The islands of the southern smoked on the map. Kurile Islands. Photo

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Good day, dear viewers! Today, after a short pause for the next collection of information, I want to send you on a mini-trip to the Kuriles)
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The next series of "Unknown Russia" is dedicated to the Kuriles, or the Kuril Islands - a stumbling block in Russian-Japanese relations.

The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido, separating the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean in a convex arc. The length of the arc is about 1200 km. The archipelago includes 30 large and many small islands. The Kuril Islands are part of the Sakhalin Region.

The four southern islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai - are disputed by Japan, which on its maps includes them as part of Hokkaido Prefecture and considers them "temporarily occupied."

There are 68 volcanoes on the Kuril Islands, 36 of which are active.

There is a permanent population only in Paramushir, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan.

Before the arrival of the Russians and the Japanese, the islands were inhabited by the Ainu. In their language, "kuru" meant "a person who came from nowhere." The word “kuru” turned out to be consonant with our “smoke” - after all, there is always smoke over volcanoes

In Russia, the first mention of the Kuril Islands dates back to 1646, when the traveler N.I. Kolobov spoke about the bearded Ainu inhabiting the islands. The first Russian settlements of that time are evidenced by Dutch, German and Scandinavian medieval chronicles and maps.

The Japanese first received information about the islands during an expedition to Hokkaido in 1635. It is not known whether she actually got to the Kuriles or learned about them indirectly from local residents, but in 1644 the Japanese compiled a map on which the Kuriles were designated under the collective name "thousand islands".

Throughout the 18th century, the Russians intensively mastered the Kuriles. In 1779, Catherine II, by her decree, freed all the islanders who accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes.

In 1875, Russia and Japan agreed that the Kuriles belong to Japan, and Sakhalin to Russia, but after the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Russia transferred the southern part of Sakhalin to Japan.

In February 1945, the Soviet Union promised the United States and Great Britain to start a war with Japan on the condition that the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands be returned to it. Japan, as you know, was defeated, the islands were returned to the USSR.

On September 8, 1951, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, according to which it renounced "all rights, titles and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the islands adjacent to it, sovereignty over which Japan acquired under the Portsmouth Treaty of September 5, 1905 of the year". However, in view of many other serious shortcomings of the San Francisco Treaty, representatives of the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia and a number of other countries refused to sign it. This now gives Japan the formal right to assert its belated claim to the islands.

As you can see, there is no way to sort out the question of who should own the Kuril Islands. As long as they belong to us. In international law, they refer to the so-called "disputed territories".

Iturup

The largest island in the archipelago. It is located in its southern part. The population is about 6 thousand people. On Iturup is the main city of the archipelago - Kurilsk. There are 9 active volcanoes on Iturup.

Kunashir Island

The southernmost island of the Kuril chain. The population is about 8 thousand people. The administrative center is the village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk. In Yuzhno-Kurilsk there is a monument-obelisk in honor of the liberation of the island, on which it is written: “In September 1945, Soviet troops landed in this area. Historical justice was restored: the original Russian lands - the Kuril Islands - were liberated from the Japanese militarists and forever reunited with the Motherland - Russia.

There are 4 active volcanoes on the island and many thermal springs, which are places of relaxation. It is separated from Japan by only a 25-kilometer strait. The main attraction is Cape Stolbchaty, a fifty-meter rock, built of almost regular hexagons, tightly adjacent to each other in the form of rods.

(pink salmon spawning)

Shumshu Island

The northernmost of the Kuril Islands, during the Second World War was a powerful military fortress of the Japanese. A 20,000-strong garrison with tanks, pillboxes and airfields was based on it. The capture of Shumshu by Soviet troops was a decisive event in the course of the entire Kuril operation. Now there are remnants of Japanese technology lying around everywhere. Very picturesque.

That, in fact, is all for today!)
Thank you all for another portion of attention and interest in your country)
World!

What is interesting about the Kuril Islands and is it possible to organize a trip on your own? Who owns the Kuriles now: the essence of the Russia-Japan conflict.

1. Who actually owns the Kuril Islands
2. Nature of the Kuril Islands
3. Journey to the Kuril Islands

The islands of the Sakhalin ridge, bordering Japan, are considered an oriental wonder of nature. Of course, we are talking about the Kuril Islands, whose history is as rich as nature. To begin with, it is worth saying that the struggle for 56 islands located between Kamchatka and Hokkaido began from the moment of discovery.

Kuril Islands on the map of Russia

Kuril Islands - pages of history

So, at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, when Russian navigators mapped hitherto unexplored lands that turned out to be inhabited, the process of appropriation of uninhabited territories began. At that time, the Kuril Islands were inhabited by a people called Ayans. The Russian authorities tried to attract these people into their citizenship by any means, not excluding force. As a result, the ayans, together with their lands, nevertheless went over to the side of the Russian Empire in exchange for the abolition of taxes.

The situation fundamentally did not suit the Japanese, who had their own views on these territories. Diplomatic methods failed to resolve the conflict. Eventually, according to a document dated 1855, the territory of the islands is considered undivided. The situation became clear only after the end of World War II, when an amazing territory with a harsh climate was transferred to official ownership.

According to the new world order, the Kuril Islands passed into the possession of the Soviet Union - the victorious state. The Japanese, who fought on the side of the Nazis, had no chance.

Who actually owns the Kuril Islands?

