Kuril Islands - Wikipedia

Island chain in Northeast Asia
Composite map of the islands between
Kamchatka Peninsula
and
Nemuro Peninsula
, combining twelve
U.S. Army Map Service
maps compiled in the early 1950s
The
Kuril Islands
or
Kurile Islands
are a volcanic
archipelago
administered as part of
Sakhalin Oblast
in the
Russian Far East
The islands stretch approximately 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast from
Hokkaido
in
Japan
to
Kamchatka Peninsula
in Russia, separating the
Sea of Okhotsk
from the north
Pacific Ocean
. There are 56 islands and many minor islets. The Kuril Islands consist of the
Greater Kuril Chain
and, at the southwest end, the parallel
Lesser Kuril Chain
The group termed the 'South Kurils' consists of those of the Lesser Kuril Chain together with
Kunashir
and
Iturup
in the Greater Kuril Chain. The
Vries Strait
between Iturup and
Urup
forms the Miyabe Line dividing the North and South Kurils. The Kuril Islands cover an area of around 10,503.2 square kilometres (4,055.3 sq mi),
with a population of roughly 20,000.
The islands have been under Russian administration since their
1945 invasion
by the
Soviet Union
near the end of
World War II
. Japan claims the four southernmost islands, including two of the three largest (
Iturup
and
Kunashir
), as part of its territory, as well as
Shikotan
and the unpopulated
Habomai
islets, which has led to the ongoing
Kuril Islands dispute
. The disputed islands are known in Japan as the country's "Northern Territories".
The name
Kuril
originates from the
autonym
that the
Indigenous
Ainu
had used for the islands,
kur
, meaning 'man'.
It may also be related to names for other islands that have traditionally been inhabited by the
Ainu people
, such as
Kuyi
or
Kuye
for
Sakhalin
and
Kai
for
Hokkaido
. In
Japanese
, the Kuril Islands are known as the Chishima Islands (
Kanji
千島列島
Chishima Rettō
lit.
Thousand-Island Archipelago
), and also as the Kuriru Islands (
Katakana
and Kanji:
クリル列島
Kuriru Rettō
). Once Russians had discovered the islands in the 18th century, they derived a name for islands from the Russian
kurit′
курить
'to smoke' due to the perpetual volcanic plumes emitting from the islands' volcanoes resembling smoke.
Geography and climate
edit
Caldera
of the island
Ushishir
The Kuril Islands form part of the ring of
tectonic
instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the
Ring of Fire
. The islands themselves are summits of
stratovolcanoes
that are a direct result of the subduction of the
Pacific Plate
under the
Okhotsk Plate
, which forms the
Kuril Trench
some 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the islands. The chain has around 100 volcanoes, some 40 of which are active, and many
hot springs
and
fumaroles
. There is frequent
seismic activity
, including a
magnitude
8.5 earthquake
in 1963 and one of magnitude 8.3 recorded on
November 15, 2006
, which resulted in
tsunami
waves up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) reaching the
California
coast.
Raikoke Island, near the centre of the archipelago, has an active volcano which erupted again in June 2019, with emissions reaching 13,000 m (42,651 ft).
The climate on the islands is generally severe, with long, cold, stormy winters and short and notoriously foggy summers. The average annual precipitation is 40 to 50 inches (1,020 to 1,270 mm), a large portion of which falls as snow. The
Köppen climate classification
of most of the Kurils is
subarctic
Dfc
), although
Kunashir
is
humid continental
Dfb
). However, the Kuril Islands' climate resembles the
subpolar oceanic climate
of
southwest Alaska
much more than the hypercontinental climate of
Manchuria
and interior Siberia, as precipitation is heavy and permafrost completely absent. It is characterized by mild summers with only 1 to 3 months above 10 °C or 50 °F and cold, snowy, extremely windy winters below −3 °C or 26.6 °F, although usually above −10 °C or 14 °F.
The chain ranges from temperate to sub-Arctic climate types, and the vegetative cover consequently ranges from
tundra
in the north to dense
spruce
and
larch
forests on the larger southern islands. The highest elevations on the islands are
Alaid Volcano
(highest point: 2,339 m or 7,674 ft) on
Atlasov Island
at the northern end of the chain and Tyatya volcano (1,819 m or 5,968 ft) on Kunashir Island at the southern end.
