As Slate has pointed out , on a clear day, those on the Alaskan island of Little Diomede can see the Russian island of Big Diomede, located across the International Date Line some two and a half miles away.
Given that Big Diomede has no permanent population, the amount of foreign policy experience one can gain from staring at it is debatable. But you can see Russian soil while standing in Alaska. Already a subscriber? Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in.
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Skip to main content Skip to main menu Skip to search Skip to footer. Search for:. Monitor Daily Current Issue. The only really feasible way to get here is by boat or helicopter. However, being that it is located in the middle of the sea, harsh weather often ensues and travel to and from Little Diomede Island is put on hold as the conditions can become very dangerous and deadly at the drop of a dime.
On Little Diomede Island there are no hospitals or airports. There isn't even the ability to have television. While there is a tiny schoolhouse here, the primary view is of Siberia in the Russian territory, right out the window.
You could say this little island houses the most remote town in Alaska. Little Diomede Island was most famously known as making headlines after former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin had made comments about Alaska's physical closeness to Russia when speaking about her foreign policy experience. Then celebrity and comedian Tina Fey proceeded to do a skit on Saturday Night Live about former Governor Palin saying that "she can see Russia from her front door. The most ironic thing about this whole story is that locals report that former Governor Palin has never even visited the area, although her slight comment about Alaska's relationship with Russia seemed to dominate headlines back in during the presidential election.
Address: Little Diomede Island, What is the most remote town in Alaska? Alaska In Your Inbox spinner. Thank you! You'll receive your first newsletter soon! Any intelligent person knows that Sarah Palin was joking when she said that she could see Russia from her house. It's pure hyperbole.
But everyone in the media keeps repeating it over and over, and I'm certain that some people probably actually believe it to be true. I bet that even the people that understand the hyperbole probably don't realize just how much of an exaggeration it really is.
First we need to measure how far it is from Sarah Palin's house to the Russian coast. Since Mrs. Palin has two houses, we'll start with the closest one first. How high above the Earth's surface do you have to be to see a point km away along the Earth's surface?
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