Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Alaska

The Diocese of Alaska (Russian: Епархия Аляски, romanized: Yeparkhiya Alyaski) is a diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Its territory includes parishes, monasteries, and missions located in Alaska. The diocesan chancery is located in Anchorage. The Diocese was founded when Alaska was part of Russia and is one of the oldest in the United States. The Church of the Holy Ascension (1826), which belongs to the Diocese, is one of the oldest American churches. The Diocese of Alaska was officially created in 1860s but the first orthodox missionary bishop was in 1840 Saint Innocent of Alaska, later Metropolitan of Moscow.

After the United States purchased Alaska in 1867, the Diocese was granted jurisdiction over all North America and the see moved to San Francisco between 1872 and 1903, and later in New York City, because the Orthodox Church had grown in other parts of America and Canada due to arrival of several immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe, and all these immigrants were united in this single North American Diocese.

In 1900 the Bishop of Alaska Tikhon (later Patriarch of Moscow, now a Saint) was named officially "Bishop of America", and in 1903 erected the "Alaska vicariate" with an auxiliary bishop. In 1920s and 1930s the Diocese was divided to create new dioceses and so the Diocese of Alaska returned to have the real see in Alaska.

Altogether, twenty-three churches are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; thirty churches are considered National Historic Landmarks. As of 2013, the Diocese includes 89 parishes, which represents the highest concentration of Orthodox Church in America parishes among the states. According to the Los Angeles Times, the diocese had around 30,000 members statewide as of 2006.