Little Diomede Island Information & Little Diomede Island Links at HealthHaven.com

The native village on Little Diomede Island

Little Diomede (native name Ignaluk; formerly known as Krusenstern Island which can also refer to other places however)^[1] 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, Russia behind the International Date Line is less than 2.4 miles (4 km) away. On the western shore of the island is the village of Diomede, also known as Inalik.

[edit] Geography

NASA picture of the Bering Strait area; 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 city has a total area of 2.84 square miles (7.356 km²), all of it land.

Little Diomede Island is located about 25 miles (40 km) west from the mainland, in the middle of the Bering Strait.It is only 0.6 miles (1 km) from the International Date Line and about 2.4 miles (4 km) from the Russian island of Big Diomede. The highest point in Little Diomede Island is 919 feet (280 m). This island has a population of 170. Big Diomede Island is the respective counterpart.

[edit] 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.