What is Seward Peninsula?
[[Image:Seward peninsula.png|right|320px]] The '''Seward Peninsula''' is a large [[peninsula]] on the western coast of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Alaska]]. It sticks out about {{convert|320|km|mi|-1|sp=us}} into the [[Bering Sea]]. It is just below the [[Arctic Circle]]. The peninsula is about {{convert|330|km|mi|-1|sp=us|order=flip}} long and {{convert|145|to|225|km|order=flip}} wide. The town of [[Seward, Alaska]] is actually not on the Seward Peninsula. It is much further south, on the [[Kenai Peninsula]]. The Seward Peninsula was once part of the [[Bering land bridge]]. This was a strip of land that used to exist that connected Alaska with [[Siberia]] with mainland Alaska. It existed millions of years ago during a time called the [[Pleistocene|Pleistocene Ice Age]]. People, animals, and plants all came across the land bridge into North America. [[Archaeologist]]s have found proof that [[Inupiat people|Inupiat]] Eskimos have been living there for thousands of years.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/akso/akarc/cr_bela.htm Cultural Resources in the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve]</ref> == Demographics == The Peninsula does not have a lot of people today. There are no roads going there. The largest town is [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]]. There are about 3,000 people there. The next largest town, [[Shishmaref, Alaska|Shishmaref]], has only 607 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dcced.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=deb5dc5dc8ca4c529bb30afce04116ab |title=Shishmaref, Alaska |website=DCRA Information Portal |access-date=July 4, 2019}}</ref> Most of the other towns there have only a few hundred people. Some old [[mining]] towns there have no people left at all and have become [[ghost town]]s. == Geography and ecology== The ''Devil Mountain Lakes'' are on the Seward Peninsula. They are a kind of lake called a ''maar'' which is made by a volcano. The Devil Mountain Lakes are the biggest lakes like this in the whole world.<ref>Rozell, Ned. [http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF17/1785.html Volcanoes, permafro