Etolin Island is an island in the
Alexander Archipelago
The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...
of southeastern
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
at . It is between
Prince of Wales Island, to its west, and the Alaska mainland, to its east. It is southwest of
Wrangell Island. It was first charted in 1793 by
James Johnstone, one of
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...
's officers during his
1791-95 expedition. He only charted its southwest and east coasts, not realizing it was an island.
It was originally named Duke of York Island but was renamed by the United States after the
Alaska Purchase.
''Statement of facts regarding the Alaska boundary question'', p.1383
, Alexander Begg, Report to the Attorney-General of British Columbia
The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney genera ...
, 1902. It is named after Adolf Etolin, governor of the Russian American colonies from 1840 to 1845.
The island is long and 10–22 miles (16–35 km) wide, with a land area of , making it the 24th largest island in the United States. As of the 2000 census, Etolin had a population of 15 persons.
It contains a population of introduced elk. The entire island lies within the boundaries of Tongass National Forest
The Tongass National Forest () in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at . Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which is ...
. The southern part of the island has been officially designated the South Etolin Wilderness The South Etolin Wilderness is a wilderness area within the Tongass National Forest of Alaska. The designated wilderness encompasses 82,676 acres, including much of Etolin Island along with several smaller islands, all of which are part of the Alexa ...
.
The Etolin Canoe
The ''Etolin Canoe'' is an unfinished dugout canoe on Etolin Island, in the Tongass National Forest, that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is made of a single Western red cedar or an Alaska yellow cedar trunk and wa ...
is a historic dugout canoe, found unfinished on the island, which is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
References
Etolin Island: Blocks 1019 and 1020, Census Tract 3, Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, Alaska
United States Census Bureau
Islands of the Alexander Archipelago
Islands of Wrangell, Alaska
Islands of Alaska
{{WrangellAK-geo-stub