How far is Russia from Alaska?

Following some overblown statements and exaggerations by former U.S. politician Sarah Palin in the early 21st century, many Americans began asking: Is it possible to see Russia from Alaska? The answer is both yes and no.

While it’s not possible to see Russia from Alaska's mainland, there are two islands in the Bering Sea that reduce the gap between the two landmasses.

This raises the question: How far is Russia from Alaska? The answer depends greatly on whether you're talking about distance in terms of space, time, or political boundaries.

Journeying Between Alaska's Mainland and Russia

Traversing the gap between Russia and Alaska remains an enormous challenge even in modern times. The closest points between the mainland of Alaska and Russia are Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska's western tip and Cape Dezhnev in Russia's southernmost part, separated by around 55 miles (88.5 kilometers).

History has seen numerous adventurers and daring athletes swim, sled, and kayak the distance, but these are extraordinary exceptions. There are very few large cities in this remote area, so the most practical way to travel between Russia and Alaska is by booking direct flights from international airports like Juneau, Anchorage, and Moscow.

Alaska

The 49th state of the U.S. stands apart from the mainland, cut off by several Canadian provinces, including the Yukon Territory and British Columbia at Alaska's southeastern boundary. The U.S. Government acquired the Alaska Territory from Russia in 1867, and the region officially became part of the Union in 1959.

Alaska spans an impressive 663,000 square miles (1.7 million square kilometers), making it the largest U.S. state by land area. Visitors to Alaska can explore eight national parks, observe stunning wildlife, and travel vast distances without encountering another soul. With a population of under 780,000, it is the third least-populated state in the country.

Russia

Russia holds the title of the largest country in the world, covering an astounding 57.5 million square miles (148.9 million square kilometers) from Kaliningrad on its western coast to Franz Joseph Land, the farthest north Russian territory. The country stretches across the Eastern Hemisphere, reaching through Eastern Europe to Siberia and Northeast Asia. It shares borders with 14 nations and extends farther east than Pacific nations such as South Korea, Fiji, and New Zealand.

The Bering Strait and the Diomede Islands

The Diomede Islands serve as the closest geographical link between Alaska and Russia, with only 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers) of water separating the two nations. The Chukchi Sea lies to the north, while the Bering Sea lies to the south, positioning these small islands as symbolic markers of each country's furthest reach into the Pacific. However, both Russia's and the U.S.'s claims to these islands ignore the Indigenous Iñupiat people's 15,000-year-long connection to them, along with the other small islands scattered throughout the Arctic Sea.

The Bering Strait

This icy waterway divides Russia and Alaska, with its narrowest point stretching 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and the U.S.'s Seward Peninsula. The strait is named after Danish explorer Vitus Bering, who became the second European to discover it — preceded by Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev, who reached the area 80 years earlier. Bering also charted two islands during his journey, naming them after the Greek Christian Saint Diomede, whose feast day coincided with the discovery on August 16, 1728. From then on, the islands were known as Big Diomede Island and Little Diomede Island.

The Bering Strait is a crucial ecological region, serving as the only marine route between the North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean for the large-scale migration of beluga, bowhead, and gray whales. These whales, along with numerous fish species, seals, and walruses, depend on the Bering Strait to access the nutrient-rich waters of the Arctic Ocean, including the Beaufort Sea. While the strait serves as a migratory pathway, it is also becoming a bottleneck for growing ship traffic, which threatens this delicate ecosystem with pollution from engine noise and oil spills.

Big Diomede Island

This Russian island, also known as Ratmonov Island, has marked the easternmost point of Russia since the 1867 sale of the Alaskan Territory for $7 million. Despite its isolation, the strategic positioning of Big Diomede Island made it a prime location for Soviet military bases during World War II and the Cold War. The island is largely flat and rocky, now home to 11 bird species and a solitary weather station that monitors storm activity in the Chukchi Sea.

Little Diomede Island

The smaller of the two Diomede Islands, Little Diomede is the only island with a permanent population, which ranges from 80 to 100 people. With less than 3 square miles (7.8 square kilometers) of land, the island can only be reached by sea or via a single heliport. Residents have historically relied on carving landing zones in thick ice sheets during harsh winters to receive supplies from mainland Alaska. Little Diomede sits just 2.4 miles (3.9 kilometers) from its larger counterpart to the west.

Stories From the Region's Icy Past

Here are some fascinating facts about the Bering Strait:

Connecting Mainland Alaska and Russia

The Bering Strait Crossing is a suggested tunnel or bridge that would unite Alaska with Russia, offering an easy transportation route between North America and Eurasia. Joseph Strauss, the engineer behind the Golden Gate Bridge, first proposed a bridge linking Russia and Alaska in the 19th century, but the Russian Empire rejected the idea.

In the 20th century, Russian Czar Nicholas approved an American proposal for a railroad link, but these talks were cut short by the Russian Revolution of 1905. Various other proposals were made in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but it appears that the dream of an "intercontinental peace bridge" connecting Russia and Alaska will remain unrealized.

A number of challenges stand in the way of a potential project proposal, including the vast distance, high costs, and extreme weather conditions. However, the most significant barrier between Alaska and Russia is the deep political divide left by the Cold War. So, how far is Russia from Alaska? For some, the political distance between the two countries feels even more expansive than the physical one.

Lynne Cox Swam Across the "Icy Curtain" in 1987

This trailblazing American swimmer has set numerous long-distance swimming records, but none as impactful as her swim across the U.S./Russian maritime border, known as the "Ice Curtain," on August 7, 1987. Cox swam between the Diomedes Islands for 2 hours and 6 minutes in water with an average temperature of 44°F (6.6°C). In doing so, she became the first person to cross the U.S./Soviet military boundary established after World War II. Her courageous achievement was praised by both Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan as the Cold War was winding down.

New Evidence Weakens the "Ice-Free Corridor" Hypothesis

The 'Ice-Free Corridor' theory, initially proposed by Louis Agassiz in 1840, suggests that after the last ice age, early humans migrated from Europe to the Americas via a land bridge that connected Europe and Asia to the Americas. These early hunter-gatherers from the Clovis culture would have traveled from present-day Russia to Alaska, likely following herds of megafauna. However, they may have faced a long wait of thousands of years in a frozen land with scarce resources, awaiting the melting of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets, before continuing their migration southward through the Rocky Mountains into what is now the United States and South America.

The discovery of Clovis sites in both Chile and Florida, dating back as far as 15,000 years, has led researchers to question the validity of the Ice-Free Corridor Hypothesis. These findings have prompted the development of new theories to better explain how humans might have first arrived in the Americas.