View source for Diomede Islands

{{short description|Islands in the Bering Strait}}
{{distinguish|Islands of Diomedes}}
{{Infobox islands
|name             = Diomede Islands
|local_name       = {{unbulleted list
  |{{langx|ru|острова Диомида}}
  |{{langx|ik|Iŋaluk}} }}
|image_name       = Diomede Islands Bering Sea Jul 2006.jpg
|image_caption    = Diomede Islands: Little Diomede (left, U.S.) and Big Diomede, (right, Russia) viewed from the north, looking south
|map_image        = BeringSt-close-VE.jpg
|map_caption      = Satellite photo of the Bering Strait, with the Diomede Islands at center
|nickname         = 
|location         = [[Bering Strait]]
|coordinates      = {{coord|65|47|N|169|01|W|type:isle_dim:20km |display=inline,title}}
|total_islands    = 2
|area_km2         = 35
|length_km        = 
|width_km         = 
|highest_mount    = 
|elevation_m      = 
|population       = {{ubl|0 ([[Big Diomede]])|77 ([[Little Diomede Island|Little Diomede]])}}
|population_as_of = January 2023<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arcticportal.org/ap-library/news/3234-the-diomede-islands-tomorrow-yesterday-isle|title=The Diomede Islands – Tomorrow & Yesterday Isle|website=arcticportal.org|date=8 June 2023|language=en|access-date=5 December 2023}}</ref>
|density_km2      = 
|ethnic_groups    = 
|country          = Russia / United States
|timezone1        = [[Alaska Time Zone|Alaska Time]] – [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] [[Alaska Standard Time|-9]]/[[Alaska Daylight Time|-8]]
|timezone2        = [[Kamchatka Time]] – [[UTC+12]]
}}

The '''Diomede Islands''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|d|aɪ|.|ə|ˈ|m|iː|d|iː}}; {{langx|ru|острова́ Диоми́да|translit=ostrova Diomida}}), also known in Russia as '''Gvozdev Islands''' ({{langx|ru|острова́ Гво́здева|translit=ostrova Gvozdeva}}), consist of two rocky, [[mesa]]-like islands. One is the Russian island of [[Big Diomede]] (part of [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]]), also known as ''{{lang|ik|Imaqłiq}}'', ''Inaliq'', ''Nunarbuk'' or Ratmanov Island. The other is the U.S. island of [[Little Diomede Island|Little Diomede]] (part of [[Alaska]]) or ''{{lang|ik|Iŋaliq}}'', also known as Krusenstern Island.{{efn|Krusenstern Island may also refer to other places; see [[Krusenstern Island (disambiguation)]]}}{{cn|date=August 2025}}

The Diomede Islands are located in the middle of the [[Bering Strait]] between mainland Alaska and [[Siberia]]. If marginal seas are considered, they are the northernmost islands in the Pacific Ocean. To the north is the [[Chukchi Sea]], and to the south is the [[Bering Sea]]. [[Fairway Rock]], {{convert|9.3|km}} to the southeast, is also Alaskan but generally not seen as part of the Diomede Islands.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

Because they are separated by the [[International Date Line]], Big Diomede is almost a day ahead of Little Diomede; due to locally defined time zones, Big Diomede is 21 hours ahead of Little Diomede (20 in summer).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=18_11_2017_375_002|title=Two of the world's largest countries, Russia and the United States, at their closest points are separated by 2.4 miles, but are 21 hours apart! Find out how ... {{!}} ePaper {{!}} DAWN.COM|website=epaper.dawn.com|date=18 November 2017|language=en|access-date=2018-06-21}}</ref> Because of this, the islands are sometimes called '''Tomorrow Island''' (Big Diomede) and '''Yesterday Island''' (Little Diomede).<ref name="yesterday" />

==Etymology==
The islands are named for the Greek [[Saint Diomedes]]; Danish-born Russian navigator [[Vitus Bering]] sighted the Diomede Islands on 16 August ([[Julian calendar|O.S.]], 27 August [[Gregorian calendar|N.S.]]) 1728, the day on which the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] celebrates the memory of the saint.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.russia.com/islands/diomede-islands/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920223833/http://www.russia.com/islands/diomede-islands/|url-status=dead|title=Russia.com|archivedate=September 20, 2008}}</ref>

==Location==
The islands are separated by an international border, which also defines the [[International Date Line]] in that area, about {{convert|2|km|mi}} from each island, at 168°58'37"W. The two islands are about {{convert|3.8|km}} apart at their closest points.<ref name="yesterday">{{Cite web|date=2018-01-27|title=Yesterday and Tomorrow Islands|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/91638/yesterday-and-tomorrow-islands|access-date=2021-01-30|website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov|language=en}}</ref> The small habitation on Little Diomede Island is centered on the west side of the island at the [[Diomede, Alaska|village of Diomede]].{{cn|date=August 2025}}

Big Diomede Island is the easternmost point of Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia10631-diomede-islands-bering-straight/|title=Diomede Islands, Bering Straight |website=jpl.nasa.gov|access-date=August 23, 2025}}</ref>

[[File:The Diomede Islands in the BeringSea (picture from space).jpg|thumb|The Diomede Islands in the [[Bering Sea]]]]
The Diomede Islands are often mentioned as likely intermediate stops for the hypothetical bridge or tunnel ([[Bering Strait crossing]]) spanning the [[Bering Strait]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-15387714|work=BBC News|title=Could a Russia–US rail tunnel be built?|date=21 October 2011}}</ref>

