View source for Norton Sound

{{Short description|Inlet of the Bering Sea in Alaska, United States}}
{{about|the inlet of the Bering Sea|the seaplane tender named after it|USS Norton Sound}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
[[File:Norton Sound.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Norton Sound]]
The '''Norton Sound''' ([[Iñupiaq language|Inupiaq]]: ''Imaqpak'') is an inlet of the [[Bering Sea]] on the western coast of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Alaska]], south of the [[Seward Peninsula]].<ref name="EB">{{Cite web |date=2025-02-07 |title=Norton Sound {{!}} Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Inupiat {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com:443/place/Norton-Sound |access-date=2015-10-10 |website=www.britannica.com}}</ref> It is about 240&nbsp;km (150&nbsp;mi) long and 200&nbsp;km (125&nbsp;mi) wide. The [[Yukon River]] delta forms a portion of the south shore and water from the Yukon influences this body of water. It is ice-free from June to October.

Norton Sound was explored by Captain [[James Cook]] in September 1778. He named the body of water after [[Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley|Sir Fletcher Norton]], then [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker]] of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|British House of Commons]].<ref name=EB/>

The Norton Sound area has been home to [[Yup'ik]] and [[Iñupiat]] for many centuries. It is the boundary between the two peoples; the Inupiat live to the north  and the Yup'ik to the south. The town of [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]] is along the northern edge of Norton Sound.<ref name=EB/> The villages of [[Elim, Alaska|Elim]], [[Golovin, Alaska|Golovin]], [[Stebbins, Alaska|Stebbins]], [[White Mountain, Alaska|White Mountain]], [[Koyuk, Alaska|Koyuk]], [[Shaktoolik, Alaska|Shaktoolik]], [[St. Michael, Alaska|St. Michael]], and [[Unalakleet, Alaska|Unalakleet]] are on the shores or waterways flowing into Norton Sound. The [[Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race]] runs through coastal villages between Unalakleet and Nome.

The [[seaplane tender]] {{USS|Norton Sound}} was named after the inlet. The [[Eliot Staples Bering Sea Ice Golf Classic]] occurs at the sound in mid-March. [[Nome National Forest]] is located just off the coast of Nome.

==References==
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==Bibliography==
* {{GNIS|1407262}}
{{Coord|63.9|-163.3|region:US-AK_type:waterbody_scale:4000000|display=title}}

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[[Category:Bays of the Bering Sea]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Nome Census Area, Alaska]]
[[Category:Sounds of Alaska]]


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