Native name: Iŋaliq (Inupiaq) | |
|---|---|
 The nativeIñupiat village ofDiomede/Iŋaliq on Little Diomede Island | |
  Little Diomede | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Bering Strait |
| Coordinates | 65°45′15″N168°55′15″W / 65.75417°N 168.92083°W /65.75417; -168.92083 |
| Archipelago | Diomede Islands |
| Area | 2.43 sq mi (6.3 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 1,621 ft (494.1 m) |
| Administration | |
United States | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 77[1] (2023) |
| Pop. density | 33.72/sq mi (13.019/km2) |
| Ethnic groups | 96%Iŋaliq Iñupiaq[2] |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
Little Diomede Island orYesterday Island (Inupiaq:Iŋaliq, formerly known asKrusenstern Island,[a][3]Russian:остров Крузенштерна,romanized: ostrov Kruzenshterna) is an inhabited island ofAlaska. It is the smaller of the twoDiomede Islands located in theBering Strait between the Alaskan mainland andSiberia. The island has one town, also calledDiomede.
The Diomede Islands are named afterSaint Diomedes. TheInupiaq nameIŋaliq means "the other one" or "the one over there".[4] The two islands are respectively nicknamed "Yesterday Island" (Little Diomede Island) and "Tomorrow Island" (Big Diomede Island) because theInternational Date Line runs between them, making the date on Little Diomede Island always one day behind the date on Big Diomede Island.
Little Diomede Island is located about 16 miles (25 km) west of mainland Alaska, in the middle of theBering Strait. It is only 0.4 miles (0.6 km) from theInternational Date Line and about 2.4 miles (3.9 km) from the Russian island ofBig Diomede. According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the island has a total area of 2.8 sq mi (7.3 km2), all of it land. On the western shore of the island is the village ofDiomede, also known asIŋaliq. The highest point on Little Diomede Island is 1,621 feet (494 m) (about halfway along the west coast, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of the village, facing the southern tip of Big Diomede). The island has very scant vegetation.
Big Diomede is within the view of Little Diomede, meaning Russia can be seen from Alaska.
Little Diomede island is composed ofCretaceous agegranite orquartz monzonite.[5][6] The location of the settlement is the only area which does not have near-vertical cliffs to the water. Behind the settlement, and around the entire island, rocky slopes rise at about 40° up to the relatively flattened top in 1,148–1,191 ft (350–363 m). The island has scant vegetation.
The island, along with its surrounding waters, has been designated anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International because of its significantseabird colonies, including those ofblack-legged kittiwakes, and ofparakeet,least andcrested auklets.[7]
Summer temperatures average 40 to 50 °F (4 to 10 °C). Winter temperatures average from 6 to 10 °F (−14 to −12 °C). Annual precipitation averages 10inches (250 mm), and annual snowfall averages 30 inches (76 cm). During summer months, cloudy skies and fog prevail. Winds blow consistently from the north, averaging 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h), with gusts of 60 to 80miles per hour (97–129 km/h). The Bering Strait is generally frozen between mid-December and mid-June.[2]
Although slightly south of theArctic Circle, the island has a dry-summerpolar climate (KöppenETs), because the driest high-sun month (April) has less than one-third as much precipitation as the wettest high-sun month (October). The winters are icy and cold – colder than those ofNome despite the island location due to greater proximity to extremely cold Siberian air masses. The extreme moderating effect of the thawed Bering Sea produces very cool summers, with the result that most plants are unable to grow. The hottest summer ever experienced temperatures up to only 73 °F (22.8 °C).
| Climate data for Diomede, Alaska | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 53 (12) | 47 (8) | 42 (6) | 48 (9) | 56 (13) | 67 (19) | 72 (22) | 73 (23) | 65 (18) | 54 (12) | 45 (7) | 44 (7) | 73 (23) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 7 (−14) | 4 (−16) | 5 (−15) | 16 (−9) | 32 (0) | 43 (6) | 52 (11) | 55 (13) | 44 (7) | 33 (1) | 22 (−6) | 10 (−12) | 27 (−3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | −7 (−22) | −9 (−23) | −8 (−22) | 3 (−16) | 23 (−5) | 34 (1) | 43 (6) | 43 (6) | 37 (3) | 25 (−4) | 11 (−12) | −2 (−19) | 16 (−9) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −44 (−42) | −44 (−42) | −42 (−41) | −32 (−36) | −11 (−24) | 20 (−7) | 24 (−4) | 30 (−1) | 23 (−5) | −5 (−21) | −28 (−33) | −35 (−37) | −44 (−42) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 0.41 (10) | 0.45 (11) | 0.48 (12) | 0.27 (6.9) | 0.54 (14) | 0.73 (19) | 1.47 (37) | 2.46 (62) | 1.99 (51) | 1.41 (36) | 0.68 (17) | 0.52 (13) | 11.41 (288.9) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 4.3 (11) | 4.1 (10) | 6 (15) | 3 (7.6) | 2.8 (7.1) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.3 (0.76) | 0 (0) | 1.2 (3.0) | 6.3 (16) | 8 (20) | 5.3 (13) | 41.5 (103.97) |
| Source:[8] | |||||||||||||
Danish-Russian navigatorVitus Bering (after whom the Bering Strait is named) sighted the Diomede Islands on August 16 (O.S., August 27N.S.), 1728, the day on which theRussian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory ofDiomedes of Tarsus.[9]
Little Diomede wassold to the United States by the Russian Empire, along with the rest of Alaska, in 1867. Inuit from Big and Little Diomede continued to cross between the two islands until the Soviet Union closed the border between in 1948.[10] This section of the border between the United States and the Soviet Union became known as the "Ice Curtain" during the Cold War.
The Inuit of Big Diomede were resettled in coastal villages ofChukotka. There has been limited subsequent contact between the communities. There were sporadic contacts during the 1970s with former inhabitants of Big Diomede who walked across the Bering Strait to trade and exchange information across the International Date Line.[10]
Lynne Cox swam from Little Diomede to Big Diomede (about 2.2 miles (3.5 km)) in August 1987, she was congratulated jointly byMikhail Gorbachev andRonald Reagan.[11] Visits by the inhabitants of Little Diomede to find relatives deported from Big Diomede resumed duringPerestroika. There were subsequent exchanges during the 1990s. These have become increasingly rare as relations between the United States and Russia have worsened.[10]
There is a heliport, theDiomede Heliport, with regular helicopter flights. In the past, locals carved a runway into the thick ice sheet so that bush planes could deliver vital products, such as medicine and grocery supplies. Annual variations of the ice sheet meant that the runway would change position every year, however access by plane has ceased due to climate change causing the thinning of the winter ice around Little Diomede.[12][13][10]
Little Diomede was featured in the first episode ofFull Circle with Michael Palin, a 1997BBC documentary series in which the broadcasterMichael Palin traversed many of the countries of thePacific Rim.[14] The Diomede Islands are also featured in the novelFurther Tales of the City, byArmistead Maupin, and theminiseries based on the book. In addition,Alexander Armstrong visited the island as part of his 2015 seriesLand of the Midnight Sun. Little Diomede was also featured in the 1952 filmArctic Flight, starringWayne Morris andLola Albright.
[N]ame for the village is Inalik, meaning 'the other one' or 'the one over there'.
