Russia and US Border

The news media usually fails to mention that Russia and the US share a border. There is no wall and not much traffic of refugees trying to pass illegally.

The Russia / United States maritime boundary follows the June 1, 1990 USA/USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement, but it has yet to be approved by the Russian parliament. The United States Senate gave its consent to ratification on September 16, 1991.

Two islands, Little Diomede, US and Big Diomede, Russia lie between Russia and the United States. The islands are only 35 km away from both Chukotka, Russia and Alaska, US. Because the international Date Line runs between them, the time difference between them is about 21 hours.

Incidentally, Russia's Eastern border is with China.

Looking at Tomorrow

There are two islands known as the Diomedes, about two and a half miles apart in the middle of the Bering Strait, between Siberia, Russia and Alaska. One of them, Little Diomede, belongs to the US, and has a population of about 150. The other island, Big Diomede belongs to Russia and is uninhabited, except for Russian border guards.

The space between these two islands marks not only an international border, but the International Date Line as well, making it possible for the folks on Little Diomede to wake up on a Sunday and look across the water to Big Diomede, where it’s already Monday. I guess this means the Russians are ahead of the US, at least by a day.