Cape Dezhnev

Cape Dezhnev
Headlands and islands of the Bering Strait as seen from a point 25 miles south of the Diomede Islands. Cape Dezhnev on the far left.

Cape Dezhnyov or Cape Dezhnev (Russian: мыс Дежнёва; formerly East Cape or Cape Vostochny) is a cape that forms the eastmost mainland point of Eurasia. It is located on the Chukchi Peninsula in the very thinly populated Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia. This cape is located between the Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea, 82 kilometres (51 mi) across from Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska. The Bering Strait lies in between and the Diomede Islands and Fairway Rock are located in the midst of the strait.

Contents

Geography

Satellite image of Bering Strait; Cape Dezhnyov is on the left.

The cape is the eastern tip of a high, rocky headland, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Uelen in the north to Cape Pe'ek in the south, connected to the mainland by a neck of lower-lying land peppered with swamps and shallow lakes. That low-lying land is so low in elevation that the cape appears as an island from a distance far to the south of it. The US Hydrographic Office publication Asiatic Pilot from 1909 gives the height of the headland as 2,521 feet (768 m), and the US Office of Coast Survey chart of 2000 shows the highest peak at 2,638 feet (804 m). The headland and the neck of low-lying land together form a peninsula. In 1898, the cape was officially renamed as Cape Dezhnev, replacing Captain James Cook's name, the "East Cape". It was named in honor of Semyon Dezhnyov, the first recorded European to round its tip (in 1648). There is a large monument to Dezhnev on the seacoast.

The Great Circle distance from Cape Dezhnev to the shore of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait in Yemen is about 10,855 km, which is the longest land distance of Asia.

History

Detail of a USCGS chart from 1937 showing Cape Dezhnev (East Cape) with the historical villages Tunkan, Uelen (Ugelen), Naukan (Nuokan), Enmitahin, and Dezhnevo (Port Dezhnev) marked. The shape of the cape is somewhat distorted in this map.

The Cape Deshnev peninsula, (or East Cape, as it was then generally called) was a center for trade between American (and other) whalers and the fur traders and the native Yupik and Chukchi people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the early years, ships would call at Uelen to trade for furs produced along the arctic coast. Subsequently, there were established trading stations at Uelen and Deshnevo (Chukchi name Keniskun; Yupik Kaniskak). When a source of that period speaks of stopping or trading at East Cape, either of these locations may be meant, or occasionally the Yupik village Naukan on the southeast shore of the cape, which had less trade because it lacked a good anchorage. Sources from that period sometimes speak of a village Emma-Town. Although this name may be derived from the nearby Yupik village Enmitahin (Chukchi for "end of the cliff") the name appears to refer to Keniskun (where the traders were) or perhaps to both villages together. Of the four historical villages on the cape itself, only Uelen is still inhabited. Naukan was evacuated in 1958 with most of the occupants relocated to Nunyamo near Saint Lawrence Bay, Chukotka, and Keniskun was merged with Uelen a little earlier.

Gallery

  • Monument to Semyon Dezhnev, Cape Dezhnev

  • Soviet Outpost

  • Soviet Ruins

  • Abandoned village of Naukan near Cape Dezhnev

  • Sketch of Cape Dezhnev from the northeast.

  • Chukchi men at Dezhnevo pulling an umiak onto the beach, Cape Dezhnev headland in background, 1913

  • View of part of Port Dezhnev, 1913. The American-style cabins near the lagoon are probably a trading station.

See also

References

External links

Coordinates: 66°4′45″N 169°39′7″W / 66.07917°N 169.65194°W / 66.07917; -169.65194


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dezhnev — This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Cape Dezhnev Semyon Dezhnyov …   Wikipedia

  • Cape Prince of Wales — Capes in the Americas Cape Prince of Wales (Mys Nykhta in Iñupiaq) (65°35′47″ …   Wikipedia

  • Dezhnev — [dyezh′nye vədyezh′nyev] Cape cape at the northeasternmost point of Asia, in Russia, projecting into Bering Strait: also Cape Dezhneva [dyezh′nye və] …   English World dictionary

  • cape — cape1 caped, adj. /kayp/, n., v., caped, caping. n. 1. a sleeveless garment of various lengths, fastened around the neck and falling loosely from the shoulders, worn separately or attached to a coat or other outer garment. 2. the capa of a… …   Universalium

  • Dezhnev,Cape — Dezh·nev (dĕzhʹnəf, dĕzh nē ôfʹ, dĭzh nyôfʹ), Cape also East Cape. A cape of extreme northeast Russia on the Bering Strait opposite Alaska. It is the easternmost point of Asia. * * * …   Universalium

  • Dezhnev — /dezh nef, nee awf /; Russ. /dyi zhnyawf /, n. Cape, a cape in the NE Russian Federation in Asia, on the Bering Strait: the northeasternmost point of Asia. Also called East Cape. * * * …   Universalium

  • Dezhnev, Cape — Russian Mys Deshneva Cape, extreme eastern Russia. It is the easternmost point of the Chukchi Peninsula and of the entire Eurasian landmass. It is separated from Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska by the Bering Strait (see Bering Sea). * * * …   Universalium

  • Dezhnev — /dɪʒˈnjɛf/ (say dizh nyef) noun Cape, a cape in north eastern Russia, on the Bering Strait; the north easternmost point of Asia. Formerly, East Cape …  

  • Dezhnev — /dezh nef, nee awf /; Russ. /dyi zhnyawf /, n. Cape, a cape in the NE Russian Federation in Asia, on the Bering Strait: the northeasternmost point of Asia. Also called East Cape …   Useful english dictionary

  • Dezhnev, Cape — or Russian Mys Dezhneva geographical name cape NE Russia in Asia at E end of Chukchi Peninsula …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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