An ice bridge usually spans the distance between these two islands in winter. At these times, it is theoretically possible (although not legal, since travel between the two islands is forbidden<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/diomede-islands|title=The Diomede Islands|website=www.usgs.gov|date=20 January 2023|language=en|access-date=5 December 2023}}</ref>) to walk between the United States and Russia.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

==History==
[[File:Little Diomede Island village.jpeg|thumb|Little Diomede in August 2008|alt=A village of 40–50 mostly small buildings built on a steep, rocky coastline; some structures higher on the hill are built on stilts]]
The islands were once mountaintops in the central portion of the land mass known as the [[Bering land bridge]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1038/382060a0|title=Life and times of the Bering land bridge|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=382|issue=6586|page=60|year=1996|last1=Elias|first1=Scott A.|last2=Short|first2=Susan K.|last3=Nelson|first3=C. Hans|last4=Birks|first4=Hilary H.|bibcode=1996Natur.382...60E|s2cid=4347413}}</ref>

The first European to reach the Bering Strait was the Russian explorer [[Semyon Dezhnev]] in 1648. He reported two islands whose natives had bone lip ornaments, but it is not certain that these were the Diomedes. Danish navigator Vitus Bering discovered the Diomede Islands while leading a Russian expedition on 16 August (O.S., 26&nbsp;August N.S.) 1728, the day when the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the martyr St. Diomede (hence, the name of the islands). In 1732, a Russian [[Geodesy|geodesist]], [[Mikhail Gvozdev]], determined the longitude and latitude of the two islands.<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web|title=Map of the New Discoveries in the Eastern Ocean|year=1781|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/126|publisher=[[World Digital Library]]|access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref>

The text of the 1867 treaty between the United States and Russia, which finalized the [[Alaska Purchase]], uses the islands to designate the boundary between the two nations: the border separates "equidistantly Krusenstern Island, or Ignaluk, from Ratmanov Island, or Nunarbuk, and heads northward infinitely until it disappears completely in the Arctic Ocean".{{cn|date=August 2025}}

During the [[Cold War]], that gap constituted the border between the United States and the [[Soviet Union]], and became known as the "[[Bering Strait#"Ice Curtain" border|Ice Curtain]]". In 1987, however, [[Lynne Cox]] swam from one island to the other and was congratulated by both [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] and [[Ronald Reagan]] for her feat.<ref>Smith, Martin. January 31, 1988. "The transcendent power of the solo athlete." ''[[Orange County Register]],'' p. J1.</ref>

In the summer of 1995, British television actor and documentary presenter [[Michael Palin]] started his counterclockwise circumnavigation of the [[Pacific Rim]], encompassing 18 countries, on Little Diomede Island, as part of the BBC series ''[[Full Circle with Michael Palin|Full Circle]]''. He intended to set foot on it again at the end of his eight-month trek but could not because of rough seas.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

Big Diomede Island was traditionally the easternmost landmass before the International Date Line and the first to ring in a new year if using local [[solar time]]. When using official time, however, a large area in eastern Russia and New Zealand also share the same time zone. New Zealand also has [[daylight saving time]] in effect during late December, but Russia does not (see [[time in New Zealand]] and [[time in Russia]]). This became moot in 1995, however, when the International Date Line was moved to the east of [[Kiribati]], and that country's easternmost time zone ([[UTC+14:00|GMT+14]]) is now the world's earliest.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

After establishing a military base there in 1948, the Soviet government relocated the indigenous population of Big Diomede Island to mainland Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-09 |title=Profile: After 70 Years, A Diomede Family Reunion |url=https://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/08/09/profile-after-70-years-a-diomede-family-reunion/ |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=KNOM Radio Mission |language=en-US}}</ref> The island is now inhabited only by military units.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/30/you-can-see-russia-from-here/|title=You CAN see Russia from here!|first=Gary|last=Tuchman|date=30 September 2008|work=[[Anderson Cooper 360°]]|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=12 June 2011|archive-date=3 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003163918/http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/30/you-can-see-russia-from-here/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Little Diomede]] had an [[Inupiat people|Inupiat]] population of 170,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2006/December/Day-26/i9854.htm |title=Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Navigation Improvements and Airport, Little Diomede Island, AK |date=29 October 2009 |publisher=[[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]] |access-date=12 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821101102/http://www.epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2006/December/Day-26/i9854.htm |archive-date=21 August 2009 }}</ref> which had declined to 115 at the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]], entirely in the village site of [[Diomede, Alaska]] on the west side of the island, though the island as a whole comprises the city of Diomede. This village has a school, a post office, and a store. Some residents are famous for their [[ivory carving]]. When weather permits, commercial air contact is maintained with the island as part of the [[Essential Air Service|US Essential Air Service]].{{cn|date=August 2025}}

==See also==
*[[List of islands of Alaska]]
*[[List of islands of Russia]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://arctic.bio.utk.edu/AEO/Image_Descriptions.htm Images of the islands] ({{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509164414/http://arctic.bio.utk.edu/AEO/Image_Descriptions.htm |date=May 9, 2008 }})
*[https://www.pbs.org/harriman/current/profiles/diomede.html Little Diomede page, with images]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120424004355/http://transglobalhighway.com/ Proposed Trans-Global Highway and AmerAsian Peace Tunnel]
*[http://www.palinstravels.co.uk/book-784 Michael Palin site about Diomedes]

{{Chukchi Sea Islands}}
{{Islands in the Bering Sea}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Diomede Islands| ]]
[[Category:International archipelagoes]]
[[Category:Islands of Alaska]]
[[Category:Islands of the Chukchi Sea]]
[[Category:Islands of the Bering Sea]]
[[Category:Islands of Nome Census Area, Alaska]]
[[Category:Islands of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug]]
[[Category:Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Bering Strait]]