Where is the Bering Straits?

The Bering Strait is a strait connecting the Pacific and Arctic oceans between Russia and the U.S. state of Alaska. Named after Vitus Bering, a Russian explorer born in Denmark, it lies slightly south of the polar circle at about 65° 40' N latitude, with the present US-Russia east-west boundary, agreed to only by the USA, at 168° 58' 37" W.

The Strait has been the subject of scientific speculation that humans migrated from Asia to North America across a land bridge known as Beringia when lower ocean levels – perhaps a result of glaciers locking up vast amounts of water – exposed a wide stretch of the sea floor, both at the present strait and in the shallow sea north and south of it. This view of how paleo-indians entered America has been the dominant one for several decades and continues to be the most accepted one.