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32-587: Kenai ( / ˈ k iː n aɪ / , KEE -ny ) ( Dena'ina : Shk'ituk't ; Russian : Кенай , Kenay ) is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska . By road, it is 158 miles southwest of Anchorage . The population was 7,424 as of the 2020 census , up from 7,100 in 2010, the fifteenth-most populated city in the state. The city of Kenai is named after the local Dena'ina word 'ken' or 'kena', which means 'flat, meadow, open area with few trees; base, low ridge', according to

64-433: A Dena'ina artist, Argent Kvasnikoff, created a custom alphabet for the language. Denaʼina is a polysynthetic language where a single word can mean the entirety of an English sentence. nu- again- n- you- t- FUT - n- see- gh- FUT - sh- I- l- CL - 'ił see/ FUT nu- n- t- n- gh- sh- l- 'ił again- you- FUT- see- FUT- I- CL- see/FUT "I will see you again." Verbs are

96-526: A Dena'ina village called Shk'ituk't , meaning "where we slide down." When Russian fur traders first arrived in 1741, about 1,000 Dena'ina lived in the village. The traders called the people "Kenaitze", which is a Russian term for "people of the flats", or "Kenai people". This name was later adopted when they were incorporated as the Kenaitze Alaskan Natives in the early 1970s. In 1786, Pytor Zaykov built Nikolaevskaia krepost (Fort Nicholas) for

128-509: A world record largest sport-caught Chinook (or "king") salmon was taken from the Kenai River , weighing in at 97 lbs 4oz. Eight of the ten largest king salmons caught in the world have come from the same river, making the city a popular fishing tourist location. The lower reaches of the Kenai River, including its mouth where it empties into Cook Inlet , are within city limits. This area

160-467: Is qi lan qi lan they are qi lan Kenai Peninsula The peninsula extends about 150 miles (240 km) southwest from the Chugach Mountains , south of Anchorage . It is separated from the mainland on the west by Cook Inlet and on the east by Prince William Sound . Most of the peninsula is part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough . Athabaskan and Alutiiq Native groups lived on

192-540: Is the Athabaskan language of the region surrounding Cook Inlet . It is geographically unique in Alaska as the only Alaska Athabaskan language to include territory which borders salt water. Four dialects are usually distinguished: Of the total Denaʼina population of about 900 people, only 75–95 members still speak Denaʼina. James Kari has done extensive work on the language since 1972, including his edition with Alan Boraas of

224-480: Is the site of a designated personal use dipnet fishery during the month of July, one of a number of such fisheries throughout various parts of Alaska, that is open annually to residents of the state. The dipnetting season and fishing limitations are set by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game , and require fishermen to carry personal use fishing permits and only fish within designated regions and limits. Because

256-578: The Lebedev-Lastochkin Company on the site of modern Kenai, being the first European settlement on the Alaskan mainland. Hostilities surfaced between the natives and settlers in 1797, culminating in an incident in which the Dena'ina attacked Fort St. Nicholas, later dubbed the battle of Kenai. Over one hundred deaths occurred from all involved parties. In 1838, the introduction of smallpox killed one half of

288-600: The Pacific Ocean . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 35.5 square miles (92 km), of which, 29.9 square miles (77 km) of it is land and 5.6 square miles (15 km) of it (15.85%) is water. As with much of Southcentral Alaska , Kenai has a moderate dry-summer subarctic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Dsc ) due to the cool summers. Winters are snowy, long but not particularly cold, especially considering

320-710: The Sargent Icefield and Harding Icefields and the numerous glaciers assosciated with them, including Tustumena Glacier , Exit Glacier , and McCarty Glacier . The peninsula includes several of the most populous towns in Southcentral Alaska, including Seward on the Gulf of Alaska Coast, Soldotna , Kenai , Sterling , and Cooper Landing along the Cook Inlet and Kenai River, and Homer , along Kachemak Bay, along with numerous smaller villages and settlements. Homer marks

352-559: The Sterling Highway in downtown Soldotna and winds through downtown and the portions of city limits north of the Kenai River . The Warren Ames Memorial Bridge, located within city limits and the Kenai River's farthest downriver crossing, provides access to the portions of city limits south of the river and to Kalifornsky Beach Road, the latter providing an alternate access to Soldotna and the outlying road network. Beaver Loop Road provides access to neighborhoods and parklands upriver of

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384-595: The Dena'ina Topical Dictionary by James Kari, Ph.D., published in 2007. This describes the area along the mouth and portion of the Kenai River near the City of Kenai. Archaeological evidence suggests that the area was first occupied by the Kachemak people from 1000 B.C., until they were displaced by the Dena'ina Athabaskan people around 1000 A.D. Before the arrival of the Russians, Kenai was

416-678: The Dena'ina population. In 1869, after the Alaska Purchase , the United States Army established a post called Fort Kenay. It was soon abandoned. In 1895–96, the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church was built in the village. It is still in use today. The establishment of shipping companies in the early 1900s broadened Kenai into a port city. Canning companies were established and helped fuel

448-524: The bridge. Although many fishing boats are based in Kenai, the city does not have a formal port and harbor. There are docks for offloading the catch, but commercial fishing boats are generally moored offshore in the Kenai River. The nearest deep water port is in Nikiski , but is primarily reserved for use by the oil and gas extraction industry. The Kenai Airport has regularly scheduled flights to Anchorage. In 1985,

480-485: The city was $ 45,962, and the median income for a family was $ 61,348. Males had a median income of $ 48,371 versus $ 27,112 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 20,789. About 8.2% of families and 13.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over. The main road access to Kenai is via the Kenai Spur Highway , which branches off of

