Bering Sea

Bering Sea, part of the North Pacific Ocean. It is situated between the Aleutian Islands on the south and the Bering Strait, which connects it with the Arctic Ocean, on the north. On the west are the Kamchatka and Chukchi peninsulas of north-eastern Asia, and on the east is Alaska. The sea is named in honour of the Danish explorer Vitus Bering, who explored it in 1728 and 1741. The total area is about 2,261,000 sq km (873,000 sq mi). The waters of the Anadyr River in Asia and of the Yukon River in North America flow into the Bering Sea. Fog prevails, and in the winter, pack ice forms as far south as St Matthew Island, and ice floes extend south of the Pribilof Islands. Among other islands in the Bering Sea are St Lawrence Island, Nunivak Island, and the Commander Islands.