Little Diomede Island
| Native name: Inupiaq Iŋaliq | |
|---|---|
The native Inupiat village of Diomede/Inalik on Little Diomede Island.
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| Geography | |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Area | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). |
| Highest elevation | 494 m (1,621 ft) |
| Country | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 110[1] (as of 2010) |
| Density | 48 /sq mi (18.5 /km2) |
| Ethnic groups | 96% Iŋaliq Iñupiaq Eskimo[2] |
| Additional information | |
| See Also: City of Diomede | |
Little Diomede Island (Inupiat: Iŋaliq; formerly known as Krusenstern Island, which can also refer to other places)[3] is an island of Alaska, United States. It 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 is less than 2.4 mi (3.9 km) to the west, but is part of Russia and west of the International Date Line. As of the 2010 census, Little Diomede had a population of 110, down from its recorded peak of 178 in 1990.[4] The entirety of the island is in the City of Diomede (Inupiat: Iŋaliq meaning "the other one" or "the one over there").[5] The island is not part of any organized borough, so some services are provided directly by the state. For census purposes, it is included in the Nome Census Area.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the island has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), all of it land. On the western shore of the island is the village of Diomede, also known as Inalik.
Little Diomede Island is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) west from the mainland, in the middle of the Bering Strait. It is only 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) from the International Date Line and about 2.4 miles (3.9 km) from the Russian island of Big Diomede.
The highest point on Little Diomede Island is 494m (about halfway along the west coast, about 1.5 km southeast of the village, facing the southern tip of Big Diomede).
There is a heliport, the Diomede Heliport, with regular helicopter flights. During the winter, the town villagers carve a runway into the thick ice sheet so that bush planes can deliver vital products, such as medicine. Due to annual variations of the ice sheet, the runway changes position every year.
Climate
Summer temperatures average 40 to 50 °F (4 to 10 °C). Winter temperatures average from 10 to 6 °F (−12 to −14 °C) Annual precipitation averages 10 inches (250 mm), and annual snowfall averages 30 inches (76 cm). During summer months, cloudy skies and fog prevail. Winds blow consistently from the north, averaging 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h), with gusts of 60 to 80 miles per hour (97 to 129 km/h). The Bering Strait is generally frozen between mid-December and mid-June.[6]
Geology
The Little Diomede island is composed of Cretaceous age granite or quartz monzonite.[7][8] 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.
See also
References
- ↑ Local Economic Development Plan for Diomede 2012-2017, citing 2010 U.S. census (and this was a decline since the 2000 census
- ↑ Local Economic Development Plan for Diomede 2012-2017, citing 2010 U.S. census
- ↑ The American Local History Network
- ↑ Local Economic Development Plan for Diomede 2012-2017, citing 1990 U.S. census
- ↑ Local Economic Development Plan for Diomede 2012-2017
- ↑ Local Economic Development Plan for Diomede, 2012-2017([1])
- ↑ Till, A. B., et. al., Bedrock Geologic Map of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, and Accompanying Conodont Data, Pamphlet to accompany Scientific Investigations Map 3131, USGS
- ↑ Gualtieri, Lyn and Julie Brigham-Grette, The Age and Origin of the Little Diomede Island Upland Surface, Arctic, Vol. 54, No. 1 (March 2001) pp. 12–21