Landscape types and habitats on the islands include many kinds of beach and rocky shores, cliffs, wide rivers and fast gravelly streams, forests, grasslands,
alpine tundra
crater lakes
and
peat bogs
. The soils are generally productive, owing to the periodic influxes of volcanic ash and, in certain places, owing to significant enrichment by
seabird
guano
. However, many of the steep, unconsolidated slopes are susceptible to
landslides
and newer volcanic activity can entirely
denude
a landscape. Only the southernmost island has large areas covered by trees, while more northerly islands have no trees, or spotty tree cover.
Stratovolcano
Mt. Ruruy as viewed from
Yuzhno-Kurilsk
The northernmost,
Atlasov Island
(Araido in Japanese), is an almost-perfect
volcanic
cone rising sheer out of the sea; it has been depicted by Japanese artists in
haiku
wood-block prints
, and other forms, in much the same way as the better-known
Mount Fuji
. Its summit is the highest point in
Sakhalin Oblast
Owing to their location along the Pacific shelf edge and the confluence of Okhotsk Sea gyre and the southward
Oyashio Current
, the Kuril islands are surrounded by waters that are among the most productive in the North Pacific, supporting a wide range and high abundance of marine life.
Invertebrates
: Extensive
kelp
beds surrounding almost every island provide crucial habitat for
sea urchins
, various
mollusks
and countless other invertebrates and their associated predators. Many species of
squid
provide a principal component of the diet of many of the smaller marine mammals and birds along the chain.
Fish
: Further offshore,
walleye pollock
Pacific cod
, several species of
flatfish
are of the greatest commercial importance. During the 1980s, migratory Japanese
sardine
was one of the most abundant fish in the summer.
Pinniped
: The main pinnipeds were a significant object of harvest for the indigenous populations of the Kuril islands, both for food and materials such as skin and bone. The long-term fluctuations in the range and distribution of human settlements along the Kuril island presumably tracked the pinniped ranges. In historical times, fur seals were heavily exploited for their fur in the 19th and early 20th centuries and several of the largest reproductive rookeries, as on
Raykoke
island, were extirpated. In contrast, commercial harvest of the
true seals
and
Steller sea lions
has been relatively insignificant on the Kuril islands proper. Since the 1960s there has been essentially no additional harvest and the pinniped populations in the Kuril islands appear to be fairly healthy and in some cases expanding. The notable exception is the now extinct
Japanese sea lion
, which was known to occasionally
haul out
on the Kuril islands.
Sea otters
: Sea otters were exploited very heavily for their pelts in the 19th century, as shown by 19th- and 20th-century whaling catch and sighting records.
Seabirds
: The Kuril islands are home to many millions of seabirds, including
northern fulmars
tufted puffins
murres
kittiwakes
guillemots
auklets
petrels
gulls
and
cormorants
. On many of the smaller islands in summer, where terrestrial predators are absent, virtually every possibly hummock, cliff niche or underneath of boulder is occupied by a nesting bird. Several of the islands, including Kunashir and the Lesser Kuril Chain in the South Kurils, and the northern Kurils from Urup to Paramushir, have been recognised as
Important Bird Areas
(IBAs) by
BirdLife International
because they support populations of various
threatened
bird species, including many
waterbirds
seabirds
and
waders
The composition of terrestrial species on the Kuril islands is dominated by Asian mainland taxa via migration from Hokkaido and
Sakhalin
Islands and by Kamchatkan taxa from the North. While highly diverse, there is a relatively low level of
endemism
on a species level.
The
WWF
divides the Kuril Islands into two
ecoregions
. The southern Kurils, along with southwestern Sakhalin, comprise the
South Sakhalin-Kurile mixed forests
ecoregion. The northern islands are part of the
Kamchatka-Kurile meadows and sparse forests
, a larger ecoregion that extends onto the
Kamchatka Peninsula
and
Commander Islands
. The Miyabe Line dividing the differing sets of predominant plants of the Kurils corresponds to the Vries Strait between Iturup and Urup.
Because of the generally smaller size and isolation of the central islands, few major terrestrial mammals have colonized these, though
red
and
Arctic
foxes
were introduced for the sake of the fur trade in the 1880s. The bulk of the terrestrial mammal biomass is taken up by
rodents
, many introduced in historical times. The largest southernmost and northernmost islands are inhabited by
brown bear
, foxes, and
martens
Leopards
once inhabited the islands. Some species of
deer
are found on the more southerly islands. It is claimed that a wild cat, the
Kurilian Bobtail
, originates from the Kuril Islands. The bobtail is due to the mutation of a dominant gene. The cat has been domesticated and exported to nearby Russia and bred there, becoming a popular domestic cat.
