Extreme northern point. Extreme points of Russia (17 photos)

Russia is the largest country in terms of size on the entire planet Earth. Its territory exceeds one sixth of the entire land mass. The easternmost point of Russia is defined in two ways and is divided into extreme island and extreme continental points. Let's consider each of them.

The extreme eastern mainland point of Russia: eternal cold

Russia occupies the entire northeastern part of the mainland. Accordingly, its borders coincide with the borders of Eurasia. Therefore, the extreme eastern mainland point, like Eurasia, is Cape Dezhnev (169 ° 40 "W) on the Chukotka Peninsula. The Swedish scientist A. Nordenskiöld in 1879 renamed this place in honor of the Russian navigator Semyon Dezhnev. Until this year, the cape was called It was S.I. Dezhnev who was the first to pass through the northern seas, rounding the Chukchi Peninsula, and stopping at this cape.

Very close to the US border. Alaska is located 80 km from Cape Dezhnev. The arctic climate with harsh natural conditions does not leave room for the development of the industry, so the population is small, mainly - these are the indigenous people of these places - the Eskimos. The only settlement on the cape is the village of Uelen.

The main attraction is a sixteen-meter lighthouse-obelisk in honor of S. Dezhnev, placed at a hundred-meter height. In its niche is a bust of a navigator and a cast-iron commemorative plaque. The obelisk itself is covered with marble chips.

In addition to it, there is also an old cross made of wood. This is the very first monument in honor of the great discoverer Dezhnev. Rare travelers who decide to visit this point on the map mark the village of Naukan, where whalers lived and worked. It was disbanded at the end of the 20th century, when the Soviets came to power.

On Cape Dezhnev, walruses and seals are found in abundance. For them, here expanse. Scientists have noted more than 40 species of birds living on the cape. Killer whales and whales can often be seen from the shore. Also, the "inhabitants" of the cape are polar bears and cubs. An unusual natural feature of this place - a height of about 740 m - makes the cape look like a large sheer cliff, steeply plunging into the sea.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Fort Ross, located in Northern California, was the extreme eastern point of Russia. After the Russian Empire sold this settlement, Russian Alaska took its status. In 1867, Alaska was ceded to the United States. Then the border began to be located between the two islands of the Diomede archipelago - Big and Small.

Ratmanov Island, otherwise Big Diomede, bears the honorary title of the most eastern island point of the Russian Federation. Administratively, it belongs to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and is surrounded by two seas - the Bering and Chukchi. The area of \u200b\u200bthis island is about 10 sq. km, the coordinates on the map are 65 ° 47' northern latitude and 169 ° 01' western longitude.

The island is located in the Bering Strait. Its nature is harsh: huge rocks and a piercing cold wind. Therefore, the permanent population on about. Ratmanov is not. More habitable is the northern half of Diomede, which is famous for its large bird colonies.

Ratmanov Island is a strategically important geographical object. The border of the Russian state with North America passes here, and border guards are serving at the outpost. They not only protect the borders of Russia, but also take care of the preservation of the marine biological resource.

Almost 4 km from the Big Diomede is the Little Diomede, which belongs to the territory of the United States of America. Its second name is Krusenstern Island.

The history of the island begins in 1648. The great Russian explorer and discoverer of the North Seas S.I. Dezhnev was the first to visit him, spending some time with the indigenous peoples and studying their way of life and culture. The first expedition to Kamchatka in 1728, led by V. Bering, became the official date for the discovery of the island, which was named Diomede, in honor of St. Diomede. At the beginning of the XIX century. Lieutenant Otto Kotzebue gave the island the name of the famous navigator M.I. Ratmanov.

The indigenous inhabitants of the island are the Eskimos, native speakers of the Inupik language. Until the beginning of the 20th century, barter trade was carried out with the peoples of Asia and North America.

Interesting facts about the Diomede Islands

The original name of Ratmanov Island is Imaklik. From the language of the Eskimos it is translated as "surrounded by water."

