Bering Strait
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Satellite photo of the Bering Strait |
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Nautical chart of the Bering Strait |
The
Bering Strait is a sea
strait between
Cape Dezhnev,
Russia, the easternmost point (169°43' W) of the
Asian continent and
Cape Prince of Wales,
Alaska, the westernmost point (168°05' W) of the
American continent, with
latitude of about 65° 40' North, slightly south of the
polar circle.
The strait is approximately 85 km (58 mi) wide, with a depth of 30–50 m (100–165 ft) andconnects the
Chukchi Sea (part of the
Arctic Ocean) in the north with the
Bering Sea (part of the
Pacific Ocean) in the south. It is named after
Vitus Bering, a
Danish-born
Russian explorer who crossed the strait in
1728.
The
Diomede Islands lie directly in the middle of the Bering Strait. Little Diomede town has a small school in the
Bering Strait School District.
Suggestions have been made for the construction of a
bridge spanning the Bering Strait between
Alaska and
Siberia, 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 adventurer Dimitri Kieffer crossed the strait on foot, walking across a frozen 90 km (56 mile) section in 15 days.
(BBC) (although they were soon arrested for not entering Russia through a border control.)
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Bering land bridge
