Little Diomede Island

Little Diomede

Native name: Inupiaq Ignaluk
The native Inupiat village of Diomede on Little Diomede Island.
Geography
Coordinates	65°45′15″N 168°55′15″W
Area	2.8 sq mi (7.3 km2)
Highest elevation	494 m (1,621 ft)
Country
United States
Demographics
Population	135 (as of 2011)

Little Diomede Island (native name Ignaluk; formerly known as Krusenstern Island, which can also refer to other places) is an island of Alaska, United States. It is the smaller of the two Diomede Islands located in the middle of the Bering Strait between the Alaska mainland and Siberia. Its neighboring island Big Diomede is less than 2.4 mi (3.9 km) to the west, but is part of Russia and west of the International Date Line. Little Diomede has a population of 135.

The entirety of the island is in the city of Diomede, also known by its native name Inalik. The island is not part of any organized borough, so some services are provided directly by the state. For census purposes, it is included in the Nome Census Area.

Little Diomede received international exposure when it was featured in the television travel series Full Circle with Michael Palin, in which Michael Palin set off on a year-round excursion to the countries encircling the Pacific Ocean; Little Diomede was the launch point for this trip.

Little Diomede was also featured on Discovery Channel's series Flying Wild Alaska.

Geography

Diomede (Inalik) village on the west coast of Little Diomede Island, Alaska

Satellite image of the Bering Strait; Little Diomede Island can be clearly seen in the middle of the strait, to the right of Big Diomede.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the island has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²), all of it land. On the western shore of the island is the village of Diomede, also known as Inalik.

Little Diomede Island is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) west from the mainland, in the middle of the Bering Strait. It is only 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) from the International Date Line and about 2.4 miles (3.9 km) from the Russian island of Big Diomede.

The highest point on Little Diomede Island is 494m (about halfway along the west coast, about 1.5 km SE of the village, facing the southern tip of Big Diomede).

During the winter, the town villagers carve a runway into the thick ice sheet so that bush planes can deliver vital products, such as medicine. Due to variations in the ice sheet every year, the runway moves position every year. This was featured in the second episode of the second season of Flying Wild Alaska, as the pilots landed a Cessna 208 on the ice runway prior to the thaw.

Geology

The Little Diomede island is believed to be a Tuya type mountain and remains from the Bering land bridge (also known as Beringia). The location of the city is the only area which does not have near-vertical cliffs to the water. Behind the city and around the entire island rocky slopes rise at about 40° up to the relatively flattened top in 1,148–1,191 feet (350–363 m). The island has very scant vegetation.

See also

• List of islands of Alaska
• List of islands of the United States

External links

• Diomede Community Page
• Census 2000 information
• Diomede School
• You CAN see Russia from here! - Anderson Cooper 360