Between the Big and Little Diomede is the date line. Therefore, moving from one island to another, you can celebrate the New Year 2 times.

The time difference between the extreme western and extreme eastern points of Russia is 12 hours 35 minutes.

The highest point of Ratmanov Island is Mount Roof. Its height is 505 meters.

The last inhabitants of Big Diomede Island - the Eskimos - were evicted to the mainland in 1948 at the beginning of the Cold War.

300 days a year on the territory of the island it is difficult to see something: dense fog.

The easternmost point of Russia can be defined as Cape Dezhnev or Ratmanov Island. The first case is the extreme point, the second is the border of the state. These places attract extreme travelers with their natural power, unusualness and beauty.

The length of the territory of the Russian Federation is the largest in the world. Hence the world's largest changes in climate and living conditions, which can be observed moving from the mountains of the Caucasus, where the southernmost point of Russia is located, to Rudolf Island in the Arctic, where the northernmost point is located. The distance from the most western (Baltic Spit) to the extreme in the east (Ratmanov Island) approaches 10 thousand km and is unthinkable for any other state on the planet.

From the international date line

To the east, in the Bering Strait, the two islands are separated by a border between two continents, two parts of the world, two oceans, two largest countries, and even between two dates. Most from all four corners of the world have their own originality, but the eastern one is a particularly vivid story.

The two islands are like brothers: rocks with flat tops protruding from the ocean, only one is larger, the other is much smaller. On different sides of the state border they are called differently. Russian names are given in honor of travelers who participated in the most important sea expeditions of the 18th century: the name of the large (Russian) island is Ratmanov Island, the small (American) is Krusenstern Island. The Americans adopted the name of the saint, on the day of whose commemoration they were discovered by the Bering expedition: Big Diomede - Russian, Small - American.

Border guards live on Ratmanov Island at the outpost, from which a new day begins, and the Russian land begins from it. 169 ° 02 "W. long. - these are the coordinates of the extreme eastern point of the country, located on the eastern coast of the island in the middle of the sea, and the extreme mainland point from which Russia begins is located 38 minutes to the west, on

Sand spit divided in half

The section of the state border between Russia and Poland, where the extreme western point of the Russian territory is located, passes through an amazing natural formation - the Baltic sand spit, which arose between the waters of Gdansk and due to the specific climatic and geological conditions of this region of the Baltic. The southernmost point of Russia, in the Caucasus Mountains, has the same natural uniqueness that attracts tourists, although only lovers of extreme recreation can reach it. The area around the Baltic Spit has always attracted vacationers who value convenience.

But the border guards from the Narmeln outpost, located closest to the point with coordinates 54 ° 27′45 ″ s. sh. 19°38′19″ in. not to rest, they guard the state border around the clock.

Continental and insular

If we analyze the extreme points of Russia, the extreme southern point is mountainous, Dagestan is the only one that has an unambiguous interpretation, in other directions there are two types: mainland and island.

The situation is similar with the westernmost point of Russia at the border post Narmeln. The island character is given to it by belonging to the Kaliningrad region, which is a Russian region, separated from the main territory and surrounded by other countries, but with access to the sea. Such formation is scientifically called a semi-exclave.

The main, mainland Russia on the western side begins from a point with a longitude of 27 ° 19’E and located on the eastern bank of the Pededze River in the Pskov region.

Among the ice

The northern side of the Taimyr Peninsula, Cape Chelyuskin (77 ° 43 "N), is not only the extreme northern Russian point, here is the edge of the whole - Asia, here is the edge of the largest continent of the planet - Eurasia. These are places with a harsh climate and cruel conditions life, although this is how you can characterize the entire vast Russian coast of the Arctic Ocean.

The island extreme northern point is located even closer to the North Pole - like Cape Fligeli, located in its northeast, like the entire archipelago - Franz Josef Land, was discovered, explored and named by the participants of the Austro-Hungarian polar expedition, which took place in late 1870s.

Cape Fligeli (81° 49" N) is the only named point close to the northernmost Russian one, which is slightly higher, at the tip of the island closest to the pole.

