Chukchi Sea facts for kids
The Chukchi Sea is a large sea that is part of the Arctic Ocean. It's located in the far north of the world. This sea is bordered by Alaska in the United States and Siberia in Russia. It connects to the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait. The main port city on the Chukchi Sea is Uelen in Russia.
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Where is the Chukchi Sea?
The Chukchi Sea is a "marginal sea," which means it's partly enclosed by land or islands. To its west, it's next to the Long Strait and Wrangel Island. To its east, it reaches Point Barrow in Alaska, where the Beaufort Sea begins. The Bering Strait is its southern border, linking it to the Bering Sea.
The International Date Line also crosses the Chukchi Sea. This imaginary line on Earth marks where one calendar day ends and the next begins. In this area, the line is moved a bit to the east. This helps keep Wrangel Island and the Chukotka Peninsula in Russia on the same calendar day.
Size and Travel
The Chukchi Sea covers a huge area, about 595,000 square kilometers (230,000 square miles). Because it's so far north, much of the sea is covered in ice for most of the year. People can usually only travel across it for about four months each year when the ice melts enough.
Compared to other Arctic seas, the Chukchi Sea has very few islands. Wrangel Island is in the northwest. Herald Island is closer to its northern edge. There are also a few small islands along the coasts of Siberia and Alaska.
Why is it called Chukchi?
The sea is named after the Chukchi people. These are native people who have lived on its shores for a very long time. The Chukchi people traditionally worked as fishers, whalers, and hunters of walrus in this cold sea.
Animals of the Chukchi Sea
The Chukchi Sea is home to many animals that are adapted to the cold. One important animal found here is the polar bear. They live on the pack ice (large pieces of floating sea ice) of the Chukchi Sea. In fact, the polar bears in this area are one of the five special groups of polar bears in Eurasia.
Natural Resources
Scientists believe that the ground under the Chukchi Sea holds a lot of oil and natural gas. There might be as much as 30 billion barrels of oil and gas there. Because of these resources, several oil companies have wanted to drill in the area. In 2008, the U.S. government allowed companies to bid for the rights to explore for oil. The winning companies paid about US$2.6 billion. This decision did cause some concern among environmental groups.
Images for kids
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Map of the Chukchi Sea.
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Spring breakup of sea ice on the Chukchi Sea.
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Scientists on the sea ice in the Chukchi Sea.
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Defense Mapping Agency topographical map of the Chukchi Sea, 1973
See also
In Spanish: Mar de Chukotka para niños
