Wales, Alaska

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Wales, Alaska (also known as Kingigin) is a traditional Kinugmiut Eskimo subsistance community on Cape Prince of Wales, at the western tip of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. It is also shown on older topo maps as two former villages "Kingegan" to the south end and "Belmezok" on the north end. The population of Wales was 145 as of the 2010 census.

Overview & History:
www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_N...

Village homepage:
www.kawerak.org/tribalHomePages/wales/

Information and photos: (PDF)
www.kawerak.org/ledps/wales.pdf

Photos:
www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/photos/comm_photos.cfm?com...

Detailed / annotated aerial imagery:
www.dced.state.ak.us/dca/profiles/profile-maps.htm

"To Live and Die in Wales, Alaska" - A biography of a Wales native resident.
www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2007.11-alaska-epidemic...


A burial mound from the Birnirk culture (500 to 900 CE) was discovered in the archaeological sites near Wales, and is now a national landmark.

In 1890, the American Missionary Association established a mission here, and in 1894 a reindeer station was organized. A post office was established in 1902. Wales became a major whaling center due to its location along migratory routes, and it was the region's largest and most prosperous village numbering more than 500 residents. The influenza epidemic from 1918 to 1919 decimated the population and economy of Wales.