Bering Strait

The Bering Strait separates the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska, connecting the Pacific Ocean, through the Bering Sea, to the Arctic Ocean, through the Chukchi Sea. At its narrowest point, between Cape Dezhnev and Cape Prince of Wales, it measures about 82 kilometers across, with an average depth of 30 to 50 meters and a maximum depth of about 90 meters. The Diomede Islands, only 3.8 kilometers apart, sit within the strait, and it is named for the Danish-born Russian explorer Vitus Bering. The strait is thought to have opened between 4.8 and 7.4 million years ago, and during past glacial periods when sea levels fell it exposed the Beringia land bridge, associated with early human migration between Asia and North America.