Atka Island

Atka Island
Island
Atka Island
Coordinates: 52°08′17″N 174°26′43″W
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Archipelago	Andreanof Islands of the Aleutian Islands
Census Area	Aleutians West Census Area
Area
• Total	404.93 sq mi (1,048.8 km2)
• Land	404.6 sq mi (1,048 km2)
• Water	0.33 sq mi (0.9 km2)
Population  (2000)
• Total	95
• Density	0.23/sq mi (0.091/km2)
ZIP code	99547

Atka Island reindeer and the remains of the island's B-24D Liberator aircraft

Atka Island (Aleut: Atx̂ax̂, Russian: Атка остров) is the largest island in the Andreanof Islands of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The island is 50 miles (80 km) east of Adak Island. It is 65 miles (105 km) long and 2–20 miles (3–30 km) wide with a land area of 404.6 square miles (1,048 km²), making it the 22nd largest island in the United States. The northeast of Atka Island contains the Korovin volcano which reaches a peak of 5,030 feet (1,533 m). Oglodak Island is located 3.4 miles (3.0 nmi; 5.5 km) off Cape Kigun, Atka's westernmost point.

The city of Atka, Alaska is on the east side of the island. The 2000 census population of the island was 95 persons, almost all in the city of Atka.

On December 5, 2008, President George W. Bush created the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. A crashed B-24 Liberator on Atka is one of the nine sites included in the monument. As of July 2021 Atka is having a new modular medical clinic and quarantine shelter with a morgue being erected. This is through grants of the USDA and other parties such as native corp AHTNA & Whitley Manufacturing to serve the tribe.

Education

Atka village in winter

Atka is served by the Aleutian Region Schools.

The Yakov E. Netsvetov School serves grades K-12.

Further reading

• Walter, Eugene; Katherine Clark (2002). "The Arctic Circle". Milking the Moon: A Southerner's Story of Life on This Planet. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80965-2. The author describes his three years serving on Atka as a military cryptologist during World War II.