Aniak is located on the south bank of the Kuskokwim River at the head of Aniak Slough, 59 miles southeast of Russian Mission in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.  It lies 92 air miles northeast of Bethel and 317 miles west of Anchorage.

The Aniak River played a key role in the placer gold rush of 1900-01. The Yup'ik village of Aniak had been abandoned by the time Russian explorers began making contact with the native population along the mid Kuskokwim valley in the early 19th century.  After 1914, when Tom L. Johnson homesteaded the site and opened a store and post office, eskimos Willie Pete and Sam Simeon brought their families from Ohagamuit to Aniak, which reestablished the Native community.  A Russian-era trader named Semen Lukin is credited with the discovery of gold near Aniak in 1932.  A Territorial school opened in 1936.  Construction of an airfield began in 1939, followed by the erection of the White Alice radar-relay station in 1956, which closed in 1978.  The City was incorporated in 1972. 

Aniak's population is primarily Yup'ik Eskimos and Tanaina Athabascans.  Subsistence foods contribute largely to villagers' diets.  Many families travel to fish camps each summer. Salmon, moose, bear, birds, berries and home gardening provide food sources.

The economy of Aniak is based on government, transportation and retail services.  As the largest city in the area, Aniak is a service hub for surrounding villages.