Despite the results of the Second World War, which secured the USSR the right to own the Kuril Islands at the world level, Japan still claims the territory. So far, no peace treaty has been signed between the two countries.

What is happening now - in 2018?

By changing tactics, Japan is compromising and is currently contesting Russia's ownership of only a PART of the Kuril Islands. These are Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Khabomai group. At first glance, this is a small part of the Kuriles, because there are 56 units in the archipelago! One thing is confusing: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan are the only Kuril Islands where there is a permanent population (about 18 thousand people). They are located closest to the Japanese "border".

The Japanese and world media, in turn, throw firewood into the furnace of the conflict, exaggerating the topic and convincing ordinary citizens of Japan that the Kuril Islands are vital to them and unfairly captured. When, by whom, at what moment - it does not matter. The main thing is to create as many potential hotbeds of conflict around one vast, but a little unlucky country. Suddenly you're lucky, and somewhere the case will "burn out"?

Representatives of the Russian Federation represented by the President and the Foreign Ministry remain calm. But they do not tire of reminding once again that we are talking about the territory of Russia, which belongs to it by right. Well, in the end, Germany does not make claims to Poland on Gdansk and France - on Alsace and Lorraine?

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Nature of the Kuril Islands

Not only the history of the development of the islands is interesting, but also their nature. In fact, each of the Kuril Islands is a volcano, and a good part of these volcanoes are currently active. It is thanks to the volcanic origin that the nature of the islands is so diverse, and the surrounding landscapes are a paradise for photographers and geologists.

There are many geothermal springs on the Kuril Islands, which form whole lakes with hot water, saturated with micro and macro elements beneficial to health. The Kuril Islands are home to a huge number of animals and birds, many of which are found only in these parts. The plant world is also rich, represented for the most part by endemics.

Journey to the Kuril Islands 2018

According to its parameters, the territory of the Kuril Islands is perfect for traveling. And even though the climate is harsh, there are almost no sunny days, high humidity and an abundance of precipitation - weather imperfections are covered a hundredfold by the beauty of nature and surprisingly clean air. So if you are worried about the weather on the Kuril Islands, then you can survive it.

Having set out to organize an independent vacation on the Kuril Islands in 2018 (at least virtually), we habitually opened booking.com and discovered another, more global problem. Currently, there are no hotels on the Kuril Islands - tourism is not developed there.

Getting to the Kuriles is also not an easy task. The nearest airport accepting flights from Moscow is located in the regional center - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. And then a desperate traveler is waiting for a sea voyage to the Kuril Islands. But even here another test lies in wait: the only navigable non-freezing straits are the Frieze Strait and the Catherine Strait.

But the more interesting it will be to get and spend time on the Kuril Islands!

Flight tickets to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk from Moscow

Just in case, we throw you a link to a calendar of low prices for air tickets to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. What if you really one day are going to give up on the Kuriles? If we manage to do it before you, we will definitely tell you!

*Prices are for round trip

Once you visit the Kuril Islands, you will remember this beauty for the rest of your life. After all, it is not for nothing that countries such as Russia and Japan have mutual claims about a small, but such a fertile piece of land.

Climate of the Kuril Islands

Within the area under consideration, a temperate maritime climate prevails, which can be called cool rather than warm. The main impact on climatic conditions is exerted by baric systems, which usually form over the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, the cold Kuril Current, and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The southern part of the archipelago is covered by monsoon atmospheric flows, for example, the Asian winter anticyclone also dominates there.

Shikotan Island

It should be noted that the weather on the Kuril Islands is quite changeable. The landscapes of the local latitudes are characterized by less heat supply than the territories of the corresponding latitudes, but in the center of the mainland. The average minus temperature in winter is the same for each island included in the chain, and ranges from -5 to -7 degrees. In winter, prolonged heavy snowfalls, thaws, increased cloudiness and blizzards often occur. In summer, temperature indicators vary from +10 to +16 degrees. The further south the island is located, the higher the air temperature will be.

The main factor influencing the summer temperature index is the nature of the hydrological circulation characteristic of coastal waters.

If we consider the components of the middle and northern group of islands, it is worth noting that the temperature of coastal waters there does not rise above five to six degrees, therefore, these territories are characterized by the lowest summer rate for the Northern Hemisphere. During the year, the archipelago receives from 1000 to 1400 mm of precipitation, which is evenly distributed over the seasons. You can also talk about everywhere excess moisture. On the southern side of the chain in summer, the humidity index exceeds ninety percent, due to which fogs dense in consistency appear. If you carefully consider the latitudes where the Kuril Islands are located on the map, we can conclude that the area is particularly difficult. It is regularly affected by cyclones, which are accompanied by excessive precipitation, and can also cause typhoons.

Territories are populated unevenly. The population of the Kuril Islands lives year-round in Shikotan, Kunashir, Paramushir and Iturup. There is no permanent population in other parts of the archipelago. In total, there are nineteen settlements, including sixteen villages, an urban-type settlement called Yuzhno-Kurilsk, as well as two large cities, including Kurilsk and Severo-Kurilsk. In 1989, the maximum value of the population was recorded, which was equal to 30,000 people.

The high population of the territories during the Soviet Union is due to subsidies from those regions, as well as a large number of military personnel who inhabited the islands of Simushir, Shumshu and so on.

By 2010, the rate had dropped significantly. In total, 18,700 people occupied the territory, of which approximately 6,100 live within the Kuril District, and 10,300 in the South Kuril District. The rest of the people occupied the local villages. The population has decreased significantly due to the remoteness of the archipelago, but the climate of the Kuril Islands also played its role, which not every person can withstand.