In general, all the extreme (western, eastern, northern, southern) points of Russia are not distinguished by accessibility (the western one is the most accessible, although it is located in the border zone), but only very purposeful and motivated explorers can reach the northern edge of the Russian land.

Bazarduzu and Ragdan

41 ° 12 "N. latitude - the southernmost point of Russia has such a latitude mark. In the days of the USSR, few people were interested in such a geographical mark, everyone knew Kushka - the extreme southern point of the Soviet Union. It turned out that Russia begins in the south, in stunning beauty mountains of Dagestan.The border with neighboring Azerbaijan whimsically winds along the mountain spurs of the Caucasian ridge, and it is very difficult to designate a specific geographical point object.

Very close to it is the magnificent mountain peak Bazarduzu (4466 m), the highest in Dagestan. This is a favorite place for climbers - experienced and beginners, in these fantastic places you can find a route of any difficulty category.
But even closer to such a significant point is Mount Ragdan. At a distance of about two kilometers from its peak, on one of the slopes, at an altitude of 3500 m, is the southernmost point of Russia, the highest of all four directions.

Russia is the largest state on the globe. The territory of our country is more than 17 ml.km². The distance between the northern and southern margins is more than 4 thousand km., between the western and eastern about 10 thousand km. In Russia, there are 11 time zones, the time difference between the extreme points of the hour range is 11 hours. 40 minutes. Impressive number! While some Russians in Kaliningrad are preparing their breakfast and getting ready for work, others in Vladivostok have already returned home from work and are sitting down to dinner. No less striking is the difference in temperature regimes between the northern and southern climatic zones, which in the off-season can be up to 30-40 degrees.

What points of our country are considered the most extreme?

If we take into account the continental territory, then the most extreme points will be:

North: Cape Chelyuskin (Krasnoyarsk Territory).
East: Cape Dezhnev (Chukotka).
South: a point slightly east of Mount Ragdan (Dagestan) It does not appear on maps.
West: not marked on the maps, located on the coast of the Baltic Sea near Kaliningrad.

If we take into account the island territory, the extreme points, with the exception of the southern one, will be different:

North: Cape Fligely on the northernmost island of the Franz Josef Land archipelago.
East: frontier post on Ratmanov Island (Chukotka).
West: border post Normenln (Kaliningrad region).

What cities are located in close proximity to the most extreme points of our country?

North: Pevek (Chukotka).
East: Anadyr (Chukotka).
South: Derbent (Dagestan).
West: Baltiysk (Kaliningrad region).

Let's talk about the extreme points of Russia in more detail:

North

The continental northern point is located at Cape Chelyuskin, which is located in the north of the Taimyr Peninsula. This territory was discovered by the famous explorer of the Arctic - Semyon Chelyuskin in the forties of the 18th century. Further north is Cape Fligeli, located on Rudolf Island (Arkhangelsk region), which is considered the northernmost island point of the Russian Federation. Almost the entire territory of the island is covered with a layer of eternal ice. The climate here in the full sense of the word is arctic. The average annual temperature on the island is minus 12ºC. Even in July, the temperature very rarely rises to positive levels. The average daily temperature in July is -1°C, in January -24°C.

Cape Chelyuskin

East

Cape Dezhnev, the easternmost continental territory of the Russian Federation, was discovered by the Russian traveler Semyon Dezhnev in 1648. The cape is a mountain range on the coast of the Bering Strait. The climate is harsh, the temperature in winter can drop below 40ºC, in summer it usually does not exceed plus 8ºC. Numerous colonies of birds settle on the elephants of the hills, which steeply drop into the sea, and walruses and seals arrange their rookeries on the coastal strip. In the spring you can see polar bears here. From Cape Dezhnev, a stone's throw to America - only 86 km separate the easternmost point of Russia from the westernmost outskirts of America Cape Prince of Wales. Despite the remoteness from civilization, tourists often come here - adherents of original travels. They are attracted by the brutal beauty of the local nature and local attractions - an old wooden cross and a lighthouse-monument to Semyon Dezhnev. Further east is the island extreme point - Ratmanov Island, which is washed by the waters of the Bering Strait. There is a border post here. Its employees bear the honorary title of Russians who celebrate the new year first.

