At statehood, Alaska’s population was primarily white and Alaska Native. Only a small percentage of residents hailed from foreign countries. Then, thousands of miles away, something changed.
Suddenly Alaska was changing, too: Between 1990 and 2010, the proportion of the state comprised of non-native minorities nearly doubled. Immigrants from Asian countries began arriving in Alaska in growing numbers. Filipinos surpassed Canadians as the largest immigrant population in Alaska. Now -- barely half a century post-statehood -- Alaska is home to the most diverse communities in America.
The seismic shift in the state’s demographics traces directly back to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965; federal legislation that preceded the discovery of oil on the North Slope by just two years. The two events combined to trigger a new wave of migration north, creating one of the most diverse communities in the country in the most remote state in the union.