Ratmanov Island is the easternmost pointterritory 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 rock with a flat top.
Ratmanov's Island did not always bear such a name.In 1728, it was called the Great Diomid (and in four kilometers was the "younger brother" - Maly Diomid Island, now Krusenstern Island). This idea belonged to the traveler Vitus Bering, who first approached this object on the day of St. Diomed. The only hitch is that the island had its name before that! The Eskimos, who inhabited it for more than two thousand years, called it Imaklik, which means "surrounded by water."
Its current name is Ratmanov Island acquiredin the following way. In 1816, Otto Kotzebue - a famous navigator - was engaged in the study of the Bering Strait. He erroneously calculated the number of islands in the archipelago of Diomede. Ratmanov Island was marked on the map since 1732, but Kotzebue decided that he discovered this territory. The navigator gave him the name of Makar Ratmanov - his colleague, whom he had circumnavigated several years earlier. Even after the discovery of the error, the name of the island was not changed.
The shape of the island can be compared with a gableroof. The northern slope is more extensive and as flat as possible. From the south to the north, as if bending the island in the center, the river flows. The southern slope is steeper than the northern one, there are many more outcrops on it, the banks are steep and high. The area of the junction of the original skates is a small ridge. Its highest point is a mountain called the Roof.
Ratmanov Island occupies an important geographicalposition on the border of North America and Asia, as well as two oceans - the Arctic and North. From it you can carefully consider the huge water area, tracing the movements of local marine animals and birds flying.
Previously, the island was inhabited by brave navigators -Inuit Inupik. They engaged in barter trade with Asian and American Eskimos. Local residents of the island were in the epicenter of events that took place in the North Bering Sea. They created their own culture, based on the traditions of the 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.
Now on the island there is a borderoutpost of the Russian Federation. On the nearby island. Krusenstern is a settlement, its population is six hundred people. Between these objects lies the Russian-American border, as well as an international line for changing dates.
To see the described island personally anyone can notcan. This is due not only to the state importance of the facility. The fact is that three hundred days a year he is surrounded by a thick fog. Only after obtaining permission from the North-Eastern regional border management, you can visit the island of Ratmanov. Not everyone is allowed to take photos. However, staying on this site will bring you a lot of impressions and will remain in your memory for a long time.
