Little Diomede Island
Island in the Bering Strait off Alaska, U.S. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Little Diomede Island or Yesterday Island (Inupiaq: Iŋaliq, formerly known as Krusenstern Island,[lower-alpha 1][3] Russian: остров Крузенштерна, romanized: ostrov Kruzenshterna) is an inhabited island, which is off of the coast of Alaska, and is a part of Alaska. It is the smaller of the two Diomede Islands located in the middle of the Bering Strait between the Alaskan mainland and Siberia. The island's one town is also called the town of Diomede.
Native name: | |
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Geography | |
Location | Bering Strait |
Coordinates | 65°45′15″N 168°55′15″W |
Archipelago | Diomede Islands |
Area | 2.43 sq mi (6.3 km2) |
Highest elevation | 1,621 ft (494.1 m) |
Administration | |
Demographics | |
Population | 77[1] (2023) |
Pop. density | 33.72/sq mi (13.019/km2) |
Ethnic groups | 96% Iŋaliq Iñupiaq[2] |
Additional information | |
Time zone |
Big Diomede Island, is located 2.33 miles (3.75 kilometers) to the West of Little Diomede Island and is a part of Russia. In addition to an international boundary, the International Date Line also separates the two islands.
As of 2021, the town of Diomede had a population of 82, down from its recorded peak of 208 in 1998.[1][4] All of the land of the Little Diomede Island is officially within the town of Diomede (named Iŋaliq as well).[2] The island is not part of any organized borough, so some services are provided directly by the state. For census purposes, it is included in the Nome Census Area.
During the Cold War, the section of the border between the U.S. and the USSR separating Big and Little Diomede became known as the "Ice Curtain". In August 1987, however, Lynne Cox swam from Little Diomede to Big Diomede (approx. 2.2 miles (3.5 km)) and was congratulated jointly by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan.[5]