South

The southern outskirts of our country is located not far from the mountain peak of the Caucasus Range - Ragdan (4020 m.). The average annual air temperature here, frankly, is far from being southern, only plus 4 ° C. Alpine meadows at the foot of the mountain are replaced by sparse vegetation on its slopes. A rare representative of the animal world lives here - the Caucasian snowcock (leopard)

West

The western outskirts of our state runs along the Baltic Spit - a 65-kilometer strip of land between the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Kaliningrad. The spit is divided in the middle by the border with Poland. The westernmost kilometers of the spit are occupied by a border outpost. The Poles turned their part into a real tourist mecca, creating a fashionable resort there. The Russian territory was classified for a long time and practically abandoned. Lovers of “wild” recreation come here, for whom these places are a great opportunity to escape from civilization. They live here in tents or abandoned buildings without amenities, sacrificing comfort for many kilometers of sandy beaches, healing sea air and unique nature.

February 18, 2014

The grandiose territory of Russia

Russia is rightfully considered the largest country in the world. Here, on its territory, there are three climatic zones and ten natural zones. From east to west, the length of the country is 10 thousand kilometers and 10 time zones.

Russia is the largest state in the world. When the New Year is already celebrated in the east, the evening of the previous day is just beginning in the western regions. The extreme eastern point of the country is Cape Dezhnev, located on the Chukotka Peninsula. There is an ancient cross and a lighthouse named after the pioneer. Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev was the first navigator to sail through the Bering Strait. But all the glory, unfortunately, went to Bering, who did it 80 years later. Only 200 years later, a Swedish explorer named the easternmost cape of Russia after Dezhnev. Not far from the cape there is Ratmanov Island, on which there is a mountain range called the Roof, on the slopes, which was inhabited by local residents - the Eskimos.

The northernmost point of Russia

The western extreme point of Russia is 10 thousand kilometers away from the eastern one and is located in the Kaliningrad region. It is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The Kaliningrad region is divided with Russia by the territory of other countries and is a kind of Russian island among other Baltic states. Therefore, sometimes it is sometimes not taken into account and they say that the most extreme point of Russia in the west is located in the Pskov region at the junction of the borders of three countries - Latvia, Russia and Estonia. In determining the length of the state from east to west, one and the other point should be taken into account.

The northernmost point of Russia is located beyond the Arctic Circle, on the Taimyr Peninsula. It was there that the Great Northern Expedition was created in order to explore the territory of the country. Then the cape was called East North, but after 100 years it was named after the famous navigator Semyon Chelyuskin. It is winter on the peninsula almost the whole year and the snow does not melt at all. Even in the very middle of summer, the mercury column in the thermometer does not rise above +1 degree Celsius. There is a polar meteorological station here, where only 10 people are constantly present. Helicopters provide communication with the mainland. They also deliver food and necessary things here.

Southern point of Russia

In the south, the extreme point of Russia is located on Mount Bazarduzu on the border of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. It is more than 3.6 thousand kilometers away from the northern edge. There are beautiful mountains in the North Caucasus, on the tops of which eternal glaciers lie. Many nationalities live there, very fond of their harsh land, they cultivate plots of land suitable for agriculture or breed sheep. According to another version, the southernmost point is located on another mountain called Ragdan. At its foot there is also the southernmost village - Kurush.

Many climbers make their ascents in the mountains of the Caucasus. There are many outwardly impregnable peaks here, the conquest of which gives climbers joy and pride. Russia is the largest country in the world. over its large area. There is also the tundra, with its permafrost, in which day and night last for half a year, and endless steppes and centuries-old taiga. It is in our country that the border between Europe and Asia runs along the Ural Mountains.

