The Port of Nome is located on the Norton Sound off the Bering Sea in western Alaska. The Port of Nome is just 225 nautical miles east of the Port of Providenija in Russia, while it is 652 nautical miles from the Port of Dutch Harbor in Unalaska. To the north of the Port of Nome is the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, a portion of the land bridge that once connected Asia and North America that is believed to be the route of humans into the New World. In 2005, almost 3600 people called the Port of Nome home.

The economy of the Port of Nome depends on fishing, transportation, reindeer herding, Eskimo handicrafts, and tourism. During the summer, freight steamers bring people and cargo to the Port of Nome. Roads radiate from the Port of Nome into the arctic tundra. Airlines serve the city throughout the year. The Port of Nome is famous for its historic role in the Alaska Gold Rush and for being the destination city for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Inupiat-speaking peoples hunted for game in the area of the future Port of Nome during prehistoric times. Archeological evidence suggests that there was an Inupiat settlement called Sitnasuak at the site of the Port of Nome before gold was discovered in the area.

In 1898, three Swedish Americans discovered gold on Anvil Creek during the summer. By the winter, the outside world knew about the discovery. In 1899, the Port of Nome had a population of ten thousand. Called the Nome Mining District, prospectors found gold in the beach sands for miles along the Port of Nome coast, attracting many more hopeful people to the area.

By the spring of 1900, thousands more people were flooding the Port of Nome on steamships from San Francisco and Seattle. A tent city grew up on the beaches that reached 48 kilometers from Cape Nome to Cape Rodney.

As many as 20 thousand people lived in the Port of Nome area during the period from 1900 to 1909. The 1900 US Census identified almost 12.5 thousand, the largest recorded population. At this time, the Port of Nome was the biggest city in the Alaska Territory. Policed by the US Army, residents who did not have or could not pay for shelter were forced to leave the city before the hard winter set in. By 1920, the population had decreased to 852 after the easy-to-reach gold sources had been exhausted. Gold mining continued to be the major source of income for the Port of Nome until the 1960s when the dredge fields were closed. Over its history, the Port of Nome has produced at least 3.6 million ounces of gold.

"Claim jumping" became a problem when late-comers, jealous of the first prospectors' good luck, attempted to file claims on the same property. While the federal courts supported the first claims, Republican Party official Alexander McKenzie was able to get a crony appointed as federal judge for the Port of Nome. McKenzie and his appointee went to Alaska with the goal of stealing the area's most productive gold mines. While the theft was eventually stopped, the story became the base of a best-selling novel by Rex Beach, The Spoilers, which was made into a movie five times. John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich starred in the most popular version of the movie.

Most of the Port of Nome's gold-rush architecture was destroyed in 1905 and 1934 fires and by violent storms that came in 1900, 1913, 1945, and 1974. One pre-fire property, the Discovery Saloon, survives as a private residence that is being restored.

In 1925, Eskimo natives were hit hard by an epidemic of diphtheria. To help, dog sleds were used to move diphtheria serum through terrible winter conditions. In honor of this historic life-saving event, the Port of Nome was the destination for the more than 1.6 thousand kilometer Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that began in 1973.

The Port of Nome was the final stop of the ferry system that was used for planes from the United States destined for the Soviet Union in a Lend-lease program during World War II. The airstrip built by the US military is now the Port of Nome's airstrip, and the former Marks Air Force Base is now the Nome Airport.

Today, gold mining is still an important industry in the Port of Nome. Other major sectors of the local economy include government, road construction and repairs, and carpentry.

The Port of Nome lies on the shores of Norton Sound in the southern Seward Peninsula in west central Alaska.

The City Dock (south) is located on the Port of Nome's Causeway, and it handles bulk cargo and fuel deliveries for the community. About 61 meters long, the dock has alongside depth of 6.9 meters. The WestGold Dock (north) is 57.9 meters long with alongside depth of 6.9 meters, and it handles the region's rock and gravel exports. It is also the site for loading and unloading heavy equipment.

The opening between the breakwater and the Causeway is about 152 meters wide and is the access to the deep-water Causeway docks and the Snake River entrance to the Small Boat Harbor. The navigation channel from the outer harbor entrance to the inner harbor is marked by buoys.

The Small Boat Harbor in the Port of Nome is three meters deep and has protected mooring at two floating docks for fishing vessels and recreational boats. Smaller cargo vessels and landing craft take on village freight at the south, west, and east inner harbor sheet pile docks, at the east beach landing, and at the west barge ramp.

In 2005, a new 18.3-meter wide concrete barge ramp was added to Port of Nome facilities inside the inner harbor. The ramp gives bulk cargo carriers a closer location to the Causeway for trans-loading freight to barges and landing craft. The property also has about two acres of land intended for storage of containers, vessels, and equipment.

The City of Nome is located within the subarctic zone. With extremely cold winters, summer temperatures reach moderately comfortable levels. July is the warmest month of the year, with an average high temperature of 14.8 °C (58.6 °F). The coldest month is February, when average low temperatures reach a chilly -19 °C (-2.3 °F). Rainfall is fairly constant throughout the year. Snow falls every month except July and August, although it is limited (less than an inch) in June and September. The driest month is March, and the wettest is August.

Each year in the middle of March, the world-famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race ends in the Port of Nome, although events are held throughout the month. The finish line for the race is in the Port of Nome, where contestants end their almost 1.7 thousand kilometer trek through extreme wilderness conditions. During the finish, the Port of Nome population grows by some thousand people. For those who love the adventure and camaraderie of this extreme event, the Port of Nome is the place to be in March.

Since February 1984, the Iron Dog Snomobile Race has seen the world's longest snowmobile race, over three thousand kilometers, from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks. Confronting extremely harsh winter conditions and some of Alaska's most rugged and remote terrain, from 35 to 40 two-person teams participate each year.

For the golfer seeking a unique and extreme adventure, the Bering Sea Ice Golf Classic is held on the third Saturday of March. Golfers play six holes and use husky-pulled sleds as caddies.

The Port of Nome area has three distinct habitats (ocean, wetlands, and high alpine tundra) where more than 150 migratory species of birds visit each year. When the ice and snow begin to melt in the spring, the migration begins. Many of the species that next in the region come from mid-May to June. In mid-August, the fall migration begins. The Port of Nome is a bird-watchers paradise at these times of year.

Visitors to the Port of Nome can pan for gold on the beach. Permits are necessary, but a stretch of privately-owned beach east of Nome is opened to the public for this adventure. While people do find gold in the sand, they do not get rich. Each year, a few miners come to the Port of Nome to mine for gold while they live on the beach. Recreational mining is defined as a miner using light equipment to suction dredge a limited amount of sand, pumping no more than 30 thousand gallons of water per day.

For those who do not want to pan or mine for gold on the beach, the beaches in the Port of Nome are still a wonderful place to be. Driftwood for cooking fires or bonfires is abundant, and the rivers are filled with fish. Beach combers will find glass and other items in the same that have been carried there by Pacific currents from all over the world. With the long midnight sun and summer temperatures, it is warm enough for kayaking and windsurfing. The Nome Rotary Club holds a Midnight Sun Festival during which they sponsor the Polar Bear Swim each year.