Bering Strait

Bering Strait, body of water separating Asia from North America. It connects the Bering Sea (a northern arm of the Pacific Ocean) with the Arctic Ocean. The strait was first discovered and explored by the Russian navigator Semyon Ivanov Dezhnev in 1648. It was again explored by the Danish navigator Vitus Bering in 1728 and later by the British mariners James Cook and Frederick William Beechey. The narrowest part of the strait is between Cape Dezhnev (Mys Dezhneva) in Russia and Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska. The distance between the two capes is approximately 82 km (51 mi). Thick ice fields cover the strait during the long winter, and chunks of ice remain on the water during the summer months. The Diomede Islands, two rocky, sparsely inhabited islands without port facilities, lie about midway between the capes; the International Date Line passes between them.