Uninhabited Ushishir Islands

How to get to the Kuriles

The easiest way to get here is by air. The local airport called Iturup is considered one of the most important aviation facilities built from scratch in post-Soviet times. It was built and equipped in accordance with modern technological requirements, so it was given the status of an international air point. The first flight, which later became regular, was accepted on September 22, 2014. They became the plane of the company "Aurora", which arrived from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. There were fifty passengers on board. This event was negatively perceived by the Japanese authorities, who attribute this territory to their country. Therefore, disputes about who owns the Kuril Islands continue to this day.

It is worth noting that a trip to the Kuriles must be planned in advance. Route planning should take into account that the total archipelago includes fifty-six islands, among which Iturup and Kunashir are the most popular. There are two ways to get to them. It is most convenient to fly by plane, but tickets should be bought a few months before the scheduled date, since there are quite a few flights. The second way is a trip by boat from the port of Korsakov. The journey takes from 18 to 24 hours, but you can buy a ticket only at the box office of the Kuriles or Sakhalin, that is, online sales are not provided.

Despite all the difficulties, life on the Kuril Islands is developing and growing. The history of the territories began in 1643, when several sections of the archipelago were surveyed by Marten Fries and his team. The first information received by Russian scientists dates back to 1697, when V. Atlasov's campaign across Kamchatka took place. All subsequent expeditions led by I. Kozyrevsky, F. Luzhin, M. Shpanberg and others were aimed at systematic development of the area. After it became clear who discovered the Kuril Islands, you can familiarize yourself with several interesting facts related to the archipelago:

1. To get to the Kuriles, a tourist will need a special permit, since the zone is a border zone. This document is issued exclusively by the border department of the FSB of Sakhalinsk. To do this, you will need to come to the institution at 9:30 - 10:30 with your passport. The permit will be ready the very next day. Therefore, the traveler will definitely stay in the city for one day, which should be taken into account when planning a trip.
2. Due to the unpredictable climate, visiting the islands, you can get stuck here for a long time, because in case of bad weather, the airport of the Kuril Islands and their ports stop working. Frequent obstacles are high clouds and nebula. At the same time, we are not talking about a couple of hour flight delays. The traveler should always be prepared to spend an extra week or two here.


3. All five hotels are open for guests of the Kuriles. The hotel called "Vostok" is designed for eleven rooms, "Iceberg" - three rooms, "Flagship" - seven rooms, "Iturup" - 38 rooms, "Island" - eleven rooms. Reservations must be made in advance.
4. Japanese lands can be seen from the windows of local residents, but the best view opens on Kunashir. To verify this fact, the weather must be clear.
5. The Japanese past is closely connected with these territories. Japanese cemeteries and factories remained here, the coast from the Pacific Ocean is densely lined with fragments of Japanese porcelain, which existed even before the war. Therefore, here you can often meet archaeologists or collectors.
6. It is also worth understanding that the disputed Kuril Islands, first of all, are volcanoes. Their territories consist of 160 volcanoes, of which about forty remain active.
7. The local flora and fauna is amazing. Bamboo grows here along the highways, magnolia or mulberry tree can grow near the Christmas tree. The lands are rich in berries, blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, princesses, redberries, Chinese magnolia vines, blueberries and so on grow abundantly here. Locals say that you can meet a bear here, especially near the Tyati Kunashir volcano.
8. Almost every local resident has a car at his disposal, but there are no gas stations in any of the settlements. Fuel is delivered inside special barrels from Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.


9. Due to the high seismicity of the region, its territory is built up mainly with two- and three-story buildings. Houses with a height of five floors are already considered skyscrapers and a rarity.
10. Until it is decided whose Kuril Islands, the Russians living here, the duration of the vacation will be 62 days a year. Residents of the southern ridge can enjoy a visa-free regime with Japan. This opportunity is used by about 400 people per year.

The Great Kuril Arc is surrounded by underwater volcanoes, some of which regularly make themselves felt. Any eruption causes a resumption of seismic activity, which provokes a “seaquake”. Therefore, local lands are subject to frequent tsunamis. The strongest tsunami wave about 30 meters high in 1952 completely destroyed the city on the island of Paramushir called Severo-Kurilsk.

The last century was also remembered for several natural disasters. Among them, the most famous was the 1952 tsunami that occurred in Paramushir, as well as the 1994 Shikotan tsunami. Therefore, it is believed that such a beautiful nature of the Kuril Islands is also very dangerous for human life, but this does not prevent local cities from developing and the population from growing.

Unresolved Kuril Islands dispute

The problem of the Kuril Islands lies in the unresolved dispute between the Japanese and Russian sides over who owns them. And it has been open since WWII.

The Kuril Islands after the war began to belong to the USSR. But Japan considers the territories of the southern Kuriles, and these are Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan with the Habomai group of islands, as its territory, without having a legal basis for that. Russia does not recognize the fact of a dispute with the Japanese side over these territories, since their ownership is legal.

The problem of the Kuril Islands is the main obstacle to a peaceful settlement of relations between Japan and Russia.

The essence of the dispute between Japan and Russia

The Japanese demand that the Kuril Islands be returned to them. There, almost the entire population is convinced that these lands are originally Japanese. This dispute between the two states has been going on for a very long time, escalating after the Second World War.
Russia is not inclined to concede to the Japanese leaders of the state in this matter. The peace agreement has not been signed to this day, and this is connected precisely with the four disputed South Kuril Islands. About the legitimacy of Japan's claims to the Kuril Islands in this video.

