Arctic Yearbook 2014
91
caused the first of many huge influxes of people into the state. Because mining primarily attracted
men, this also caused a jump in the male-to-female sex ratio from 150 males per 100 females in 1890
to 258 in 1900. While the male sex ratio has since declined, with the 109 males per 100 females in
2010, this is the highest male sex ratio of any state in the country.
The influx of outsiders starting with the gold rush would cause a steady decline in the percent
Alaskan Native (Figure 5). The percent Alaskan Native was 93 percent in 1819 and steadily declined
to 73 percent in 1890 (Levin, 1991). It dropped considerably in 1900 to 46 percent with the influx of
outsiders following the gold rush, when the population more than doubled. There would be another
large decline from 45 to 26 percent between 1940 and 1950 when the population increased from
72,000 to 129,000 with the influx of military during WW II and the start of the Cold War. Many
soldiers sent to Alaska during the war decided to stay. The population has steadily increased to
currently 710,000 as a result of the oil pipeline in the 1970s and other factors. The percent Alaskan
Native currently stands at 17 percent, which while low by historical standards, is a slight increase
over recent decades.
Figure 5: Total population and percent Alaskan Native in Alaska, 1819-2010
Population
Percent Alaskan Native
100
800,000
90
700,000
80
600,000
70
500,000
60
50
400,000
40
300,000
30
200,000
20
100,000
10
0
0
1819 1822 1824 1827 1830 1835 1840 1845 1850 1856 1860 1862 1863 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Sources: Levin, 1991 and U.S. Census Bureau.
Figure 6 illustrates the importance of migration as a component of population change for A \