The Bering Strait separates the Asian and North American continents between Russia and Alaska.
At its narrowest point, the strait is about 85 kilometres wide. It connects the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi Sea with the Pacific Ocean’s Bering Sea. Russia lies to the west and the United States, through Alaska, lies to the east.
The Diomede Islands sit near the middle of the strait. Big Diomede belongs to Russia, while Little Diomede belongs to the United States; the international boundary runs between them. Because of their location, the islands are only a few kilometres apart but are separated by the International Date Line and a different calendar date.
During lower sea levels in the last Ice Age, the Bering Land Bridge, or Beringia, connected Siberia and Alaska. Archaeological and genetic evidence links this region to the movement of ancestral peoples into the Americas. The strait is named after Danish explorer Vitus Bering, whose 1728 expedition sailed through it.