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Kenai Peninsula Borough
 The
Kenai Peninsula Borough is comprised of the Kenai Peninsula, Cook Inlet
and a large unpopulated area northeast of the Alaska Peninsula. The
Borough includes portions of the Chugach National Forest, the Kenai
National Wildlife Refuge, The Kenai Fjords National Park, and portions
of the Lake Clark and Katmai National Park. The twin Cities of Kenai and
Soldotna are the population centers of the Borough, approximately 65 air
miles south of Anchorage. It lies at approximately 60° 33' N Latitude,
151° 16' W Longitude . The community is located in the Kenai, Seward,
Homer, Seldovia Recording District. The area encompasses 16,079 sq.
miles of land and 5,585 sq. miles of water.
The Kenaitze Indians (Dena'ina) have
occupied the Peninsula historically. The City of Kenai was founded in
1791 as a Russian fur trading post. In the early 1900s cannery
operations and construction of the railroad spurred development. It was
the site of the first major Alaska oil strike, in 1957, and has been a
center for exploration and production since that time. The Borough was
formed in 1964.
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