Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
CDP
Caribou walk across a gravel pad at Kuparuk, 45 miles away from Prudhoe Bay, with oilfield facilities in the background.
Location in North Slope Borough and the state of Alaska
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Location in the United States of America
Coordinates: 70°19′32″N 148°42′41″W / 70.32556°N 148.71139°W / 70.32556; -148.71139
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Borough	North Slope
Government
• Borough mayor	Harry K. Brower, Jr.[citation needed]
• State senator	Donny Olson (D)[citation needed]
• State rep.	Tom Baker (R)[citation needed]
Area [1]
• Total	569.89 sq mi (1,476.00 km2)
• Land	390.42 sq mi (1,011.17 km2)
• Water	179.47 sq mi (464.83 km2)
Elevation [2]	26 ft (8 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,310
• Density	3.36/sq mi (1.30/km2)
Time zone	UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-8 (AKDT)
ZIP code	99734
Area code	907 (Local exchange prefix: 659)
FIPS code	02-64380
GNIS feature ID	2419192[2]

Prudhoe Bay /ˈpruːdoʊ/ is a census-designated place (CDP) located in North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population of the CDP was 1,310 people, down from 2,174 residents in the 2010 census, and up from just 5 residents in 2000; however, at any given time, several thousand transient workers support the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. The airport, lodging and general store are located in Deadhorse, and the rigs and processing facilities are located on scattered gravel pads laid atop the tundra. It is only during winter that the surface is hard enough to support heavy equipment, and new construction happens at that time.

Overland access is by the Dalton Highway. As the bay itself is still 10 miles further north through a security checkpoint, open water is not visible from the highway. A few tourists, arriving by bus or their own vehicles after a two-day ride up the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks, come to see the tundra, the Arctic Ocean and the midnight sun, staying in lodgings assembled from modular buildings. Tours must be arranged in advance to see the Arctic Ocean and the bay itself.

Prudhoe Bay was named in 1826 by British explorer Sir John Franklin after his classmate Captain Algernon Percy, Baron Prudhoe. Franklin traveled westerly along the coast from the mouth of the Mackenzie River in Canada almost to Point Barrow.^[3]