Shumagin Islands
| Shumagin Islands | ||
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| Waters | Gulf of Alaska | |
| Geographical location | 55 ° 14 ′ N , 160 ° 1 ′ W | |
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| Total land area | 1192 km² | |
The Shumagin Islands are a group of islands off the Alaska Peninsula in the Gulf of Alaska . Administratively they belong to the Aleutians East Borough . The only larger settlement is Sand Point on Popof Island with 893 inhabitants (as of 2007).
The archipelago includes several smaller islands, Popof Island , Korovin Island , Nagai Island , Simeonof Island and Big and Little Koniuji Island . Unga Island was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1968 because of the scientific importance of the petrified trees found on the coast . Simeonof Island is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge .
The Shumagin Islands were named in 1741 by Vitus Bering after Nikita Shumagin, one of his sailors, who died of scurvy and was buried on Nagai Island. From Innocent of Alaska , a Russian Orthodox priest who evangelized the Aleut population in 1840 whose name was documented for the archipelago as "Kagigun". Adam Johann von Krusenstern of the Imperial Russian Army published the French name "I (les) Choumagin" in 1827.
