The Calista region covers Alaska's Bethel and Kusilvak census areas and includes 56 villages.
[5] Calista Corporation owns about 6.5 million acres (26,00 km2) in southwestern Alaska on the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta and the Kuskokwim Mountains.
[7] Because of the importance of the land to the traditional subsistence economies of the region's Yup'ik, Cup'ik, and Athabaskan residents, including the bulk of Calista's shareholders, Calista concentrated most of its land selections under ANCSA in areas surrounding the region's 56 villages.
In a land exchange with the federal government, finalized in 2001, some of Calista's surface land parcels and a portion of its subsurface estate were incorporated into the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, while preserving subsistence hunting and fishing rights.
[10] Under federal law, Calista and some its majority-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partnerships are deemed to be "minority and economically disadvantaged business enterprise[s]" (43 USC 1626(e)).