Bering Strait

Geography glossary

Topic: World Physical Features and Natural Regions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Bering Strait is a narrow sea passage, about 82 km wide, between Russia's Chukotka Peninsula (Asia) and Alaska (USA, North America). It joins the Pacific Ocean with the Arctic Ocean.

It matters for three reasons. It is the narrowest gap between Asia and North America. It is the only sea gate between the Pacific and the Arctic. The International Date Line also runs through it, so it is a common map and time-zone question.

Explanation

What a strait is, and how the Bering Strait fits

  • A strait is a narrow strip of sea that joins two larger seas or oceans, with land on both sides.
  • In the Bering Strait, the land on both sides belongs to two continents:
  • West side: Russia's Chukotka (the north-eastern tip of Asia)

  • East side: Alaska (the north-western tip of North America)

  • The two seas it joins:

  • South: the Bering Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean
  • North: the Chukchi Sea, which is part of the Arctic Ocean

The International Date Line and the Diomede islands

  • The International Date Line is an imaginary line that runs roughly along 180° longitude. The calendar date changes by one day when you cross it.
  • It runs through the middle of the Bering Strait, between the two Diomede islands:
  • Big Diomede belongs to Russia

  • Little Diomede belongs to the USA

  • Result: the two islands are only a few kilometres apart, but their calendars are one day apart.

  • Why the line runs through the strait:
  • The line bends away from 180° in some places so that it does not split a country's land into two dates.
  • In this area it passes through the open water of the strait. That keeps Asian Russia on one date and Alaska on the other.

A land bridge in the past (textbook geography)

  • Cause: during the Ice Age, a lot of the world's water was locked up in large ice sheets, so sea level was lower.
  • Process: the shallow sea floor here came above water and formed a land bridge (often called Beringia).
  • Result: people and animals could walk from Asia to North America. Later the ice melted, the sea rose again, and the strait formed.

Conditions in the strait

  • It lies at high latitude, close to the Arctic Circle, so it is very cold.
  • Sea ice (frozen sea water) covers it for much of the year, which limits shipping.
  • Ships that use Arctic sea routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic have to pass through it:
  • Russia's Northern Sea Route, along the Arctic coast of Russia
  • The Northwest Passage, through northern Canada

Where it occurs

  • World location: between Russia's Chukotka (Asia) and Alaska (USA, North America), about 82 km wide.
  • Seas on each side: the Bering Sea (Pacific) to the south and the Chukchi Sea (Arctic) to the north.
  • Islands in the strait: Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (USA), with the International Date Line running between them.
  • Other polar and high-latitude gates to locate on the same map:
  • Davis Strait: Greenland – Baffin Island (Canada); joins Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea
  • Denmark Strait: Greenland – Iceland; joins the Arctic and the North Atlantic

  • Drake Passage: Cape Horn – Antarctic Peninsula; joins the Atlantic and the Pacific

  • India: the strait is not in Indian waters. For India it matters mainly as a map fact and through the Date Line.

Don't confuse with

  • Bering Sea: this is the arm of the Pacific south of the strait. It is not the strait itself. The Bering Sea is a sea and the Bering Strait is the narrow passage at its northern end.
  • Drake Passage: this is also a polar passage that joins two oceans, but it joins the Atlantic and the Pacific, between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Bering Strait joins the Pacific and the Arctic.
  • Denmark Strait / Davis Strait: these link the Arctic with the Atlantic side, around Greenland. The Bering Strait is the Arctic's only link to the Pacific.
  • 180° meridian vs International Date Line: the 180° meridian is a straight line of longitude. The Date Line follows it only roughly and bends around land. In the Bering Strait, it passes between the two Diomede islands.

Prelims Hooks

  • Strait – the two countries on its sides: Bering Strait = Russia – USA (Chukotka – Alaska).
  • Joins: the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. It separates Asia from North America.
  • Width: about 82 km.
  • International Date Line: it passes between Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (USA). The islands are a few kilometres apart but one calendar day apart.
  • Trap: the Bering Strait joins the Pacific with the Arctic, not with the Atlantic. The Drake Passage is the one that joins the Atlantic and the Pacific.
  • Matching: Bering Strait – Pacific/Arctic; Drake Passage – Atlantic/Pacific; Denmark Strait – Arctic/North Atlantic; Davis Strait – Baffin Bay/Labrador Sea.

Mains Points

  • Climate change and new Arctic sea routes (GS-I/GS-III):
  • Warming is shrinking Arctic sea ice.
  • The Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage may stay open for longer each year.

  • Every Pacific-side ship on these routes must pass through the Bering Strait. Its importance as a shipping gate will grow, and so will the risks to a fragile polar environment, such as oil spills.

  • Geopolitics at a narrow gap (GS-I):

  • Here Russia and the USA are separated by only about 82 km of sea.
  • This makes the strait a meeting point of two big powers in the Arctic.

  • It also raises questions about who controls the new Arctic routes.

  • Physical geography explains human history and time:

  • In the Ice Age, low sea level turned the strait into a land bridge. People moved from Asia into the Americas across it.
  • Today the International Date Line runs through it, which shows how the Date Line is drawn to avoid splitting countries.

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