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 sq mi).
This island is desolate and experiences severe weather. As such, it was uninhabited until 1826. Now, 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.
In 1741 Vitus Bering, sailing in Svyatoy Pyotr (St. Peter), was shipwrecked and died of scurvy (actually, according to "Bering" by Orcutt Frost p7, Bering died of heart failure) on Bering Island, along with 28 of his men. In 1743 Emilian Basov landed to hunt sea otter. Thus began the island-hopping that led the Russians to Alaska.
This island is also less commonly known as the "Floating Island" simply because it "floats" on the International Date Line.
The shores of Bering Island form a natural habitat for sea otters. This island is also famous for its seal rookeries.
4 km off Bering Island's NW shore lies small Toporkov Island (Ostrov Toporkov) 55°12′9″N 165°55′59″E / 55.2025°N 165.93306°E / 55.2025; 165.93306 (Toporkov Island). It is a round island with a diameter of 800 m.
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