The meanings of the southern Kuriles

The Southern Kuriles have several meanings for both countries:

1. Military. The Southern Kuriles are of military importance, thanks to the only outlet to the Pacific Ocean for the country's fleet located there. And all because of the scarcity of geographical formations. At the moment, the ships enter the ocean waters through the Sangar Strait, because it is impossible to pass through the La Perouse Strait due to icing. Therefore, submarines are located in Kamchatka - Avachinskaya Bay. The military bases operating in the Soviet era have now been looted and abandoned.
2. Economic. Economic importance - in the Sakhalin region there is a rather serious hydrocarbon potential. And belonging to Russia of the entire territory of the Kuriles, allows you to use the waters there at your discretion. Although its central part belongs to the Japanese side. In addition to water resources, there is such a rare metal as rhenium. Extracting it, the Russian Federation is in third place in the extraction of minerals and sulfur. For the Japanese, this area is important for fishing and agricultural purposes. This caught fish is used by the Japanese to grow rice - they simply pour it into the rice fields for fertilizer.
3. Social. By and large, there is no special social interest for ordinary people in the southern Kuriles. This is because there are no modern megacities, people mostly work there and live in cabins. Supplies are delivered by air, and less often by water due to constant storms. Therefore, the Kuril Islands are more of a military-industrial facility than a social one.
4. Tourist. In this regard, things are better in the southern Kuriles. These places will be of interest to many people who are attracted by everything real, natural and extreme. It is unlikely that anyone will remain indifferent at the sight of a thermal spring gushing out of the ground, or from climbing the volcano caldera and crossing the fumarole field on foot. And there is no need to talk about the views that open to the eye.

For this reason, the dispute over the ownership of the Kuril Islands has not moved forward.

Dispute over the Kuril territory

Who owns these four island territories - Shikotan, Iturup, Kunashir and the Habomai Islands, is not an easy question.

Information from written sources indicates the discoverers of the Kuriles - the Dutch. The Russians were the first to populate the territory of Chishim. Shikotan Island and the other three are designated for the first time by the Japanese. But the fact of discovery does not yet give grounds for the possession of this territory.

Shikotan Island

The island of Shikotan is considered to be the end of the world because of the cape of the same name located near the village of Malokurilsky. It impresses with its 40-meter drop into the ocean waters. This place is called the end of the world due to the amazing view of the Pacific Ocean.
Shikotan Island translates as Big City. It stretches for 27 kilometers, has a width of 13 km, occupied area - 225 square meters. km. The highest point of the island is the mountain of the same name, rising to 412 meters. Partially its territory belongs to the state nature reserve.

Shikotan Island has a very indented coastline with many coves, headlands and cliffs.

Previously, it was thought that the mountains on the island are volcanoes that have ceased to erupt, with which the Kuril Islands abound. But they turned out to be rocks displaced by shifts in lithospheric plates.

A bit of history

Long before the Russians and the Japanese, the Kuril Islands were inhabited by the Ainu. The first information among Russians and Japanese about the Kuriles appeared only in the 17th century. A Russian expedition was sent in the 18th century, after which about 9,000 Ainu became citizens of Russia.

A treaty was signed between Russia and Japan (1855), called Shimodsky, where the boundaries were established, allowing Japanese citizens to trade on 2/3 of this land. Sakhalin remained a nobody's territory. After 20 years, Russia became the undivided owner of this land, then losing the south in the Russo-Japanese War. But during the Second World War, Soviet troops were still able to take back the south of Sakhalin land and the Kuril Islands as a whole.
Between the states that won the victory and Japan, nevertheless, a peace agreement was signed and it happened in San Francisco in 1951. And according to it, Japan has absolutely no rights to the Kuril Islands.

But then the Soviet side did not sign, which many researchers considered a mistake. But there were good reasons for this:

• The document did not indicate specifically what was included in the Kuriles. The Americans said that it is necessary to apply for this to a special international court. Plus, a member of the delegation of the Japanese state announced that the southern disputed islands are not the territory of the Kuril Islands.
• The document also did not indicate exactly who the Kuriles would belong to. That is, the issue remained controversial.

Between the USSR and the Japanese side in 1956, a declaration was signed, preparing a platform for the main peace agreement. In it, the Land of the Soviets goes to meet the Japanese and agrees to transfer to them only the two disputed islands of Habomai and Shikotan. But with a condition - only after the signing of a peace agreement.

The declaration contains several subtleties:

• The word "transfer" means that they belong to the USSR.
• This transfer will actually take place after the signing of the peace treaty.
• This applies only to the two Kuril Islands.

This was a positive development between the Soviet Union and the Japanese side, but it caused alarm among the Americans. Thanks to pressure from Washington, the ministerial chairs were completely changed in the Japanese government, and new officials who rose to high positions began to prepare a military agreement between America and Japan, which began to operate in 1960.

After that, a call came from Japan to give up not two islands proposed by the USSR, but four. America puts pressure on the fact that all agreements between the Land of Soviets and Japan are not obligatory to be fulfilled, they are supposedly declarative. And the existing and current military agreement between the Japanese and the Americans implies the deployment of their troops on Japanese territory. Accordingly, now they have come even closer to Russian territory.

