<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Map showing the location of the Bering Sea with latitude and longitude zones of the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system </Td> </Tr> <P> The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean . It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves . </P> <P> The Bering Sea is separated from the Gulf of Alaska by the Alaska Peninsula . It covers over 2,000,000 square kilometers (770,000 sq mi) and is bordered on the east and northeast by Alaska, on the west by Russian Far East and the Kamchatka Peninsula, on the south by the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands and on the far north by the Bering Strait, which connects the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea . Bristol Bay is the portion of the Bering Sea which separates the Alaska Peninsula from mainland Alaska . The Bering Sea is named for Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in Russian service, who in 1728 was the first European to systematically explore it, sailing from the Pacific Ocean northward to the Arctic Ocean . </P> <P> The Bering Sea ecosystem includes resources within the jurisdiction of the United States and Russia, as well as international waters in the middle of the sea (known as the "Donut Hole"). The interaction between currents, sea ice, and weather makes for a vigorous and productive ecosystem . </P>

Where is the bering sea located on a world map