Savoonga, Alaska was incorporated in 1969, and in 1971 became the joint owner with Gambell of the entire island. Savoonga is a city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, one of two on St. Lawrence Island, in the Bering Sea. The 2007 Census estimate puts the population at 647. The local economy consists largely of subsistence hunting for walrus, seals, fish, and bowhead whales; the city calls itself the “Walrus Capital of the World”. A dogsled mail service operated here until 1963.

Savoonga is on the northern coast of St. Lawrence island in the Bering Sea. It is 39 mi southeast of Gambell. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles, all of it land. Most people on St. Lawrence Island speak Siberian Yupik, while some of Alaska’s people are losing their native languages. There are daily flights from Nome, weather permitting.