Juneau, Alaska

**Juneau** is the capital city of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906. It is one of 2 capital cities that cannot be reached by road, the other being Honolulu, Hawaii.

The government of the then District of Alaska was moved from Sitka by the decision of the U.S. Congress. The municipality unified in 1970 when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current home rule municipality.

The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island and Delaware individually and almost as large as the two states combined. Downtown Juneau  is at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2020 census, the City and Borough had a population of 32,255.

Juneau is named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, though the place was for a time called **Rockwell** and then **Harrisburg** (after Juneau's co-prospector, Richard Harris).

The Tlingit name of the town is ***Dzántik'i Héeni*** ("_river where the flounders gather_"), and Auke Bay just north of Juneau proper is called _Aak'w_ ("_little lake_") in Tlingit. The Taku River, just south of Juneau, was named after the cold _t'aakh_ wind, which occasionally blows down from the mountains.

Downtown Juneau sits at sea level, with tides averaging , below steep mountains about  to  high. Atop these mountains is the Juneau Icefield, a large ice mass from which about 30 glaciers flow; two of these, the Mendenhall Glacier and the Lemon Creek Glacier, are visible from the local road system; the Mendenhall glacier has been generally retreating; its front face is declining both in width and height.

The Alaska State Capitol in downtown Juneau was originally built as the Federal and Territorial Building in 1931.  Prior to statehood, it housed federal government offices, the federal courthouse and a post office.  It also housed the territorial legislature and many other territorial offices, including that of the governor.  Today, it is still the home of the state legislature and the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor.  Other executive branch offices have largely moved elsewhere, in Juneau or elsewhere in the state, in the ongoing battle between branches for space in the building, as well as the decades-long capital move issue.  Recent discussion has been focused between relocating the seat of state government outside of Juneau and building a new capitol building in Juneau.  Neither position has advanced very far.  The Alaska Committee, a local community advocacy group, has led efforts to thus far keep the capital in Juneau.

## Other websites

- City and Borough of Juneau
- Visit Juneau
- Picture of Juneau and Douglas Island, 1914

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Juneau
- **settlement type**: List of cities in Alaska, City and List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska, Borough
- **named for**: Joe Juneau (prospector), Joe Juneau
- **image skyline**: Downtown Juneau with Mount Juneau rising in the background.jpg
- **image caption**: Downtown Juneau with Mount Juneau in the background
- **image seal**: Seal of Juneau, Alaska.svg
- **image flag**: Flag of Juneau, Alaska.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Juneau in Alaska
- **pushpin map**: USA Alaska#North America
- **pushpin map caption**: Location in Alaska & North America
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision name1**: Alaska
- **founder**: Richard Harris (prospector), Richard Harris and Joe Juneau (prospector), Joe Juneau
- **established title**: Named
- **established date**: (Juneau City)
 (Juneau)
- **established title1**: Incorporated
- **established title2**: Home-rule city
- **established title3**: Borough
- **established date3**: (Greater Juneau Borough)
 (City and Borough of Juneau)
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **area total sq mi**: 3254.70
- **area total km2**: 8429.64
- **area land sq mi**: 2704.03
- **area land km2**: 7003.41
- **area water sq mi**: 550.67
- **area water km2**: 1426.23
- **area urban sq mi**: 14.0
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 32255
- **population density km2**: 4.61
- **population density sq mi**: 11.93
- **population density urban sq mi**: 1749.5
- **elevation m**: 10
- **timezone**: Alaska Standard Time, AKST
- **utc offset**: −9
- **timezone dst**: Alaska Daylight Time, AKDT
- **utc offset dst**: −8
- **area code**: Area code 907, 907
- **elevation ft**: 33
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 02-36400
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS feature ID
- **blank1 info**: [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1404263 1404263]