Alaska - southwest

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 82,840 people, 29,777 households, and 20,516 families residing in the borough. The population density was 11 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 33,291 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 77.79% White, 5.85% Black or African American, 6.90% Native American, 2.08% Asian, 0.30% Pacific Islander, 1.71% from other races, and 5.39% from two or more races. 4.15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 29,777 households out of which 41.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.70% were married couples living together, 9.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the borough the population was spread out with 30.10% under the age of 18, 12.20% from 18 to 24, 33.30% from 25 to 44, 19.80% from 45 to 64, and 4.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 109.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.90 males.