Etolin Island is an island in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago () is a 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 mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep ...

of southeastern

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

'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 The Alaska Purchase was the purchase of Russian colonization of North America, Alaska from the Russian Empire by the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $ million in ). On May 15 of that year, the United St ...

.''Statement of facts regarding the Alaska boundary question'', p.1383
, Alexander Begg, Report to the Attorney-General of British Columbia, 1902. It is named after Adolf Etolin, governor of the

Russian American Russian Americans are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to those that settled in the 19th-century Russian possessions in what is now Alaska. Russi ...

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 southern part of the island has been officially designated the South Etolin Wilderness. The Etolin Canoe 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