Among terrestrial birds,
ravens
peregrine falcons
, some
wrens
and
wagtails
are common.
Kuril Ainu people next to their traditional dwelling
A map of Kuril Islands from Gisuke Sasamori's 1893 book
Chishima Tanken
Historical extent of the
Ainu
The
Ainu people
inhabited the Kuril Islands from early times, although few records predate the 17th century. From the
Kamakura period
to the
Muromachi period
, there were Ezo (Ainu) people called Hinomoto from the Pacific coast of Hokkaido to the Kuril region, and Mr. Ando, the Ezo Sateshiku and Ezo Kanrei, was in charge of this ("Suwa Daimyojin Ekotoba"). It is said that when turmoil broke out on Ezogashima, he dispatched troops from Tsugaru. Its activities include the Kanto Gomensen, which calls itself the Ando Suigun, and is based in Jusanminato ("Kaisen Shikimoku"), supplying Japanese products to Ezo society and purchasing large quantities of northern products and shipping them nationwide. ("Thirteen Streets").The Matsumae clan, a feudal lord of Japan, became independent from the Ando clan (the family of Goro Ando). The Japanese administration first took nominal control of the islands during the
Edo period
(1603–1868) in the form of claims by the
Matsumae clan
10
need quotation to verify
The
Shōhō Era
Map of Japan
Shōhō kuni ezu
正保国絵図
), a map of Japan made by the
Tokugawa shogunate
in 1644, shows 39 large and small islands northeast of Hokkaido's
Shiretoko Peninsula
and
Cape Nosappu
. A Dutch expedition under
Maarten Gerritsz Vries
explored the islands in 1643.
Fedot Alekseyevich Popov
sailed into the area
c.
1649
11
Russian Cossacks landed on
Shumshu
in 1711.
12
American
whaleships
caught
right whales
off the islands between 1847 and 1892.
13
Three such ships were wrecked on the islands: two on
Urup
in 1855
14
15
and one on
Makanrushi
in 1856.
16
In September 1892, north of
Kunashir Island
, a
Russian
schooner
seized the bark
Cape Horn Pigeon
, of
New Bedford
, and escorted it to
Vladivostok
, where it was detained for nearly two weeks.
17
Japanese administration
edit
Shana Village
in Iturup (
Shōwa period
): a village hospital in the foreground, a factory in the left background with a fishery and a central radio tower (before 1945).
At the very end of the 19th century, the Japanese administration started the forced
assimilation
of the native
Ainu people
18
19
Also at this time the Ainu were granted automatic Japanese citizenship, effectively denying them the status of an indigenous group. Many Japanese moved onto former Ainu lands, including the Kuril islands. The Ainu were required to adopt Japanese names, and ordered to cease religious practices such as animal sacrifice and the custom of tattooing.
19
Although not compulsory, education was conducted in Japanese. Prior to Japanese colonization
20
(in 1868) about 100 Ainu reportedly lived on the Kuril islands.
21
In 1941 Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto
ordered the assembly of the
Imperial Japanese Navy
strike-force for the
Hawaii Operation
attack on Pearl Harbor in Tankan or
Hitokappu
Bay,
Iturup
Island, South Kurils. The territory was chosen for its sparse population, lack of foreigners, and constant fog-coverage. The Admiral ordered the move to Hawaii on the morning of 26 November.
On 10 July 1943 the first bombardment against the Japanese bases in
Shumshu
and
Paramushir
by American forces occurred. From
Alexai airfield
North American B-25 Mitchells
from the
77th Bombardment Squadron
took off, led by Capt James L. Hudelson. This mission principally struck Paramushir.
Another mission was flown during 11 September 1943 when the
Eleventh Air Force
dispatched eight
Consolidated B-24 Liberators
and 12 B-25s. Facing reinforced Japanese defenses, 74 crew members in three B-24s and seven B-25 failed to return. 22 men were killed in action, one taken prisoner and 51 interned in
Kamchatka
The Eleventh Air Force implemented other bombing missions against the northern Kurils, including a strike by six
B-24s
from the
404th Bombardment Squadron
and 16
P-38s
from the
54th Fighter Squadron
on 5 February 1944.
Japanese sources
which?
report that the
Matsuwa
military installations were subject to American air-strikes between 1943 and 1944.
The Americans' strategic feint called "
Operation Wedlock
" diverted Japanese attention north and misled them about the U.S. strategy in the Pacific.
