Bering Island (Russian: о́стров Бе́ринга) is located off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea (). At 90 kilometers (56 mi) long by 24 kilometers (15 mi) wide, it is the largest of the Commander Islands with the area of 1,660 square kilometers (640.9 sq mi). It is desolate and experiences severe weather, but is inhabited—the village of Nikolskoye is home to 800 people, roughly three hundred of them Aleuts. Bering Island is a treeless island with hills. The island is foggy and is prone to earthquakes. The scant population on the island is involved mostly in fishing. Vitus Bering, sailing in Svyatoy Pyotr (St. Peter), was shipwrecked and died of an illness on Bering Island, along with 28 of his men. This island is also less commonly known as the "Floating Island" simply because it "floats" on the International Date Line.
References
External links
- (Russian) Commander Islands
