A TINY remote island that sits just two miles between the US and Russia allows residents to bring in the new year a day before it arrives.
Alaska’s Little Diomede Island lies just 2.4 miles from Big Diomede, which is the easternmost point of Russia.
Stranger still, because of where the international dateline falls, Big Diomede is a whole 21 hours ahead of Little Diomede despite being so close.
Little Diomede, a small island with around 77 residents and limited access to running water, has the unique advantage of being one of the first places in the world to welcome the New Year, almost a full day ahead of other locations.
The tiny location is just 2.8 square miles in size, and can be found in the middle of the Bering Strait 16 miles off the Alaskan coast.
Little Diomede has no hotels or cafes, and only has one public school and one post office.
There’s no bank or restaurant, and the main shop has only limited food, clothing, firearms, and fuel – meaning anything else must be flown in.
There are around 30 buildings on the island, mostly built in the 1970s and 80s.
But the vast rocky landscape means there are no cemeteries, buried utilities, no roads and barely any space for more buildings
The weekly mail delivery is made by helicopter and most supplies stocked in the store come from a barge delivery just once a year.
During the winter months, the community take part in the annual “polar bear watch” to keep everyone safe from attacks.
Few of the homes, which are clustered together on the rocky hillside by the shore, have running water.
The water freezes in the winter, so villagers carve a runway into the ice for the supply-carrying bush planes to land.
Winter temperatures hover around a frigid -14C to -12C, meaning the Bering Straight is generally frozen between December and June.
Summer temperatures only reach 10C.
WALK FROM US TO RUSSIA
During the colder months, an ice bridge will normally form between Little Diomede and Big Diomede.
This makes it theoretically possible to walk between the United States and Russia, even though it is forbidden.
As tensions rise amdist the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war, there are some Americans who can literally see Russia from the windows of their homes.
Edward Soolook, a lifelong resident of Little Diomede, said life on the island hasn’t changed dramatically since Russia invaded Ukraine.
He told Insider: “We’re safe, as long as we sleep good at night. We keep the eyes and ears.
“We’re the back door of the country — or the front door, rather.”
In fact, conflict between the US and Russia have often flared at this precise location, and it was nicknamed the “Ice Curtain” during the Cold War.
This conflict changed the relationship between the two islands forever.
Little and Big Diomedeans would marry, share traditions, and their cultures blurred into one.
In 1948, Russia booted the native population off Big Diomede and made it into a military base, and most locals fled to Little Diomede or to Siberia.
But the decision to build a military base split the close bond between the two settlements.
Russians have rarely set foot on Little Diomede since.
The islands are sometimes called Tomorrow Island (Big Diomede) and Yesterday Island (Little Diomede).
Reaching Yesterday Island is quite difficult, as it is only accessible by boat or plane.
Those wanting to visit the island have to take flight from Russia to Nome and then to the coastal Alaskan town of Wales by plane.
From there they head to the island via a helicopter – the only real link to the mainland and how supplies reach the community.
It means the island and its residents are hugely dependent on the weather – bad weather means the chopper can’t land and ships can’t moor.
Bering Air stopped flying to Little Diomede after a storm broke up the frozen landing strip in 2018.
