Juneau, Alaska

Where Juneau is

Juneau lies at 58.30°N, 134.42°W on the mainland side of Gastineau Channel, in the southeastern Panhandle of Alaska. Douglas Island faces the city across the channel and is joined to it by a bridge. Mount Juneau and Mount Roberts rise directly behind downtown, and the Juneau Icefield, which feeds the Mendenhall Glacier about 12 miles north of the center, covers the mountains to the east. The border with British Columbia is only about 40 miles away across the icefield. The City and Borough of Juneau, consolidated in 1970, covers about 3,255 square miles, larger than Delaware, though nearly all of it is mountain, ice and water.

No road leads out of Juneau. Residents and freight arrive by air or by the Alaska Marine Highway ferries. The city is on Alaska Time (UTC−9), one hour behind Pacific Time.

How it became the capital

The Russian and early American capital of Alaska was Sitka, about 95 miles southwest of Juneau on Baranof Island. Gold was found on Gold Creek in 1880, and the mining camp that became Juneau grew quickly while Sitka declined. Congress moved the territorial capital to Juneau in 1900, and the transfer took effect in 1906. Alaska voters have three times considered moving the capital closer to Anchorage, most seriously in the 1970s when a site at Willow was chosen, but funding was rejected in 1982 and the capital stayed.

Population

Juneau counted 32,255 people in 2020, making it the third-largest place in Alaska after Anchorage (291,247) and Fairbanks. Anchorage, the largest city, holds about 40 percent of the state's population and is about 570 air miles to the northwest. Juneau's population swells in summer with cruise passengers, who arrive in numbers many times the resident total.

The capitol

The Alaska State Capitol at Fourth and Main streets was built in 1931 as the Federal and Territorial Building, housing the post office, courts and the territorial legislature. It is a plain six-story brick office block with a marble-columned portico, one of the few state capitols without a dome. The territory acquired it from the federal government in 1959 at statehood.

Distances to other cities

Related maps

• Alaska map — the whole state with borders, cities and counties.
• Alaska county map · blank Alaska map · printable Alaska map.
• All 50 state capitals on one map, and the state capitals quiz.
• West region · Pacific division · Alaska Time Zone.