22
The plan included air strikes by the USAAF and U.S. Navy bombers which included U.S. Navy shore bombardment and submarine operations. The Japanese increased their garrison in the north Kurils from 8,000 in 1943 to 41,000 in 1944 and maintained more than 400 aircraft in the Kurils and
Hokkaido
area in anticipation that the Americans might invade from
Alaska
A monument commemorating the Soviet landing depicted on a Russian
5 rouble
coin, 2020
American planners had briefly contemplated an invasion of northern
Japan
from the
Aleutian Islands
during the autumn of 1943 but rejected that idea as too risky and impractical. They considered the use of
Boeing B-29
Superfortresses, on
Amchitka
and
Shemya
bases, but rejected the idea. The U.S. military maintained interest in these plans when they ordered the expansion of bases in the western Aleutians, and major construction began on Shemya. In 1945, plans for a possible invasion of Japan via the northern route were shelved
by whom?
Between 18 August and 31 August 1945 Soviet forces
invaded the North and South Kurils
The Soviets expelled the entire Japanese civilian population of roughly 17,000 by 1946.
Between 24 August and 4 September 1945 the Eleventh Air Force of the
United States Army Air Forces
sent two B-24s on reconnaissance missions over the North Kuril Islands with the intention of taking photos of the
Soviet
occupation in the area. Soviet fighters intercepted and forced them away.
citation needed
In February 1945 the
Yalta Agreement
23
promised to the
Soviet Union
South Sakhalin
and the
Kuril islands
in return for entering the
Pacific War
against the Japanese during World War II. In August 1945 the Soviet Union mounted an armed invasion of
South Sakhalin
at the cost of over 5,000 Soviet and Japanese lives.
citation needed
Russian administration
edit
The Kuril Islands are split into three administrative districts (
raions
), each a part of
Sakhalin Oblast
Japan maintains a claim to the three islands of
Kunashir
Iturup
, and
Shikotan
, and the
Habomai Islands
, together called the
Northern Territories
In addition, the Japanese government claims that the Kuril Islands, other than the Northern Territories and South Karafuto, are undetermined areas under international law because the San Francisco Peace Treaty does not specify where they belong and the Soviet Union did not sign it.
On 8 February 2017 the Russian government gave names to five previously unnamed Kuril islands in
Sakhalin Oblast
: Derevyanko Island (after
Kuzma Derevyanko
43°22′8″N
146°1′3″E
 / 
43.36889°N 146.01750°E
 /
43.36889; 146.01750
), Gnechko Island (after Alexey Gnechko,
43°48′5″N
146°52′1″E
 / 
43.80139°N 146.86694°E
 /
43.80139; 146.86694
), Gromyko Island (after
Andrei Gromyko
46°14′1″N
150°36′1″E
 / 
46.23361°N 150.60028°E
 /
46.23361; 150.60028
), Farkhutdinov Island (after
Igor Farkhutdinov
43°48′5″N
146°53′2″E
 / 
43.80139°N 146.88389°E
 /
43.80139; 146.88389
) and Shchetinina Island (after
Anna Shchetinina
46°13′7″N
150°34′6″E
 / 
46.21861°N 150.56833°E
 /
46.21861; 150.56833
).
24
Main village in
Shikotan
Russian Orthodox church, Kunashir
As of 2013
[update]
, 19,400 people inhabited the Kuril Islands, of which 16,700 lived on the four disputed southern islands and 2,600 lived on
Paramushir
, the northernmost large island; the islands in between are uninhabited. These include ethnic
Russians
Ukrainians
Belarusians
Tatars
Nivkhs
Oroch
Japanese
and
Ainus
Russian Orthodox Christianity
is the main religion. Some of the villages are permanently occupied by Russian soldiers. Others are inhabited by civilians, who are mostly fishermen, workers in fish factories, dockers, and social sphere workers (police, medics, teachers, etc.). Construction works on the islands have attracted migrant workers from the rest of Russia and other
post-Soviet states
. As of 2014
[update]
, there were only 8 inhabited islands out of a total of 56.
Fishing
is the primary occupation. The islands have strategic and economic value, in terms of fisheries and also mineral deposits of
pyrite
sulfur
, and various
polymetallic
ores
. There are hopes that oil exploration will provide an economic boost to the islands.
In 2014, construction workers built a pier and a breakwater in Kitovy Bay, central Iturup, where barges are a major means of transport, sailing between the cove and ships anchored offshore. A new road has been carved through the woods near Kurilsk, the island's biggest village, going to the site of
Yuzhno-Kurilsk Mendeleyevo Airport
25
Gidrostroy, the Kurils' biggest business group with interests in fishing, construction and real estate, built its second fish processing factory on Iturup island in 2006, introducing a state-of-the-art conveyor system.
