A volcanic archipelago of more than 50 islands, the Kuril Islands, or Kuriles, stretch some 1,300 kilometers from the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula to just north of Japan’s Hokkaido Island and function as the southeastern boundary of the Sea of Okhotsk. The entire island chain is administered by the Russian Federation, but Tokyo lays claim to the four southernmost islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai), which the Japanese refer to as the Northern Territories. The islands were occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II and were not returned due to Cold War–era disputes with United States–allied Japan. The island chain’s current population of 16,000 includes ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Koreans, and indigenous peoples such as the Nivkhs and Orochs.
See also Geography.
Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation. Robert A. Saunders and Vlad Strukov. 2010.