Bering Strait

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Image:Bering Strait.jpeg Image:US NOAA nautical chart of Bering Strait.png

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) and connects 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.

During the ice ages, the area of the strait was a land bridge known as the Bering land bridge.

In March, 2006, French adventurer Dimitri Kieffer and Karl Bushby crossed the strait on foot, walking across a frozen 56 mile section in 15 days. (BBC)

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