To deal with a rise in the demand of electricity, the local government is also upgrading a state-run geothermal power plant at
Mount Baransky
, an active volcano, where steam and hot water can be found.
26
In 2022, a special economic zone was established on the Kuril islands with special tax regimes, exemption from corporate income tax, VAT with reduced customs duties for 20 years.
27
28
It is an important part of Russian government's plan to develop the
Russian far east
29
The main Russian force stationed on the islands is the
18th Machine Gun Artillery Division
, which has its headquarters in
Goryachiye Klyuchi
on the
Iturup
Island. There are also Border Guard Service troops stationed on the islands. In February 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for substantial reinforcements of the Kuril Islands defences. Subsequently, in 2015, additional anti-aircraft missile systems
Tor
and
Buk
coastal defence
missile system
Bastion
Kamov Ka-52
combat helicopters and one
Varshavyanka
project submarine
came on defence of Kuril Islands.
citation needed
During the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, it was reported that parts of the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division were redeployed to Eastern Ukraine.
30
List of main islands
edit
While in Russian sources
citation needed
the islands are mentioned for the first time in 1646, the earliest detailed information about them was provided by the explorer
Vladimir Atlasov
in 1697. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Kuril Islands were explored by:
Danila Antsiferov
, I. Kozyrevsky,
Ivan Yevreinov
Fyodor Luzhin
Martin Spanberg
Adam Johann von Krusenstern
Vasily Golovnin
, and Henry James Snow.
The following table lists information on the main islands from north to south:
Island
Russian name
Japanese name
Ainu name
Island Group
Administrative centre /
Landing point
Other settlements
Area
Pop.
Severo-Kurilsky District
North Kurils (Kita-chishima / 北千島)
Severo-Kurilsk
Shelikovo,
Podgorny
, Baikovo
3,504 km
(1,353 sq mi)
2,560
Shumshu
Шумшу
占守島
Shumushu-tō
*Sumusu
North Kurils
Baikovo
388 km
(150 sq mi)
20
Atlasov
Атласова
阿頼度島
Araido-tō
Oyakopa [Oyakoba]
Alaidskaya Bay
150 km
(58 sq mi)
Paramushir
Парамушир
幌筵島
Paramushiru-tō, Horomushiro-tō
Paramusir
Severo-Kurilsk
Shelikovo,
Podgorny
2,053 km
(793 sq mi)
2,540
Antsiferov
Анциферова
志林規島
Shirinki-tō
Sirinki
Antsiferov beach
Cape Terkut
7 km
(2.7 sq mi)
Makanrushi
Маканруши
磨勘留島
Makanru-tō
[uncertain]
Zakat
50 km
(19 sq mi)
Awos
Авось
Avosʹ
帆掛岩
Hokake-iwa
Hainoko
0.1 km
(0.039 sq mi)
Onekotan
Онекотан
温禰古丹島
Onnekotan-tō
Onekotan
Mussel
Kuroisi, Nemo, Shestakov
425 km
(164 sq mi)
Harimkotan
Харимкотан
Kharimkotan
春牟古丹島
Harimukotan-tō
Harumukotan-tō
Harimkotan, Haruomakotan, Karinkotan
Sunazhma
Severgin Bay
70 km
(27 sq mi)
Ekarma
Экарма
越渇磨島
Ekaruma-tō
Ekarmausi
Kruglyy
30 km
(12 sq mi)
Chirinkotan
Чиринкотан
知林古丹島
Cirinkotan
Cape Ptichy
6 km
(2.3 sq mi)
Shiashkotan
Шиашкотан
捨子古丹島
Shasukotan-tō
*Siaskotan
Makarovka
122 km
(47 sq mi)
Lowuschki Rocks
(Lowuschki-Felsen)
Ловушки
Lovushki
牟知列岩
Mushiru-retsugan
Musir
1.5 km
