The Bering Strait, which connects the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea is 53 miles across at its most narrow point. The first European to traverse it was Danish navigator Vitus Bering (1681–1741) in 1728. The explorer, for whom the strait and the sea were named, had been employed by Tsar Peter the Great (1672–1725) of Russia to determine whether Asia and North America are connected.