Ketchikan, city, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, southeastern Alaska, on Revillagigedo Island, a seaport along the Inside Passage; incorporated 1900. It has a fine natural harbor and is a center for fishing (especially salmon), lumbering, and mining activities. Tourism is also important to the city's economy. Located here is an international airport and a branch campus of the University of Alaska, Southeast (1954). A salmon cannery was established on the site of the present-day city in 1887. The community grew rapidly after copper mining began nearby in 1898. The city's name is possibly derived from a Tlingit phrase meaning “spread wings of an eagle.” Population 7,198 (1980); 8,263 (1990); 7,543 (1998 estimate).
