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Barrow, Alaska, a city of approximately 4500 residents, is located on the coast in the far North. It was named after polar expedition sponsor Sir John Barrow, following an 1826 visit by British sailing captain Frederick Beechey, who is believed to be one of the first caucasians to encounter the Inupiat (or "real people" in Inupiaq, a language of the Eskimo). Beechey sailed around a narrow spit of land (known as "The Point") which marks the northernmost edge of our continent. A nearby village (where "Barrow" now stands) was (and is still) known as "Ukpeagvik," or "where the snowy owl flies." Early settlers are believed to have migrated to this region thousands of years ago from Siberia, across a land bridge that is now part of the Bering Sea. These early settlers were nomadic hunters who lived in skin tents and sod homes (Igloos were rarely found....possibly because they have a nasty habit of melting in the Summer :-)
Barrow is the United States' northernmost community, located 330 miles North of the Arctic Circle and 1200 miles from the North Pole. The Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean) borders Barrow on the West, North, and East. To the South, level tundra and permafrost (permanently frozen ground) stretch about 200 miles to the Brooks Mountain Range, isolating Barrow and the "North Slope" region from the rest of Alaska.