(0.58 sq mi)
Raikoke
Райкоке
雷公計島
Raikoke-tō
Raikoke
Raikoke
4.6 km
(1.8 sq mi)
Matua
Матуа
松輪島
Matsuwa-tō
Matua
Sarychevo
52 km
(20 sq mi)
Rasshua
Расшуа
羅処和島
Rashowa-tō
uncertain; thought to be Rusoa and Ruskorke
Arches Point
67 km
(26 sq mi)
Srednii
Среднего
Srednego
摺手岩
Suride-iwa
Kankan-kaipe
0.02 km
(0.0077 sq mi)
31
Ushishir
Ушишир
宇志知島
Ushishiru-tō
Ushishir
Kraternya
Ryponkicha
5 km
(1.9 sq mi)
Ketoy
Кетой
計吐夷島
Ketoi-tō
uncertain; possibly Keutoi
Storozheva
73 km
(28 sq mi)
Kurilsky District
Middle Kurils (Naka-chishima / 中千島), split between the island groups
Kurilsk
Reidovo, Kitovyi, Rybaki,
Goryachiye Klyuchi
Kasatka
Burevestnik
, Shumi-Gorodok, Gornyy
5,138 km
(1,984 sq mi)
6,606
Simushir
Симушир
新知島
Shimushiru-tō
Shinshiru-tō
North Kurils
Kraternyy
Srednaya bay
360 km
(140 sq mi)
Broutona
Броутона
武魯頓島
Buroton-tō
Makanrur
Nedostupnyy
7 km
(2.7 sq mi)
Chirpoy
Чирпой
知理保以島
Chirihoi-tō
; Chierupoi
Peschanaya Bay
21 km
(8.1 sq mi)
Brat Chirpoyev
Брат Чирпоев
知理保以南島
Chirihoinan-jima
Garovnikova
Semenova
16 km
(6.2 sq mi)
Urup
Уруп
得撫島
Uruppu-tō
Mys Kastrikum
Mys Van-der-Lind
1,450 km
(560 sq mi)
Other
4.4 km
(1.7 sq mi)
Iturup
Итуруп
択捉島
Etorofu-tō
; Ietorupu
South Kurils (Minami-chishima / 南千島)
Kurilsk
Reidovo, Kitovyi, Rybaki,
Goryachiye Klyuchi
Kasatka
Burevestnik
, Shumi-Gorodok, Gornyy
3,280 km
(1,270 sq mi)
6,602
Yuzhno-Kurilsky District
South Kurils
Yuzhno-Kurilsk
Malokurilskoye
, Rudnaya, Lagunnoye,
Otrada
, Goryachiy Plyazh,
Aliger
Mendeleyevo
Dubovoye
Polino
, Golovnino
1,860.8 km
(718.5 sq mi)
10,268
Kunashir
Кунашир
国後島
Kunashiri-tō
Rudnaya, Lagunnoye,
Otrada
, Goryachiy Plyazh,
Aliger
Mendeleyevo
, Dubovoye,
Polino
, Golovnino
1,499 km
(579 sq mi)
7,800
Shikotan
Шикотан
色丹島
Shikotan-tō
Malokurilskoye
Dumnova, Otradnaya,
Krabozavodskoye
(formerly Anama),
Zvezdnaya
Voloshina
, Kray Sveta
255 km
(98 sq mi)
2,440
Other
Ayvazovskovo
9.1 km
(3.5 sq mi)
Habomai
Хабомаи
Khabomai
歯舞群島
Habomai-guntō
Hapomai [Habomai]
Zorkiy
Zelyony
, Polonskogo
97.7 km
(37.7 sq mi)
28
Polonsky
Полонского
多楽島
Taraku-tō
Moriakov Bay station
11.57 km
(4.47 sq mi)
Oskolki
Осколки
海馬島
Kaiba-tō, Todo-jima
Toto-musir [Todo-mushir]
Unknown
Zeleny
Зелёный
Zelyonyy
志発島
Shibotsu-tō
Glushnevskyi station
58.72 km
(22.67 sq mi)
Dyomin
Харкар
Kharkar
春苅島
Harukaru-tō
Harkar-kotan, Harkar-musir
Haruka
0.8 km
(0.31 sq mi)
Yuri
Юрий
Yuriy
勇留島
Yuri-tō
Uriru
or
Yuwaro
Kalernaya
10.32 km
(3.98 sq mi)
Anuchin
Анучина
Anuchina
秋勇留島
Akiyuri-tō
Bolshoye Bay
2.35 km
(0.91 sq mi)
Tanfilyev
Танфильев
Tanfilʹev
水晶島
Suishō-jima
Zorkiy
Tanfilyevka Bay, Bolotnoye
12.92 km
(4.99 sq mi)
23
Moemoshiri
Сторожевой
Storozhevoy
萌茂尻島
Moemoshiri-tō
0.07 km
(0.027 sq mi)
Odoke
Рифовый
Rifovyy
オドケ島
Odoke-jima
0.0025 km
(0.00097 sq mi)
32
Kaigara
Сигнальный
Signalʹnyy
貝殻島
Kaigara-jima
Kaikarai
0.02 km
(0.0077 sq mi)
Other
Opasnaya, Udivitelnaya
1 km
(0.39 sq mi)
Total:
10,503.2 km
(4,055.3 sq mi)
19,434
KURE
-il,
KOOR
-il, kyuu-
REEL
Russian
Кури́льские острова́
romanized
Kuríl'skiye ostrová
IPA:
[kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə
ɐstrɐˈva]
Japanese
千島列島
romanized
Chishima rettō
IPA:
[tɕiɕima
ɾeꜜttoː]
lit.
