New York Times map spots 60 people of Malaysian ancestry in North Slope Borough
A national ancestry map puts 60 people of Malaysian ancestry in North Slope Borough, where 11,031 residents are spread across 88,792.8 square miles.
The New York Times interactive map places an estimated 60 people of Malaysian ancestry in North Slope Borough, a count that stands out in a place larger than many states and anchored by Utqiaġvik, the northernmost settlement in the United States. The figure sits at the edge of U.S. demographic reporting, where the Census Bureau says ancestry means ethnic origin or descent, not necessarily birthplace.
North Slope Borough had 11,031 people in the 2020 Census and an estimated 10,582 on July 1, 2025, according to QuickFacts. The borough remains majority Alaska Native, with 51.4% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 5.4% Asian alone, 33.7% White alone, 1.9% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, and 5.5% reporting two or more races. Utqiaġvik, known as Barrow from 1901 to 2016, is the borough seat and its largest city.
The geography helps explain why a small ancestry total can show up in the data. Census Reporter lists North Slope Borough at 88,792.8 square miles, with about 0.1 people per square mile. In a borough that broad and thinly settled, even a small community can appear in federal tables without being easy to see in one neighborhood, school, or storefront.
The Census Bureau has asked about ancestry in the 1980, 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses and has collected it in the American Community Survey since then. It also says very small ancestry groups are not shown in every table, and when respondents report more than two ancestries, only the first two are tabulated. On Jan. 25, 2024, the bureau released additional 2017-2021 ACS 5-year selected population tables and American Indian and Alaska Native tables to address over-suppression for some groups and geographies.
North Slope Borough maintains its own 2020 Census page, a sign that local officials continue to watch how federal counts capture life across a borough that stretches from Utqiaġvik across a vast Arctic landscape. In a place this remote and sparsely settled, a number as small as 60 can still make its way into the public record.
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