Ratmanova Island is the easternmost point of the territory of the Russian Federation. It is distinguished by an irregular shape - nine kilometers in length and five in width. The area of the island is about ten square kilometers. In fact, it is a large-sized rock with a flat top.
Long way to today's name
Ratmanova Island did not always bear such a name. In 1728 it was called the Big Diomede (and four kilometers away was the "younger brother" - the island of Small Diomede, now the island of Kruzenshtern). This idea belonged to the traveler Vitus Bering, who first approached this object on the day of St. Diomede. The only catch is that the island had its own name before that! The Eskimos, who inhabited it for more than two thousand years, called it Imaklik, which means "surrounded by water."
Ratmanova Island acquired its current name as follows. In 1816, Otto Kotzebue - a famous navigator - was engaged in the study of the Bering Strait. He mistakenly calculated the number of islands in the Diomede archipelago. Ratmanov Island on the map has been marked since 1732, but Kotzebue decided that he had discovered this territory. The navigator gave him the name Makar Ratmanov, his colleague with whom he had traveled around the world several years earlier . Even after detecting an error, the name of the island was not changed.
Relief features
The shape of the island can be compared with a gable roof. The northern slope is more extensive and as gentle as possible. From south to north, as if bending an island in the center, a river flows. The southern slope is steeper than the northern one, there are much more outcrops on it, the banks are steep and high. The junction area of peculiar slopes is a small ridge. Its highest point is a mountain called Roof.
Ratmanova Island occupies an important geographical position on the border of North America and Asia, as well as two oceans - the Arctic and the North. From it you can carefully examine the vast water area, tracking the movements of local marine animals and the flight of birds.
First residents
Previously, the island was inhabited by brave sailors - Inupik Eskimos. They engaged in exchange trade with Asian and American Eskimos. Local residents of the island were at the epicenter of the events taking place in the North Bering Sea. They created their own culture, based on the traditions of neighboring continents. In 1948, all the inhabitants of the island were forcibly evicted. The reason for this was the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the States.
Current state of affairs
Now on the island there is a border post of the Russian Federation. On neighboring Fr. Kruzenshtern is a village, its population is six hundred people. Between these objects lies the Russian-American border, as well as the international date line.
Anyone cannot see the described island with their own eyes. This is explained not only by the state importance of the facility. The fact is that three hundred days a year it is enveloped in dense fog. Only after receiving permission from the Northeast Regional Border Administration can you visit Ratmanova Island. Not everyone is allowed to take pictures. However, staying at this object will bring you a lot of impressions and will remain in your memory for a long time.