St. Lawrence Island, the part of Alaska that is closer to Russia than to the United States

When you think of the United States, you probably think of cities like New York, beaches like those in California, or forests like those in Oregon.

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However, there are places in the US that rarely appear in movies and where life isn't easy. One of them is St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. With an area of 4,640.1 square kilometers and located in the middle of the Bering Sea, it is the sixth largest island in the United States, although it has a very small population: only 1,475 inhabitants.

St. Lawrence Island has one striking feature: it is located much closer to Russia (about 76 km) than to the mainland coast of Alaska (186 km). In fact, most of its inhabitants are Yupik Eskimos, an ethnic group of Siberian origin whose population (about 1,700 people) is located on Russia's Chukchi Peninsula. The Yupiks of St. Lawrence Island speak an Eskimo language, Central Siberian Yupik, which is part of the Eskimo-Aleut language family.

The largest settlement on St. Lawrence Island is Savoonga, located in the northern part of the island. In 2020, 835 people lived there. In addition, the village of Gambell is located at the northwestern tip of the island. In 2020, it had 640 inhabitants, who have the unique status of living in the closest U.S. settlement to the Russian mainland.

Due to its location so close to Russia, St. Lawrence Island was strategically important during the Cold War. In fact, in 1953, a U.S. Air Force (USAF) installation, the Northeast Cape Air Force Station, was built on the eastern side of the island as part of Alaska's early warning radar network. The base was closed in 1969, and its ruins remain today.

Today, the population of St. Lawrence Island is mainly dedicated to fishing, hunting, and reindeer herding, an animal that was introduced to this area in 1900. As for transport links, Savoonga and Gambell have their own airfields. There is not even a road connecting the two villages, separated by a distance of about 61 km. There is a path that runs from Gambell to the east, but it ends at a beach in the north of the island.

Otherwise, Saint Lawrence Island has no trees. Its only vegetation is a small plant about 30 cm tall, the Arctic willow. The climate there is very cold: in winter temperatures reach -16°C and in summer the thermometer does not exceed 10°C.

Its location and extreme climate, as well as the fact that most of the island's land is uninhabited, make it an ideal location for military exercises. In July 2024, the famous Navy SEALS conducted a military exercise there as part of Operation Polar Dagger, accompanied by MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment "Night Stalkers".

Obviously, the best way to get to know a place is to hear from someone who lives there. Last year, Wallace Ungwiluk, a Gambell resident, posted this interesting video talking about St. Lawrence Island, describing what life is like there and showing off its landscapes:

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Main photo: NOAA.