Thousand-Island Archipelago
, or
クリル列島
Kuriru rettō
[kɯɾiɾɯ
ɾeꜜttoː]
"It was hoped that the proceeds from the ongoing projects would help to alleviate the high level of poverty in the region".
Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia
s.v.
Sakhalin Oblast" (Europa Publications) 2003.
In the
Greater
Lesser Kuril Chain
designations, the former is the 'Inner' chain and broadly comprises the islands from
Atlasov
to
Kunashir
(thus including two of the South Kurils as set out here) and the latter forms a relatively short 'Outer' chain close to the
Nemuro Peninsula
of
Hokkaido
and extends to
Shikotan
"Kuril Islands"
Britannica.com
. 14 April 2023.
Archived
from the original on 17 May 2020
. Retrieved
3 August
2017
GSE
Archived
2013-04-24 at the
Wayback Machine
"SAKHALIN.RU: Sakhalin and the Kuriles. Geography"
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-01-14
. Retrieved
2011-02-01
"Kuril Islands: factfile"
The Daily Telegraph
. London. November 1, 2010.
Archived
from the original on November 28, 2020
. Retrieved
April 3,
2018
Koike, Yuriko (31 March 2014).
"Japan's Russian Dilemma"
Archived
from the original on 31 August 2017
. Retrieved
5 August
2014
"Глава 26. Коренное население: айны"
Archived
from the original on 2022-02-18
. Retrieved
2021-09-01
"Central Kuril Island Tsunami in Crescent City, California"
University of Southern California
Tsunami Research Center. 16 November 2006. Archived from
the original
on 4 December 2006
. Retrieved
1 September
2023
Clapham, P. J.; C. Good; S. E. Quinn; R. R. Reeves; J. E. Scarff; R.L. Brownell Jr (2004).
"Distribution of North Pacific"
Journal of Cetacean Research and Management
(1):
1–
6.
doi
10.47536/jcrm.v6i1.783
S2CID
20154991
"Kuril islands (between Urup and Paramushir)"
BirdLife Data Zone
. BirdLife International. 2021.
Archived
from the original on 5 December 2020
. Retrieved
7 February
2021
Stephan, John J (1974).
The Kuril Islands
. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp.
50–
56.
ISBN
978-0-19-821563-9
Archived
from the original on 2023-07-07
. Retrieved
2021-01-27
Stephan, John J. (1974).
The Kuril Islands: Russo-Japanese Frontier in the Pacific
. Clarendon Press. pp.
38–
39.
ISBN
9780198215639
Archived
from the original on 7 July 2023
. Retrieved
27 January
2021
According to subsequent elaborations, a document in the Central State Archives [...] indicated that a merchant adventurer by the name of Fedot Alekseev Popov had reached the Kurils in 1649 after completing an odyssey from the Arctic [...] popular Soviet publications [...] have enshrined Popov as the discoverer of the Kurils.
Vysokov, Mikhail Stanislavovich (1996).
A Brief History of Sakhalin and the Kurils
. Sakhalin Book Publishing House. p. D-24.
ISBN
9785884531222
Archived
from the original on 7 July 2023
. Retrieved
27 January
2021
Russians first set foot on the Kuril islands in August 1711, when a detachment of Kamchatka Cossacks under the leadership of Daniil Antsiferov and Ivan Kozyrevsky landed on Shumshu, the northernmost of the Greater Kurils.
