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This is an island and this is an island.
One’s big, one’s little, both are Diomede’s, so here’s big Diomede, and here’s little
Diomede—that’s logic.
Both islands are here—smack dab in the middle of the Bering Strait 25 miles from both Russia
and the US.
For non-Americans that’s 4,000,000 centimeters.
Two lines run between these islands—the US-Russia border and the international date
line.
That means that not only are these two islands two miles apart in two different countries,
but also that they are 21 hours apart in time.
When it’s noon on a Thursday on the American Little Diomede, it’s 9 am on a Friday on
Big Diomede.
The name of the islands originates from ancient Greek where it roughly translates to "Zeus
planned” but I’m not sure how much he did putting his islands here because Russia
already has a God.
Zeus may know how to throw lightning bolts, but Putin knows how to use Facebook advertising.
On Little Diomede, the American one, is a town called Diomede.
Only 118 people live there so, you know, it’s not enormous.
This is the extent of the town—it’s smaller than the entire state of Kansas.
They’ve got a post office and general store, but there’s no restaurant, no hotel, no
phone service, no internet, in fact, the only way they can communicate with the outside
world is by satellite phone.
Diomede is not the westernmost town in the US, that title goes to Adak in the Aleutian
Islands, but it is the closest to Russia.
Not only is Diomede 2 miles from the Russian Big Diomede and 25 miles from the Russian
mainland, it’s also almost exactly as far from Diomede to Moscow as it is to DC.
Now, the Bering Strait has loads of sea-ice, is very cold, and the weather’s terrible
so getting to the island via boat usually isn’t an option.
It often looks like this.
You could take a plane but planes often have trouble landing on very very steep cliffs
and the only flatish spot to put a runway would be here but there are no roads on the
island so there’s no way to get from here to here… except walking, but this is America.
We don’t walk.
Occasionally in the winter the sea will freeze enough for planes to land on the ice and bring
in supplies but, for the majority of the year the only way to get to the island is by helicopter
to the heliport here on the west side of town.
Diomede is the one and only place in the US to have its mail delivered by helicopter.
They arrive at least once a week from Nome, Alaska organized by the US postal service.
The USPS pays a helicopter operator $300,000 a year to run these flights and, since Diomede
is part of the US, sending mail to Diomede doesn’t cost any more than anywhere else
in the US.
You can send a postcard from DC to Diomede, an island in the middle of the Bering Strait,
for 35 cents or a small box for $7.20.
I’ve had room service with higher delivery fees than that.
The US federal government also subsidizes passenger flights to the island with an $190,000
yearly contract which brings the cost of a passenger flight to the island to around $200
which is a great deal.
Now, I know you’re thinking—$500,000 in subsidies for an island of 135 people equals
almost $4,000 per person which is a lot but I will counter by saying that the US federal
government spent $45,000 promoting pumpkin donuts as a healthy eating choice.
I think they can afford to pay for some helicopters to keep this town existent.
On the neighboring Big Diomede island is not a whole lot.
It also simply doesn’t exist on Apple Maps which is a fun fact, I guess.
Big Diomede has no native population—at least, not since Russia kicked them out to
build a military base towards the beginning of the Cold War.
The Cold War eventually ended and the Russian military base closed but since then the Russian
border guard has moved in and today their agents are the only residents on the island.
They work to make sure nobody from Little Diomede swims
over… but like seriously.
It’s been done and they actively stop people from crossing over.
Before the Cold War, though, the indigenous Eskimos just lived across the two islands
with little regard for national borders.
When the military base moved in and the residents of Big Diomede were moved to the Russian mainland
families were split and nowadays, there’s really no way to legally get from Little Diomede
to this region of Russia.
Every once in a while, though, there’s talk of building a bridge or tunnel from Alaska
to Russia across the Bering Strait.
It’d be incredibly expensive so it’s unlikely it would ever happen but if it does, the Diomede
islands would quite literally become highway rest stops.
Diomede was also the name of a hero in Greek Mythology who eventually became the King of
Argos—the city not the British retailer.
But at the British retailer you could buy this—a computer with which you could surf
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