512-406: The collected writings of Peter Kalifornsky in 1991. Joan M. Tenenbaum also conducted extensive field research on the language in the 1970s. The word Denaʼina is composed of the dena , meaning 'person' and the human plural suffix ina . While the apostrophe which joins the two parts of this word ordinarily indicates a glottal stop, most speakers pronounce this with a diphthong, so that

544-429: The commercial fishing boom that was the primary activity through the 1920s. In 1940, homesteads were opened in the area. The first dirt road from Anchorage was constructed in 1951; pavement would not arrive until 1956 with the construction of the Kenai Spur Highway . A military base, Wildwood Army Station (later Wildwood Air Force Station), was established in 1953, and served as a major communications post. Wildwood

576-555: The e is considered a reduced vowel similar to the English schwa . In the Inland dialect, syllables at the end of a semantic unit are often longer, lower in pitch, and have longer rhymes. The onset of a syllable has consonant clusters of up to three, such as CCCVC, though these are rare and more commonly, a syllable onset is one or two consonants. Dena'ina uses a variant of the Latin alphabet, though

608-403: The fishery is easily accessible and open to all Alaska residents, participation has grown over time, creating a significant strain on city resources as they deal with litter, fish waste, fire hazards and other issues associated with having in excess of ten thousand extra persons in the city during this period. Dena%27ina language Denaʼina / d ɪ ˈ n aɪ n ə / , also Tanaina ,

640-572: The interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake . Rivers include the Kenai River , renowned for king salmon fishing, and its tributary, the Russian River , the Kasilof River , and the Anchor River . Kachemak Bay , an inlet off the larger Cook Inlet , extends into the peninsula's southwest end, much of which is part of Kachemak Bay State Park . It is home to both

672-514: The issue of water pollution . By 2010, the status of the river was changed to a Category 2, or "water that attains its designated uses." Kenai is located at 60°33′31″N 151°13′47″W  /  60.55861°N 151.22972°W  / 60.55861; -151.22972 (60.558738, −151.229616), on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula near the outlet of the Kenai River to the Cook Inlet of

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704-578: The latitude, with January featuring a daily average temperature of 15.8 °F (−9.0 °C). Snow averages 63.6 inches (162 cm) per season, falling primarily from October through March, with some accumulation in April, and rarely in May or September. There are 37 nights of sub-0 °F (−18 °C) lows annually, and the area lies in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 4, indicating an average annual minimum in

736-517: The most elaborate part of speech in the Denaʼina language, which vary in verb paradigms which vary by subject, object, or aspect. The following example is of -lan the verb "to be" in the imperfective aspect and in the Nondalton dialect. esh lan esh lan I am ch'i lan ch'i lan we are in lan in lan you are eh lan eh lan you all are n lan n lan he/she/it

768-574: The peninsula for thousands of years prior to colonization during the Russian America era. The glacier -covered Kenai Mountains run along the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska . Much of the range is within Kenai Fjords National Park . The northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is flatter, dotted with numerous small lakes. Several larger lakes extend through

800-435: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 3,143 households, out of which 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

832-477: The second syllable of the word rhymes with English 'nine' (as in the older spelling Tanaina ). Denaʼina is one of seven Alaska Athabaskan languages which does not distinguish phonemic tone. The consonants of Denaʼina in practical orthography, with IPA equivalents. The 4 vowels of Denaʼina. Close vowels are more open in the environment of a uvular consonant. Generally, the vowels i, a, and u are considered 'long' vowels and are fully pronounced in words, however

864-961: The terminus of the paved highway system of North America , while nearby Anchor Point is the most westerly point on the contiguous highway system. Seward is the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad . The Seward Highway connects Seward to Anchorage, while the Sterling Highway connects the large population centers to the Seward Highway. The Kenai Spur Highway connects Soldotna, Kenai, Nikiski and Captain Cook State Recreation Area , Commercial airports with service to Anchorage are located in Kenai and Homer Smaller airports are located in Soldotna Seward and Seldovia The Alaska Marine Highway services Homer and Seldovia . Seward

896-460: The −20 to −30 °F (−29 to −34 °C) range. Summers are cool due to the marine influence, with 75 °F (24 °C)+ highs or 55 °F (13 °C)+ lows being extremely rare. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −48 °F (−44 °C) on February 4, 1947, up to 89 °F (32 °C) on July 4, 2019. Kenai first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated "Creole" (mixed Russian and Native people) village of Kenai Rédoute. It

928-401: Was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.20. In the city population was spread out, with 32.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males. The median income for a household in

960-610: Was conveyed in 1974 to the Kenai Native Association in partial settlement of Alaska Native land claims . The facility was leased and later purchased by the State of Alaska and presently serves as the Wildwood Correctional Complex . In 1965, offshore oil discoveries in Cook Inlet caused a period of rapid growth. They were a part of a series of oil deposits located during the middle of the 20th century. In 1957, oil

992-472: Was discovered at Swanson River , 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Kenai. This was the first major oil discovery in Alaska. In 1992 and 2011, Kenai was named one of the All-America Cities . In 2008, the Kenai River was designated as a Category 5, or "impaired," water body by the State of Alaska in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act . The Kenai River Working Group (KRWG) was formed to address

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1024-556: Was simply shortened to Kenai with the 1890 census. It was officially incorporated in 1960. As of the census of 2020, there were 7,424 people, 3,143 households, and 1,788 families residing in the city. The population density was 232.2 inhabitants per square mile (89.7/km). There were 3,003 housing units at an average density of 100.4 per square mile (38.8/km). The racial makeup of the city was 74.4% White , 0.8% Black or African American , 12.0% Native American , 2.7% Asian , 1.3% Pacific Islander , and 6.7% from two or more races. 6.5% of

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