Bering Strait
The Bering Strait is a sea
strait between Cape Dezhnev,
Russia, the easternmost point of the
Asian continent and
Cape Prince of Wales,
Alaska, the westernmost point of the
American continent, with
latitude of about 65 40' North, slightly south of the
polar circle.
The strait is approximately 85 km wide, with a depth of 30–50 m and connects the
Chukchi Sea in the north with the
Bering Sea in the south. Although the Cossack
Semyon Dezhnev passed by the strait in 1648, it is named after
Vitus Bering, a
Danish-born
Russian explorer who crossed the strait in 1728.
Encyclopedia
The
Bering Strait is a sea
strait between Cape Dezhnev,
Russia, the easternmost point of the
Asian continent and
Cape Prince of Wales,
Alaska, the westernmost point of the
American continent, with
latitude of about 65° 40' North, slightly south of the
polar circle.
The strait is approximately 85 km wide, with a depth of 30–50 m and connects the
Chukchi Sea in the north with the
Bering Sea in the south. Although the Cossack
Semyon Dezhnev passed by the strait in 1648, it is named after
Vitus Bering, a
Danish-born
Russian explorer who crossed the strait in 1728.
The area is sparsely populated. The
Diomede Islands lie directly in the middle of the Bering Strait. The area in the immediate neighbourhood on the Alaskan side belongs to the
Nome Census Area, which has a population of 9.000 people. There is no road from the Bering strait to the main cities of Alaska. Air is the main mode of travel. There are a few roads around Nome.
The Russian coast belongs to
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Providenya and Chukotsky are the two areas located at the Bering Strait. These areas are also roadless.
Suggestions have been made for the construction of a
bridge spanning the Bering Strait between
Alaska and
Siberia, the
Bering Strait Bridge, dubbed by some as the
Intercontinental Peace Bridge, and alternatively, for a connecting
tunnel underneath the strait.
The land bridge that existed over the Bering Strait during the
Ice Ages is known now as the
Bering Land Bridge.
In March, 2006, Briton
Karl Bushby and French American adventurer Dimitri Kieffer crossed the strait on foot, walking across a frozen 90 km section in 15 days.
See also