Proceeding from all this, Russian diplomats declared that until all foreign troops were withdrawn from its territory, it was impossible even to talk about a peace agreement. But in any case, we are talking about only two islands of the Kuriles.

As a result, the power structures of America are still located on the territory of Japan. The Japanese insist on the transfer of the 4 Kuril Islands, as stated in the declaration.

The second half of the 80s of the 20th century was marked by the weakening of the Soviet Union, and under these conditions, the Japanese side again raises this topic. But the dispute about who will own the South Kuril Islands, the countries remained open. The Tokyo Declaration of 1993 states that the Russian Federation is the legal successor of the Soviet Union, respectively, and previously signed papers must be recognized by both parties. It also indicated the direction to move towards the solution of the territorial affiliation of the disputed four Kuril Islands.

The 21st century, and specifically 2004, was marked by the raising of this topic again at a meeting between President Putin of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of Japan. And again, everything repeated - the Russian side offers its own conditions for signing a peace agreement, and Japanese officials insist that all four South Kuril Islands be transferred to their disposal.

The year 2005 was marked by the readiness of the Russian president to end the dispute, guided by the 1956 agreement and transfer two island territories to Japan, but the Japanese leaders did not agree with this proposal.

In order to somehow reduce tension between the two states, the Japanese side was offered to help develop nuclear energy, develop infrastructure and tourism, and improve the environmental and security situation. The Russian side accepted this proposal.

At the moment, for Russia there is no question - who owns the Kuril Islands. Without any doubt, this is the territory of the Russian Federation, based on real facts - following the results of the Second World War and the generally recognized UN Charter.

The Kuril Islands are famous for their magnificent natural beauty and lakes. One of these is represented by a reservoir in the mountains - Osen, located on an island called Onekotan. The lake surface is curious in its appearance - sloping, and the coastline amazes with steep cliffs 700 meters high.

The boiling lake called Ponto is famous for the island of Kunashir, with constantly bubbling, bubbling water. And off the coast, gas and steam fountains whistle to the surface.

The Kuriles are considered a bird kingdom. In these places, guillemots, fulmars, storm petrels and gulls have found a home.

For romantics, this is a truly heavenly place. Inaccessibility, uninhabited, peculiar location and regularly erupting volcanoes further increase the desire to get to the Kuriles.

The island territories have 150 volcanic mountains, of which 39 are active. Constant volcanic eruptions activate the appearance of thermal geysers that have a healing effect.

People of science consider the Kuriles to be a huge botanical garden, since representatives of the Japanese, Korean, Okhotsk, Kamchatka and Manchurian flora coexist here on the same territory. Only in these places you can see the nearby polar birch and centuries-old yew, larch and wild grapes with a Christmas tree, cedar and velvet tree, woody liana with lingonberries.

For an hour you can enjoy taiga views in the subtropics and see the moss tundra in the jungle. There is a lot of vegetation at the bottom, where many species of fish live, as well as mollusks and marine animals. In the crystal clear coastal waters, the once sunk ships and military equipment of Japan are hidden.

Volcanoes erupt in the Kuriles in different ways - and in full with wild growls, explosions and swirling smoke with ash on the surface. And there are serene ones, they just quietly pour lava out. New island territories and changing landscapes are often formed right before our eyes during and after earthquakes. Hot lava flows form a large mountain, which turns into land on a section of the sea in a few weeks.

Due to constant volcanic activity, there are a lot of hot springs with mineral water on the islands. Kunashir Island boasts even a boiling geyser. Large crevices formed from the solidified lava of Raikoke Island have pools in the form of a bathtub. The color of the water of the springs is transparent and contains only sulfur, from which yellow grains are deposited in some places.

In conclusion, I would like to say that lovers of everything unknown and extraordinary have something to see here, and at the same time enjoy clean ecology and beautiful natural views of the Kuril Islands, endless sea spaces and an inexhaustible underwater world. You can admire the beauty of the Kuril Islands in this video.

In Russia, the Kuril Islands are first mentioned in the reporting document of N. I. Kolobov to Tsar Alexei from 1646 years about the peculiarities of the wanderings of I. Yu. Moskvitin. Also, data from the chronicles and maps of medieval Holland, Scandinavia and Germany testify to the indigenous Russian villages. N. I. Kolobov spoke about the bearded Ainu inhabiting the islands. The Ainu were engaged in gathering, fishing and hunting, lived in small settlements throughout the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.
Founded after the campaign of Semyon Dezhnev in 1649, the cities of Anadyr and Okhotsk became bases for exploring the Kuril Islands, Alaska and California.

The development of new lands by Russia took place in a civilized manner and was not accompanied by the extermination or displacement of the local population from the territory of their historical homeland, as happened, for example, with the North American Indians. The arrival of the Russians led to the spread among the local population of more effective means of hunting, metal products, and, most importantly, helped to stop bloody tribal strife. Under the influence of the Russians, these peoples began to join agriculture and move on to a settled way of life. Trade revived, Russian merchants flooded Siberia and the Far East with goods, the existence of which was not even known to the local population.

In 1654, the Yakut Cossack foreman M. Stadukhin visited there. In the 60s, part of the northern Kuriles was mapped by the Russians, and in 1700 the Kurils were mapped by S. Remizov. In 1711, the Cossack ataman D.Antsiferov and Yesaul I.Kozyrevsky visited the Paramushir Shumshu Islands. The following year, Kozyrevsky visited the islands of Iturup and Urup and reported that the inhabitants of these islands live "autocratically."

