How wide is the Bering Strait at its narrowest point?
The Bering Strait is about 82 km wide at its narrowest point, between Cape Dezhnev on the Chukchi Peninsula of Russia and Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska. Its deepest point reaches only 90 metres.
Questions about Bering Strait
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who was the Bering Strait named after?
The Bering Strait is named after Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian explorer who entered the strait in 1728. Mikhail Gvozdev became the first European to cross it from Asia to America four years later, in 1732.
How did humans first cross the Bering Strait into the Americas?
Scientists believe the first humans crossed via Beringia, a land bridge exposed when glaciers locked up water and lowered sea levels, revealing the shallow sea floor beneath the strait. This theory has been dominant for several decades and remains the most accepted explanation for how Paleo-Indians entered the Americas.
Who swam across the Bering Strait and when?
Lynne Cox swam a 4.3 km course between the Diomede Islands in 1987, crossing from Alaska to the Soviet Union in water at 3.3 degrees Celsius. Both President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev jointly congratulated her.
What is the Ice Curtain in the Bering Strait?
The Ice Curtain was the Cold War name for the sealed border between the Soviet Union and the United States running through the Bering Strait. Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (US) are only 3.8 km apart, but all regular crossings and indigenous travel between them were blocked during that period.
What tunnel or bridge has been proposed for the Bering Strait?
Russia approved a US$65-billion TKM-World Link tunnel project in August 2011; at 103 km it would be the world's longest tunnel if completed. China also considered a separate 200 km underwater tunnel as part of a railroad linking China, Russia, Canada, and the United States.