St. George Island is one of the Pribilof Islands

Pribilof Islands

The Pribilof Islands are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of Unalaska and 200 miles southwest of Cape Newenham. The Siberia coast is roughly northwest...

 of the state of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, USA, in the Bering Sea

Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....

 off the western coast of the state. The island has a land area of 90 km² (35 sq mi) and a population of about 100 people, all living in its only community, the city of St. George

St. George, Alaska

St. George is a city in Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 152. It is the main settlement of St. George Island in the Pribilofs, a small island group in the Bering Sea.-Geography:...

, which encompasses the entire island.

The island was discovered by Gavriil Pribylov on June 25, 1786, during a search for the breeding grounds of northern fur seal

Northern Fur Seal

The Northern fur seal is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily and the only species in the genus Callorhinus.-Physical description:Northern fur seals have extreme sexual dimorphism, with males...

s. The island is named after Pribylov's ship, the St. George. St. George Island was the first of the Pribilofs to be discovered.