Russians can be proud of their country, its mountains and steppes, seas and lakes. Between north and south, its length is 4 thousand kilometers. Between west and east - 10 thousand. This territory belongs to all residents of Russia.

Russia is located in the north of the Eurasian continent and occupies about a third of its territory (31.5%). The extreme northern and eastern points of the mainland are at the same time the extreme points of Russia. The country is located in two parts of the world and occupies the eastern sector of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Russia is washed by the seas of three oceans: the Atlantic, the Arctic and the Pacific.
The border between Europe and Asia within Russia is drawn along the Ural Mountains and along the Kumo-Manych Depression. Only slightly more than 1/5 of the country's area belongs to Europe (about 22%). At the same time, the European territory of Russia is often understood to mean the entire territory lying west of the Urals (about 23% of the area). In any case, the Asian part of Russia accounts for more than 3/4 of the country's territory. The 180th meridian passes through Wrangel Island and Chukotka, therefore, the eastern outskirts of Russia lies in the Western Hemisphere. The geographical center of Russia is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Evenki Autonomous Okrug on Lake Vivi. In Tuva, near Kyzyl, is the center of Asia.
The Russian Federation is the largest state in the world in terms of territory, the country's area is 17 million 75 thousand 400 km2 (one eighth of the world's territory). The area of Russia is 1.7 times the area of Europe and 1.8 times the area of the United States, 2 times the area of China and 29 times the area of the largest European state - Ukraine.

Extreme northern point
The extreme northern point of Russia on the mainland is located far beyond the Arctic Circle at Cape Chelyuskin (77 ° 43 "N).
Cape Chelyuskin, which is the northernmost point of the Taimyr Peninsula and the Eurasian continent, was first reached by man in 1742. Then the expedition led by Semyon Ivanovich Chelyuskin named the Cape East-Northern. It took place as part of the Great Northern Expedition, which was approved by the Admiralty Board, which considered that it was necessary to explore in detail the north of Russia from Pechora to Chukotka and make a description of those places. In honor of Semyon Chelyuskin, a polar navigator and explorer of the north of Russia, the cape was named already in 1842, when the centenary of his expedition was celebrated.

Chelyuskin's travel journal, in which he shares his impressions of his journey on dog sleds, the difficult journey he and his comrades made, and their arrival at the cape, is still kept in St. Petersburg, in the archives of the Navy.
The northernmost point of the Taimyr Peninsula has a harsh climate. Winter here is year-round, the snow practically does not melt, and the temperature in July and August usually does not exceed +1C°.
The second person to visit this cape was the geologist and geographer from Sweden, Niels Nordenskiöld. The third was the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen, who on September 9, 1893 sailed past Cape Chelyuskin in a heavy snow storm on the Fram ship.

At present, the station is called a radiometeorological center, where from 8 to 10 people spend the winter. A number of residential buildings and scientific pavilions have been built. Some of the buildings are abandoned and not in use. The northernmost airfield of continental Eurasia, Cape Chelyuskin, is also located here, which is serviced by the Khatanga United Aviation Enterprise. From the airfield, only a helipad remained, serviced by the military.
In 1932, a polar station was equipped on the cape, to which an observatory was later added. Now the station has been transferred to the status of a meteorological station. About 10 people constantly winter on it. Communication with the mainland and civilization is provided by the Cape Chelyuskin airfield with a helipad.

And one more island point: Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island in the archipelago of Franz Josef Land is located even further north - 81 ° 49 "N, the distance from Cape Fligely to the North Pole is only 900 km.
Rudolf Island is the northernmost of the Franz Josef Land islands. Cape Fligeli on the island is the northernmost point of land belonging to the Russian Federation, and at the same time the northernmost point of Europe. The island administratively belongs to the Arkhangelsk region. Area 297 km². Almost completely covered by a glacier.