I. Evreinov and F. Luzhin, who graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Geodesy and Cartography, traveled to the Kuril Islands in 1721, after which the Evreinovs personally handed over to Peter I a report on this voyage and a map.

Russian navigators Captain Spanberg and Lieutenant Walton in 1739 were the first Europeans to open the way to the eastern shores of Japan, visited the Japanese islands of Hondo (Honshu) and Matsmae (Hokkaido), described the Kuril ridge and mapped all the Kuril Islands and the eastern coast of Sakhalin.
The expedition found that under the rule of the "Japanese Khan" is only one island of Hokkaido, the rest of the islands are not subject to him. Since the 60s, interest in the Kuriles has noticeably increased, Russian fishing vessels are increasingly mooring to their shores, and soon the local population - the Ainu - on the islands of Urup and Iturup was brought into Russian citizenship.
Merchant D. Shebalin was ordered by the office of the port of Okhotsk to "convert the inhabitants of the southern islands to Russian citizenship and start bargaining with them." Having brought the Ainu into Russian citizenship, the Russians founded winter huts and camps on the islands, taught the Ainu how to use firearms, breed livestock and grow some vegetables.

Many of the Ainu converted to Orthodoxy and learned to read and write.
Russian missionaries did everything to spread Orthodoxy among the Kuril Ainu and taught them the Russian language. Deservedly the first in this line of missionaries is the name of Ivan Petrovich Kozyrevsky (1686-1734), Ignatius in monasticism. A.S. Pushkin wrote that "Kozyrevsky in 1713 conquered two Kuril Islands and brought Kolesov news about the trade of these islands with the merchants of the city of Matmaia." In the texts of Kozyrevsky’s “Drawing of the Sea Islands”, it was written: “On the first and other islands in Kamchatsky Nos, from the autocratic ones shown, he smoked in that campaign with caress and greetings, and others, in military order, again brought him to yasak payment.” Back in 1732, the well-known historian G.F. Miller noted in the academic calendar: “Before this, the inhabitants there had no faith. But in twenty years, by order of his imperial majesty, churches and schools have been built there, which give us hope, and this people will be led out of their error from time to time. Monk Ignatius Kozyrevsky in the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula, at his own expense, laid a church with a limit and a monastery, in which he later took the vows. Kozyrevsky succeeded in converting "the local people of other faiths" - the Itelmens of Kamchatka and the Kuril Ainu.

The Ainu fished, beat the sea animal, baptized their children in Orthodox churches, wore Russian clothes, had Russian names, spoke Russian and proudly called themselves Orthodox. In 1747, the "newly baptized" Kurils from the islands of Shumshu and Paramushir, who numbered more than two hundred people, through their toen (leader) Storozhev, turned to the Orthodox mission in Kamchatka with a request to send a priest "to confirm them in the new faith."

At the behest of Catherine II in 1779, all fees not established by decrees from St. Petersburg were canceled. Thus, the fact of the discovery and development of the Kuril Islands by the Russians is undeniable.

Over time, the crafts in the Kuriles were depleted, becoming less and less profitable than off the coast of America, and therefore, by the end of the 18th century, the interest of Russian merchants in the Kuriles had weakened.In Japan, by the end of the same century, interest in the Kuriles and Sakhalin was just awakening, because before that the Kurils were practically unknown to the Japanese. The island of Hokkaido - according to the Japanese scientists themselves - was considered a foreign territory and only a small part of it was inhabited and developed. In the late 70s, Russian merchants reached Hokkaido and tried to start a trade with the locals . Russia was interested in acquiring food in Japan for Russian fishing expeditions and settlements in Alaska and the Pacific Islands, but it was not possible to start trade, as it prohibited the 1639 Japan isolation law, which read: "For the future, as long as the sun illuminates the world, no one has the right to land on the shores of Japan, even if he was an envoy, and this law can never be repealed by anyone on pain of death".
And in 1788 Catherine II sends a strict order to the Russian industrialists in the Kuriles, so that they "did not touch the islands under the jurisdiction of other powers", and a year before that, she issued a decree on equipping a round-the-world expedition to accurately describe and map the islands from Masmaya to Kamchatka Lopatka, so that they " formally classify everything as the possession of the Russian state". It was ordered not to allow foreign industrialists to " trade and crafts in places belonging to Russia and with local residents to deal peacefully". But the expedition did not take place due to the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791.

Taking advantage of the weakening of Russian positions in the southern part of the Kuril Islands, Japanese fishermen first appear in Kunashir in 1799, and the next year on Iturup, where they destroy Russian crosses and illegally set up a pillar with a sign indicating that the islands belong to Japan. Japanese fishermen often began to arrive on the shores of South Sakhalin, fished, robbed the Ainu, which was the reason for frequent skirmishes between them. In 1805, Russian sailors from the frigate "Yunona" and the tender "Avos" on the shores of Aniva Bay set up a pole with the Russian flag, and the Japanese parking lot on Iturup was devastated. The Russians were warmly welcomed by the Ainu.
.. .

In view of recent events, many inhabitants of the planet are interested in where the Kuril Islands are located, as well as to whom they belong. If there is still no concrete answer to the second question, then the first can be answered quite unambiguously. The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands approximately 1.2 kilometers long. It runs from the Kamchatka Peninsula to an island landmass called Hokkaido. A kind of convex arc, consisting of fifty-six islands, is located in two parallel lines, and also separates the Sea of ​​​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. The total territorial area is 10,500 km 2. On the south side, the state border between Japan and Russia is stretched.

