Bering Strait

The Bering Strait lies between the Seward Peninsula of Alaska and the Chukchi Peninsula of northeastern Russia. It forms the northern passage between the Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea, linking the North Pacific with the Arctic Ocean. At its narrowest point, the strait is about 53 miles (85 kilometres) across; its average depth is roughly 30–50 metres. The Diomede Islands sit near its centre and separate the waterway into two main channels. The international boundary between the United States and Russia passes between Big Diomede, on the Russian side, and Little Diomede, on the U.S. side.

The strait is a narrow, shallow gateway through which Pacific water generally flows north into the Arctic. This exchange carries seasonally warm, relatively fresh, nutrient-rich water into the Chukchi Sea and western Arctic Ocean. The inflow affects salinity, sea ice and the layering of Arctic waters, although winds can temporarily reverse the local flow. Moorings have monitored the passage since 1990, helping researchers study its currents and changing marine environment.

During cold periods of the Pleistocene, much of Earth's water was stored in glaciers and global sea level fell. Land that is now submerged emerged between northeastern Asia and Alaska. The broader region is known as Beringia: it extended far beyond the present-day strait and was not simply a narrow strip of land. The exposed landscape allowed plants and animals to move between the continents. Archaeological research continues to investigate the timing and routes of human movement into the Americas; the exposed land bridge is part of that history, not a complete explanation of it.

The Bering Strait is an international waterway and the only vessel corridor between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Its geography has also made it an important passage for people living around the region. Indigenous communities in the wider Bering Strait and Bering Sea region have long-standing relationships with the marine environment; community accounts describe subsistence use of marine resources as important to food security, culture and local economies. Scientific monitoring and maritime activity take place in a region with ecological, political and cultural significance.

The strait is named for Danish-born explorer Vitus Bering, who sailed into it in 1728 during a Russian expedition. Russian ships led by Semyon Dezhnyov had passed through the region in 1648, according to historical accounts. Bering's name became attached to the strait and the neighboring sea, while the region's much older history includes Indigenous travel and exchange that predated European exploration by millennia.