The borough was established in 1972 by an election of the majority indigenous people in the region following Congressional passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The borough has first-class status and exercises the powers of planning zoning taxation and schools. In 1974 it adopted a Home Rule Charter, enabling it to exercise any legitimate governmental power. In 2020 Ravn Alaska went into bankruptcy and ended operations. The government of North Slope Borough attempted to take property of the airline in a way to keep flights and shipments coming to the community, but the Alaska Attorney General stated that it was improper.
Government
It has a seven-member assembly body, elected to staggered three-year terms. The borough's executive and administrative powers are vested in a mayor, who is limited to two consecutive three-year terms.
Politics
The current mayor, Harry K. Brower Jr, was first elected in July 2016 in a run-off election to serve the rest of former mayor Charlotte Brower's second term. Brower was recalled in April 2016, after it was reported the year before that her office had made numerous donations to individuals, sports clubs and other groups that amounted to more than $800,000 since 2011. Former mayor, Eugene Brower, Charlotte's husband, was convicted of tax evasion involving contractor kickbacks three decades earlier. Harry Brower is Charlotte's brother-in-law. Her predecessor, Edward Itta, had succeeded George Ahmaogak and served two terms, 2005-2011. in 2011 Charlotte Brower defeated former mayor, George Ahmaogak, in a runoff after it was revealed that he had billed the Borough for a family vacation in Hawaii. Ahmaogak's wife Maggie, had been convicted of embezzlement from the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission in 2015. Harry Brower ran for a full term as mayor in October 2017, but was forced into a November runoff against his nephew, Frederick Brower, where he easily won a full 3-year term.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of, of which is land and is water. The borough is larger than 39 states. Its western coastline is along the Chukchi Sea, while its eastern shores are on the Beaufort Sea. The North Slope Borough is the largest county-level political subdivision in the United States by area, with a larger land area than that of the state of Utah. Although the adjacent Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area is larger in area, it has no borough-level government. The borough is the fourth-least densely populated county-level entity in the United States. .
As of the census of 2010, there were 9,430 people, 2,109 households, and 1,524 families residing in the borough. The population density was per person. There were 2,538 housing units at an average density of per unit. The racial makeup of the borough was 17.09% White, 0.72% Black or African American, 68.38% Native American, mostly Inuit, 5.92% Asian, 0.84% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 6.55% from two or more races. 2.37% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. 42.84% reported speaking Iñupiaq or "Eskimo" at home, while 4.21% reported speaking Tagalog. There were 2,109 households out of which 48.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.3% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.70% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.45 and the average family size was 4.05. In the borough, the population was spread out with 38.2% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 18.10% from 45 to 64, and 4.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.90 males.