The lands in question are of inestimable economic and military-strategic importance. Most of them are considered part of the Russian Federation and belong to the Sakhalin region. However, the status of such components of the archipelago, including Shikotan, Kunashir, Iturup, as well as the Habomai group, is disputed by the Japanese authorities, which classifies the listed islands as part of the Hokkaido prefecture. Thus, you can find the Kuril Islands on the map of Russia, but Japan plans to legalize the ownership of some of them. These territories have their own characteristics. For example, the archipelago belongs entirely to the Far North, if you look at legal documents. And this is despite the fact that Shikotan is located in the same latitude as the city of Sochi and Anapa.

Kunashir, Cape Stolbchaty

Climate of the Kuril Islands

Within the area under consideration, a temperate maritime climate prevails, which can be called cool rather than warm. The main impact on climatic conditions is exerted by baric systems, which usually form over the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, the cold Kuril Current, and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The southern part of the archipelago is covered by monsoon atmospheric flows, for example, the Asian winter anticyclone also dominates there.

Shikotan Island

It should be noted that the weather on the Kuril Islands is quite changeable. The landscapes of the local latitudes are characterized by less heat supply than the territories of the corresponding latitudes, but in the center of the mainland. The average minus temperature in winter is the same for each island included in the chain, and ranges from -5 to -7 degrees. In winter, prolonged heavy snowfalls, thaws, increased cloudiness and blizzards often occur. In summer, temperature indicators vary from +10 to +16 degrees. The further south the island is located, the higher the air temperature will be.

The main factor influencing the summer temperature index is the nature of the hydrological circulation characteristic of coastal waters.

If we consider the components of the middle and northern group of islands, it is worth noting that the temperature of coastal waters there does not rise above five to six degrees, therefore, these territories are characterized by the lowest summer rate for the Northern Hemisphere. During the year, the archipelago receives from 1000 to 1400 mm of precipitation, which is evenly distributed over the seasons. You can also talk about everywhere excess moisture. On the southern side of the chain in summer, the humidity index exceeds ninety percent, due to which fogs dense in consistency appear. If you carefully consider the latitudes where the Kuril Islands are located on the map, we can conclude that the area is particularly difficult. It is regularly affected by cyclones, which are accompanied by excessive precipitation, and can also cause typhoons.

Simushir Island

Population

Territories are populated unevenly. The population of the Kuril Islands lives year-round in Shikotan, Kunashir, Paramushir and Iturup. There is no permanent population in other parts of the archipelago. In total, there are nineteen settlements, including sixteen villages, an urban-type settlement called Yuzhno-Kurilsk, as well as two large cities, including Kurilsk and Severo-Kurilsk. In 1989, the maximum value of the population was recorded, which was equal to 30,000 people.

The high population of the territories during the Soviet Union is due to subsidies from those regions, as well as a large number of military personnel who inhabited the islands of Simushir, Shumshu and so on.

By 2010, the rate had dropped significantly. In total, 18,700 people occupied the territory, of which approximately 6,100 live within the Kuril District, and 10,300 in the South Kuril District. The rest of the people occupied the local villages. The population has decreased significantly due to the remoteness of the archipelago, but the climate of the Kuril Islands also played its role, which not every person can withstand.

Uninhabited Ushishir Islands

How to get to the Kuriles

The easiest way to get here is by air. The local airport called Iturup is considered one of the most important aviation facilities built from scratch in post-Soviet times. It was built and equipped in accordance with modern technological requirements, so it was given the status of an international air point. The first flight, which later became regular, was accepted on September 22, 2014. They became the plane of the company "Aurora", which arrived from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. There were fifty passengers on board. This event was negatively perceived by the Japanese authorities, who attribute this territory to their country. Therefore, disputes about who owns the Kuril Islands continue to this day.

It is worth noting that a trip to the Kuriles must be planned in advance. Route planning should take into account that the total archipelago includes fifty-six islands, among which Iturup and Kunashir are the most popular. There are two ways to get to them. It is most convenient to fly by plane, but tickets should be bought a few months before the scheduled date, since there are quite a few flights. The second way is a trip by boat from the port of Korsakov. The journey takes from 18 to 24 hours, but you can buy a ticket only at the box office of the Kuriles or Sakhalin, that is, online sales are not provided.

Urup is an uninhabited island of volcanic origin

Interesting Facts

Despite all the difficulties, life on the Kuril Islands is developing and growing. The history of the territories began in 1643, when several sections of the archipelago were surveyed by Marten Fries and his team. The first information received by Russian scientists dates back to 1697, when V. Atlasov's campaign across Kamchatka took place. All subsequent expeditions led by I. Kozyrevsky, F. Luzhin, M. Shpanberg and others were aimed at systematic development of the area. After it became clear who discovered the Kuril Islands, you can familiarize yourself with several interesting facts related to the archipelago:

