those encompassing Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Kodiak Island, Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna valleys, and Fairbanks - form organized boroughs by January 1, 1964. Furthermore, 21 Rural Education Attendance Areas were established by the Legislature in 1975. This created regional divisions of the unorganized borough for the purpose of establishing rural school districts. Many REAAs were later absorbed into organized boroughs. Regional Educational Attendance Areas There are 19 Regional Educational Attendance Areas in the unorganized borough. Dispute over future mandatory boroughs A number of boroughs have been incorporated since the Mandatory Borough Act, but most (the primary examples being North Slope, Northwest Arctic, and Denali) were incorporated to exploit a significant potential source of taxation, such as natural resource extraction and tourism. Many residents of the Unorganized Borough, particularly those in the larger communities which may be most susceptible to organized borough incorporation, have been opposed to such incorporation, and say the status quo suits them just fine. On the other hand, many Alaskans residing in organized boroughs feel that they unfairly subsidize residents of the Unorganized Borough, especially for education. In 2003, the Alaska Division of Community Advocacy identified eight areas within the Unorganized Borough meeting standards for incorporation. Bills have been introduced in the Alaska Legislature to compel these areas to incorporate, though , none have been signed into law. Major communities Bethel (the largest city in the Unorganized Borough) Cordova Craig Delta Junction Deltana Dillingham Edna Bay Fort Yukon Hooper Bay Metlakatla Nenana Nome Tok Unalaska Valdez See also Unorganized Yukon, a similar area in the neighboring Canadian territory of Yukon References External links Legislative Directive for Unorganized Borough Review Map of proposed model borough boundaries Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (1997) Alaska boroughs