There is a place in the world where in less than 4 kilometers away you can already see the country from the side, and at the same time to another continent. This is the case of the diomede islands, in the Bering Strait.
They are two sister islands, but one belongs to Russia and the other to the United States. Although the distance that separates them is similar to that between Bogotá and Tenjo, they have a 21 hour time difference.
two different worlds
Although these islands are relatively close, they are two different worlds. Between the keys, the international date line passes, that is, they have a difference of 21 hours.
So while in the Diomedes Major, belonging to Russia, it is 4 in the morning on Thursday, in the Minor Diomede, United States, it is 7 o’clock on Wednesday morning.
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Specifically, they are located between the chukchi sea and the sea of Bering.
When it is winter and the sea freezes, the islands are joined by ice, so you could cross on foot, snowmobile or skis. However, it cannot be crossed, as it is illegal due to the absence of customs.
THE DIOMEDES ISLANDS 🏖️⛰️
These islands in the Bering Strait are 20 hours apart. Diomede Major Island (west) is administered by the District of Chukotka (Russia 🇷🇺) and Diomede Minor belongs to Alaska (United States 🇺🇸). the distance between them: barely 3.7 km. 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/HsS1gXpKjl
— Geography fans (@Geografia_Afic) September 17, 2020
Who lives there?
Before 1876, on these two islands lived a single town of Iñupiat Eskimos. The border zone did not exist for them. But everything changed when the United States bought Alaska from Tsarist Russia, which was experiencing problems due to lack of liquidity.
Although they were from two different countries, people continued to cross the islands normally, until in 1948 They closed the border.
Everything got worse with the conflict of the Cold War, since Russia imposed a decree to transfer all the inhabitants of Diomedes Major to Siberia so that they would not be “will contaminateof western customs.
They left only the naval station and the satellites to keep an eye on the enemy.
Currently, only the American part is inhabited, where a small native population of around 160 people.
The town is located in a strategic area of the island where the waves and wind do not bother them. Sometimes the waves reach 10 meters high.
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Now, people on the American side hope to one day be reunited with their relatives, with whom they lost contact when the Soviet Union collapsed. But the crisis in Ukraine and the military escalation in the region clouded that possibility.
island life
The inhabitants of little Diomedes live off the salmon and crab fishing. Also, they live by bear hunting, seals and walruses, since they are allowed this activity for being an indigenous community.
The islet has a school, grocery store, post office, and a community center where traditional dances are performed.
These places have access to the internet for a few hours, usually after school for children to have fun playing online.
Due to global warming, the waters freeze later and later, the permafrost layer decomposes and the thaw arrives earlier.
This means that most of the airstrip for small planes cannot be used, so the only communication they have is by helicopter or barge that periodically carries supplies.
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everything on the island it is very expensive: a jar of detergent can cost around 198 thousand Colombian pesos.
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