Etolin Strait is a strait 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 Amer ...

, 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 a ...

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 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 Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

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

colonial governor Governors and administrators of colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of th ...

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