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( Bering Strait)
Coordinates 66°0'N 169°0'W? / ?66, -169 The Bering Strait (Russian ???????? ?????? Beringov proliv) is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43' W) of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point (168°05' W) of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65° 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle. It is one of the biggest of its kind. The Bering Strait is approximately 53&_160;miles (85&_160;km) wide, with an average depth of 30–50 meters (98–160&_160;ft). [1] It connects the Chukchi Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean) in the north with the Bering Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean) in the south. Although the Cossack Semyon Dezhnev passed by the strait in 1648, it is named after Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian explorer who crossed the strait in 1728. The land bridge that is assumed to have existed over the Bering Strait during the Ice Ages is known now as the Bering Land Bridge. Some scientists believe that so much water was stored as ice that the sea level dropped, exposing more land. Other scientists believe that during the ice age this strait was frozen over, and would have allowed humans and animals to cross.
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