Bering Strait

Bering Strait
The Bering Strait
Bering Strait
Nautical chart of the Bering Strait
Location	North Asia and Northern America
Coordinates	65°45′00″N 168°58′37″W / 65.75000°N 168.97694°W / 65.75000; -168.97694
Basin countries	Russia, United States
Min. width	82 km (51 mi)
Average depth	30–50 m (98–164 ft)
Max. depth	90 m (300 ft)
Islands	Diomede Islands

The Bering Strait (Russian: Берингов пролив, romanized: Beringov proliv) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia-United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' 37" W longitude, slightly south of the Arctic Circle at about 65° 40' N latitude. The Strait is named after Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer in the service of the Russian Empire. The Strait measures from 30.0 kM to 35.0 kM.

The Bering Strait has been the subject of the scientific theory that humans migrated from Asia to North America across a land bridge known as Beringia when lower ocean levels – a result of glaciers locking up vast amounts of water – exposed a wide stretch of the sea floor,^[1] both at the present strait and in the shallow sea north and south of it. This view of how Paleo-Indians entered America has been the dominant one for several decades and continues to be the most accepted one. Numerous successful crossings without the use of a boat have also been recorded since at least the early 20th century.