Eliza Adams
, of Fairhaven, May 29 – Jun 13, June 24-Aug. 1, 1847, Old Dartmouth Historical Society (ODHS);
Splendid
, of Edgartown, Aug. 12-Sep. 6, 1848, Nicholson Whaling Collection (NWC);
Shepherdess
, of Mystic, May 8–30, 1849, NWC;
Hudson
, of Fairhaven, Oct. 6, 1857, Kendall Whaling Museum (KWM);
Sea Breeze
, of New Bedford, Oct. 5–18, 1868, ODHS;
Cape Horn Pigeon
, of New Bedford, Aug. 23-Sep. 10, 1892, KWM.
Lexington
, of Nantucket, May 31, 1855, Nantucket Historical Association.
Starbuck, Alexander (1878).
History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the year 1876
. Castle.
ISBN
1-55521-537-8
The Friend
(Vol. V, No. 12, Dec. 11, 1856, p. 93, Honolulu).
Cape Horn Pigeon
, of New Bedford, Sep. 10, Sep. 19-Oct. 1, 1892, KWM.
Loos, Noel; Osani, Takeshi, eds. (1993).
Indigenous Minorities and Education: Australian and Japanese Perspectives on their Indigenous Peoples, the Ainu, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
. Tokyo: Sanyusha Publishing Co., Ltd.
ISBN
978-4-88322-597-2
Levinson, David (2002).
Encyclopedia of Modern Asia
. Vol. 1. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 72.
ISBN
978-0-684-80617-4
Siddle, Richard (1996).
Race, Resistance, and the Ainu of Japan
. Routledge. p. 51.
ISBN
978-0-41513-228-2
Howell, David (1997). "The Meiji State and the Logic of Ainu 'Protection'
". In Hardacre, Helen (ed.).
New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan
. Leiden:
Brill Publishers
. p. 614.
ISBN
978-9-00410-735-9
Gawne, Jonathan (2002).
Ghosts of the ETO: American Tactical Deception Units in the European Theater, 1944–1945
. Havertown, Pennsylvania: Casemate (published 2007). p. 10.
ISBN
9781935149927
Archived
from the original on 7 July 2023
. Retrieved
27 January
2021
Operation WEDLOCK in 1944 created a notional force in the northern Pacific that appeared ready to invade the Kuril Islands. This pinned down Japanese troops and equipment in an area the Americans had no intention of attacking.
"Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945 - Office of the Historian"
history.state.gov
Archived
from the original on 2019-04-04
. Retrieved
2019-04-04
"Распоряжение Правительства Российской Федерации от 08.02.2017 № 223-р"
[Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 223-r dated February 8, 2017] (in Russian). Publication.pravo.gov.ru. 8 February 2017.
Archived
from the original on 11 February 2017
. Retrieved
11 February
2017
"Profile on Yuzhno-Kurilsk Mendeleyevo Airport"
Archived
from the original on August 21, 2014
. Retrieved
May 24,
2014
"Islands disputed with Japan feel Russia's boom"
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-10-29.
"Федеральный закон от 18.03.2023 № 84-ФЗ ∙ Официальное опубликование правовых актов"
publication.pravo.gov.ru
. Retrieved
7 December
2023
"Law on preferential regime in Kuril Islands to be effective in 2 months — Deputy PM"
tass.com
. Feb 2, 2022
. Retrieved
7 December
2023
"President Putin's Speech at the 2023 Far Eastern Economic Forum: Analysis"
Russia Briefing News
. 13 September 2023
. Retrieved
7 December
2023
Sebastien Roblin.
"Russia Sends Pacific Island 'Machine Gun Artillery Division' To Ukraine"
Forbes.com
Archived
from the original on 2022-07-21
. Retrieved
2022-08-04
Srednego Island area estimate from Satellite view on Google maps at 47° 35' 10"N 152° 53' 43"E
Rifovyy Island area estimate from Satellite view on Google maps at 43° 24' 24"N 145° 52'33"E
Gorshkov, G. S.
Volcanism and the Upper Mantle Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc
. Monographs in geoscience. New York: Plenum Press, 1970.
ISBN
0-306-30407-4
Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, and James Greive.
The History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with the Countries Adjacent
. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1963.
Rees, David.
The Soviet Seizure of the Kuriles
. New York: Praeger, 1985.
ISBN
0-03-002552-4
Takahashi, Hideki, and Masahiro Ōhara.
Biodiversity and Biogeography of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin
. Bulletin of the Hokkaido University Museum, no. 2-. Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido University Museum, 2004.
Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi.
Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan
. 2006.
ISBN
978-0-674-02241-6
Alan Catharine and Denis Cleary.
Unwelcome Company.
A fiction thriller novel set in 1984 Tokyo and the Kuriles featuring a light aircraft crash and escape from Russian-held territory.