The island, like the entire Franz Josef Archipelago, was discovered in 1873 by the Austro-Hungarian expedition of the explorer J. Payer, and was named after Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria. In 1936, the base of the first Soviet air expedition to the North Pole was established on the island. From there, in May 1937, four heavy four-engine ANT-6 aircraft delivered the Papanin team to the top of the world.
The meteorological station on Rudolf Island was opened in August 1932 as part of the program of the Second International Polar Year. 4 people remained for the first wintering, led by N.F. Balabin. A year later, the station was mothballed, and again work continued in the summer of 1936. Initially, the station was equipped as a base for the 1937 air expedition to the North Pole. Airfields were equipped near the station and on the ice dome of the island. In the period from April 1942 to 1947, it was mothballed again. The last period of work is 1947-1995.

Extreme southern point
According to the first version, the extreme southern point is located southwest of Mount Bazardyuzyu in the eastern part of the Main, or Watershed, ridge of the Greater Caucasus, on the border of Dagestan and Azerbaijan. The latitude of the point is 41 ° 11 "N. The distance between the extreme northern and southern points exceeds 40 ° along the meridian, and the northern mainland point is 36.5 ° away from the southern one. This is just over 4 thousand km.

All directories indicate - Bazardyuzyu (4466 m *) - the highest of the mountain peaks of the Republic of Dagestan and neighboring Azerbaijan. 41°13′16″ N sh. 47°51′29″ E e.

However, there is another version: The extreme southern bend of the border between the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan is located a few kilometers southwest of Bazardyuzyu peak. Mountain Ragdan is closer to the southern point of Russia (41 ° 12 "N) And the village of Kurush is the southernmost settlement ....

The peak on the left is Bazarduzu, on the right is Ragdan

The Usukhchaya Valley is unique in terms of having the epithets “most”, “most”, “most”. Here is the easternmost glacier of Dagestan - Tikhitsar. And the southernmost glacier of Dagestan and Russia - Charyn also lies in the river basin. Mount Ragdan rises near the Charyn glacier - the southernmost point of the Russian Federation. One of the longest and highest rocky walls of the Caucasus is the Western Face of Erydag - the pride of our wall-climbers. Finally, the highest peak of Dagestan - Bazarduzi (4466 m) also adjoins the Usukhchay valley. One more natural phenomenon of the valley can be noted. From the crest of Erydag, the Charaur waterfall, the highest in Dagestan, breaks down to a depth of 300 meters.

Closer to the southern point of Russia is Mount Ragdan (41°12" N), but it can only be found on large-scale maps.
Such a length of the territory from north to south, combined with the latitudinal position, determines the uneven supply of heat to the surface of the country and the formation within it of three climatic zones (arctic, subarctic and temperate) and ten natural zones (from arctic deserts to temperate deserts). The main part of the territory of Russia is located between 70 and 50 ° N. latitude. About 20% of the territory lies beyond the Arctic Circle. The area of the regions of the North is 10 million km2, in this respect only Canada can serve as an analogue.

Westernmost point
The extreme western point of Russia is located in the Kaliningrad region on the sandy Baltic Spit of the Gdansk Bay of the Baltic Sea at 19 ° 38 "30" E. But due to the fact that the Kaliningrad region is separated from the rest of Russia by the territory of other states and is an enclave, the extreme western point has turned into a kind of "island" point.

They also call the western point of the compact part of Russia, that is, without taking into account the Kaliningrad region, in the Pskov region, just north of the junction of the borders of Estonia, Latvia and Russia (27 ° 17 "E).

Extreme eastern point
The extreme eastern point of Russia on the mainland is located at Cape Dezhnev (169 ° 40 "W) - Ratmanov Island in the Bering Strait is located even further east - 169 ° 02" W.

Cape Dezhnev, one of the most brutal places on the Chukotka Peninsula. Here the rocks are piled one on top of the other, there are often fogs and a piercing wind is constantly blowing. From this point to the extreme western point of America - Cape Prince of Wales - 86 kilometers.
Despite the remoteness from civilization, these places have attractions. Lighthouse named after Semyon Dezhnev and an old cross, installed nearby, an abandoned settlement of whalers of the 18th-20th centuries - Naukan (it was disbanded under Soviet rule). However, those who climb into these parts go to look at the unique fauna: there are countless bird colonies, there is a walrus and seal rookery, in spring you can see polar bears with cubs. Sometimes killer whales and gray whales swim close to the shore.

Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev in 1648 rounded the Chukotka Peninsula from the north and proved that it was possible to get from Europe to China through the northern seas. He passed through the strait separating America from Eurasia 80 years earlier than Vitus Bering, but then little was known about the Russian pioneers in the Old World. Therefore, glory went to Bering. However, in 1879, restoring justice, the Swedish Arctic explorer Nils Nordenskiöld named the extreme eastern point of Eurasia - Cape Dezhnev, after the Russian navigator. Until that time, the cape was called Vostochny.
How to get there: the nearest village Uelen is located 10 kilometers from Cape Dezhnev, and the nearest airport is located in Provideniya Bay, where planes fly from Anadyr.

Ratmanov Island has an irregular shape (about 9 km long, 5 km wide) and an area of about 10 square meters. km; practically it is a large rock with a flat top. Just 4 km 160 m is the island of Kruzenshtern (formerly Small Diomede), with an area of about 5 square meters. km, which belongs to the United States. There is also Fairway Rock. The name of Diomede was given to this archipelago by Vitus Bering, who approached the big island on the boat "Saint Gabriel" on August 16, 1728 on the day of St. Diomede. But even before this name, Ratmanov Island already had a name - Imaklik (translated from the Eskimo - "surrounded by water"), which was given to it by the Eskimos, who lived on it for more than two thousand years. By the way, the Eskimos called the island of Krusenstern (former Little Diomede) Ingalik, which means "opposite".
The story of getting the island named after Ratmanov is as follows. In 1816, the famous navigator Otto Kotzebue, while exploring the Bering Strait, mistakenly counted not three islands in the Diomede archipelago (as it had been mapped since 1732), but four islands. He decided to give the “newly discovered” island the name of his colleague, naval officer Makar Ratmanov, with whom he took part in a round-the-world expedition a few years earlier. When the mistake was discovered, they decided to leave the name of Ratmanov on the map, and from the middle of the 19th century, Big Diomede changed its name.

Western (big) - Ratmanov Island

The island is like a gable roof, with a vast, gentler northern slope. From south to north, as if bending it in the middle, a river flows with marshy banks, and closer to the raised edges, placers of bare stones and bizarre remnants begin. The southern ramp is smaller but steeper. The remnants on it are more numerous and the steep banks are higher. The junction of both slopes forms a small ridge, the highest point of which is called Mount Roof. The island occupies a key position on the border of Asia and North America and two oceans - the Pacific and the Arctic. From it you can see a huge area of water. For tens of kilometers to the west, north and east, it is easy to trace the movements of marine animals and the flights of birds.
The brave Inupik Eskimo sailors lived on the islands. Through them, the exchange trade of Asian and American Eskimos went on, they were at the center of all the events of the Northern Bering Sea and, creating their own culture, they adopted a lot from the cultural traditions that already existed on both continents. In 1948, with the beginning of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA, the inhabitants of the island were resettled to the mainland.

Now there is a Russian border outpost on Ratmanov Island. On the island of Kruzenshtern there is a village with a population of 600 people. Between these islands is the Russian-American border, as well as the international date line. Getting to Ratmanov Island is not just difficult, but extremely difficult. And not only because it is actually a state border, but also due to weather conditions - 300 days a year the island is shrouded in thick fog. The shortest way: from Anadyr by helicopter via St. Lawrence. But this is only after obtaining permission from the SVRPU. But it's worth it!
The distance between the western and eastern outskirts of Russia is 171 ° 20 "or almost 10 thousand km. With a huge extent of the territory from west to east, the degree of continentality of the climate changes, which entails the manifestation of sectoriality in changing nature. There are 10 time zones within the Russian Federation The highest point in Russia is Mount Elbrus (5642 m), located in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic on the border with the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.The lowest absolute height is noted in the Caspian depression (-28 m).