The Bering Strait is a body of water that lies between Alaska and Siberia, linking the North Pacific and Arctic oceans.
It was first discovered and explored by the Russian navigator Semyon Ivanov Dezhnyov (c1605–73) in 1648.
It is named after Danish explorer Vitus Bering, who led several expeditions to determine whether the continents of Asia and America were joined. In 1741 he sailed from Ohkotsk towards the American continent, discovering Alaska. He died on Avatcha (now Bering Island) in the Bering Sea, which are also named after him.
Fossils and other remains suggest that the first Americans crossed the Bering Strait (which at the time was dry land) from Asia between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago.
It is named after Danish explorer Vitus Bering, who led several expeditions to determine whether the continents of Asia and America were joined. In 1741 he sailed from Ohkotsk towards the American continent, discovering Alaska. He died on Avatcha (now Bering Island) in the Bering Sea, which are also named after him.
Fossils and other remains suggest that the first Americans crossed the Bering Strait (which at the time was dry land) from Asia between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Lying in the middle of the Bering Strait, Russia's Big Diomede Island and the United States's Little Diomede Island are only 2.4 miles (3.8 km) apart but separated by the International Date Line, causing a 21 hour time difference. They were nicknamed Tomorrow Island and Yesterday Island.
American long-distance open-water swimmer Lynne Cox is known for being the first person to swim the 2.5 miles between the United States and the Soviet Union. She crossed from Little Diomede to Big Diomede in 2 hours and 5 minutes on August 7, 1987, via the Bering Strait. Cox was jointly congratulated by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan.
Below is a satellite image of the Bering Strait; Little Diomede Island can be clearly seen in the middle of the strait, to the right of Big Diomede.
About midway are the Diomede Islands.
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