Abstract. The article examines the annual reports of the ruling bishops of the Aleutian Diocese (1880–1911) to the Holy Governing Synod as the most important source on the history of the formation and development of Russian Orthodoxy in the USA and Canada. Structural analysis allows us to assess the information potential of all the main sections of these unique documents. The information highlighted provides a comprehensive picture of the life of the largest foreign diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The influence of the personality of the ruling bishop and extraordinary events occurring in the diocese on the form and content of reports is considered.

Key words: Aleutian diocese, diocesan reports, Russian Orthodox Church, archpriest, congregation, Uniates, churches.