Big Diomede

Big Diomede Island ( _ru. Острова Диомида , "ostrová Diomida", native name "Imaqliq"), is an island among the Diomede Islands in the middle of the Bering Strait. The island is a part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia.

Geography

Big Diomede Island is located about 45 km (28 miles) southwest of Cape Dezhnev on the Chukchi Peninsula and is Russia's easternmost point. The coordinates are coord|65|46|52|N|169|03|25|W|.

The rocky tuya-type island has an area of about 29 square km (11 square miles) [ [http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=207616 History.com] ]

The International Date Line runs just about 1.3 km (0.8 miles) [ [http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=65.759836&lon=-168.927592&spnx=0.1&spny=0.1&m=h Wikimapia] ] east of the island.

History

The island has been populated by the Inuit for a long time.

The first European to reach the islands was the Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev in 1648. The Danish navigator (in Russian service) Vitus Bering re-discovered the Diomede Islands on August 16, 1728, the day on which the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the martyr St. Diomede [ [http://www.russia.com/islands/diomede-islands/ Russia.com] ] .

In 1732, the Russian geodesist, "Mikhail Gvozdev", plotted the islands map.

In 1867 during the Alaska Purchase the new border between the nations was drawn right between the islands.

After World War II the native population was forced off Big Diomede Island to the mainland in order to avoid contacts across the border but the Inupiat people have now returnedFact|date=September 2008.

During the Cold War, that line constituted the border between the USA and the Soviet Union, and became known as the "Ice Curtain". In 1987, however, Lynne Cox swam from Little Diomede to Big Diomede and was congratulated jointly by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

References

External links

* [http://www.russia.com/islands/diomede-islands/ About Big Diomede Island]