Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta
The Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta is a river delta located where the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers empty into the Bering Sea on the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. At approximately Script error: No such module "convert". in size,[1] it is one of the largest deltas in the world.[2][3] It is larger than the Mississippi River Delta (which varies between 32,400 and 122,000 square kilometers or 12,500 and 47,100 sq mi);[1] it is comparable in size to the entire U.S. state of Louisiana (135,700 square kilometers or 52,400 sq mi).[4] The delta, which consists mainly of tundra, is protected as part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.
The delta has approximately 25,000 residents. 85% of these are Alaska Natives: Yupik and Athabaskan people. The main population center and service hub is the city of Bethel, with an estimated population of around 6,219 (as of 2011).[5] Bethel is surrounded by 49 smaller villages, with the largest villages consisting of over 1000 people. Most residents live a traditional subsistence lifestyle of hunting, fishing, and gathering. More than 30 percent have cash incomes well below the federal poverty threshold.
The area has virtually no roads; travel is by bush plane, or riverboats in summer and snowmachines in winter.
Bethel is the location of the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center.[6]
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MODIS image of the delta.
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Satellite image of the last portion of the Yukon Delta (itself a portion of the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta)
References
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External links
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