Etolin Strait is a

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

of the Pacific Ocean in western

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, the United States.

Geography

The strait connects

Kuskokwim Bay Kuskokwim Bay is a bay in southwestern Alaska, at about . It is about long, and wide. The Kuskokwim River The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River ( Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: � ...

and the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...

, at . It is long and 48–80 km (30-50) miles wide. It is known for strong tidal currents. It is between

Nunivak Island Nunivak Island ( Central Alaskan Yup'ik: ; Nunivak Cup'ig: ''Nuniwar''; russian: Нунивак, Nunivak) is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the US state of Alaska, at ...

to its west and Nelson Island and the Alaskan mainland to its east. It is demarcated by Cape Etolin to the northwest and

Cape Corwin Cape Corwin is the easternmost point of Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea in the U.S. state of Alaska. In the Cup'ig language it is known as ''Cing'ig'' ("point", as in point of land). According to Donald Orth (1967, Dictionary of Alaska Place N ...

to the southwest (both on Nunivak Island), by Cape Vancouver on Nelson Island to the northeast, and by Cape Avinol on the Alaskan mainland to the southeast.

History

Etolin Strait is named after

Adolf Etolin Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinisation (literature), Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German language, German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, L ...

, who was the first European to discover it, and originally named it Cook Strait. Etolin was subsequently the colonial governor of

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

from 1840 to 1845. Bodies of water of the Bering Sea Bodies of water of Bethel Census Area, Alaska Straits of Alaska Straits of the Pacific Ocean {{BethelAK-geo-stub