1. To get to the Kuriles, a tourist will need a special permit, since the zone is a border zone. This document is issued exclusively by the border department of the FSB of Sakhalinsk. To do this, you will need to come to the institution at 9:30 - 10:30 with your passport. The permit will be ready the very next day. Therefore, the traveler will definitely stay in the city for one day, which should be taken into account when planning a trip.
2. Due to the unpredictable climate, visiting the islands, you can get stuck here for a long time, because in case of bad weather, the airport of the Kuril Islands and their ports stop working. Frequent obstacles are high clouds and nebula. At the same time, we are not talking about a couple of hour flight delays. The traveler should always be prepared to spend an extra week or two here.
3. All five hotels are open for guests of the Kuriles. The hotel called "Vostok" is designed for eleven rooms, "Iceberg" - three rooms, "Flagship" - seven rooms, "Iturup" - 38 rooms, "Island" - eleven rooms. Reservations must be made in advance.
4. Japanese lands can be seen from the windows of local residents, but the best view opens on Kunashir. To verify this fact, the weather must be clear.
5. The Japanese past is closely connected with these territories. Japanese cemeteries and factories remained here, the coast from the Pacific Ocean is densely lined with fragments of Japanese porcelain, which existed even before the war. Therefore, here you can often meet archaeologists or collectors.
6. It is also worth understanding that the disputed Kuril Islands, first of all, are volcanoes. Their territories consist of 160 volcanoes, of which about forty remain active.
7. The local flora and fauna is amazing. Bamboo grows here along the highways, magnolia or mulberry tree can grow near the Christmas tree. The lands are rich in berries, blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, princesses, redberries, Chinese magnolia vines, blueberries and so on grow abundantly here. Locals say that you can meet a bear here, especially near the Tyati Kunashir volcano.
8. Almost every local resident has a car at his disposal, but there are no gas stations in any of the settlements. Fuel is delivered inside special barrels from Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
9. Due to the high seismicity of the region, its territory is built up mainly with two- and three-story buildings. Houses with a height of five floors are already considered skyscrapers and a rarity.
10. Until it is decided whose Kuril Islands, the Russians living here, the duration of the vacation will be 62 days a year. Residents of the southern ridge can enjoy a visa-free regime with Japan. This opportunity is used by about 400 people per year.

The Great Kuril Arc is surrounded by underwater volcanoes, some of which regularly make themselves felt. Any eruption causes a resumption of seismic activity, which provokes a “seaquake”. Therefore, local lands are subject to frequent tsunamis. The strongest tsunami wave about 30 meters high in 1952 completely destroyed the city on the island of Paramushir called Severo-Kurilsk.

The last century was also remembered for several natural disasters. Among them, the most famous was the 1952 tsunami that occurred in Paramushir, as well as the 1994 Shikotan tsunami. Therefore, it is believed that such a beautiful nature of the Kuril Islands is also very dangerous for human life, but this does not prevent local cities from developing and the population from growing.

Kurile Islands

If you look at the map of Russia, then in the Far East itself, between Kamchatka and Japan, you can see a chain of islands, which are the Kuriles. The archipelago forms two ridges: the Greater Kuril and the Lesser Kuril. The Great Kuril Ridge includes about 30 islands, as well as a large number of small islands and rocks. The Small Kuril Ridge stretches parallel to the Big one. It includes 6 small islands and many rocks. At the moment, all the Kuril Islands are controlled by Russia and are included in its Sakhalin region, some of the islands are the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan. The Kuril Islands are administratively part of the Sakhalin Oblast. They are divided into three districts: Severokurilsky, Kurilsky and Yuzhno-Kurilsky.

The Kuril Islands, which are an area of ​​active volcanic activity. A significant role in the formation of the relief of the islands is played by sea terraces of different heights. The coastline is replete with bays and capes, the coasts are often rocky and steep, with narrow boulder-pebble, rarely sandy beaches. Volcanoes are located almost exclusively on the islands of the Greater Kuril Ridge. Most of these islands are active or extinct volcanoes, and only the northernmost and southernmost islands are composed of sedimentary formations. Most of the volcanoes of the Kuril Islands arose directly on the seabed. The Kuril Islands themselves are the peaks and ridges of a solid mountain range hidden still under water. The Great Kuril Ridge is a remarkable and vivid example of the formation of a ridge on the earth's surface. There are 21 known active volcanoes on the Kuril Islands. The most active volcanoes of the Kuril ridge include Alaid, Sarychev Peak, Fuss, Snow and Milna. Attenuated volcanoes, which are in the solfataric stage of activity, are located mainly in the southern half of the Kuril chain. There are many extinct volcanoes Atsonupuri Aka Roko and others on the Kuril Islands.

The climate of the Kuril Islands is moderately cold, monsoonal. It is determined by their location between two huge bodies of water - the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. The average temperature in February is from -5 to -7 degrees C. The average temperature in August is from 10 degrees C. The features of the monsoon climate are more pronounced in the southern part of the Kuril Islands, which is more influenced by the Asian continent cooling in winter, from which cold and dry western winds. Only the climate of the southernmost islands is somewhat mitigated by the warm Soya current fading here.

Significant amounts of precipitation and a high runoff coefficient favor the development of a dense network of small streams on the islands. In total, there are more than 900 rivers here. The mountainousness of the islands also determines the steep slope of the rivers and the high speed of their flow; rapids and waterfalls are frequent in the riverbeds. Rivers of the flat type are a rare exception. The main food of the river is received from rains, snow nutrition also plays a significant role, especially from snowfields occurring in the mountains. Only slowly flowing streams within the flat areas are covered with ice every year. The water of many rivers is undrinkable due to high salinity and high sulfur content. There are several dozen lakes of various origins on the islands. Some of them are associated with volcanic activity.

On the Kuril Islands there are 1171 species of only vascular plants belonging to 450 genera and 104 families. There are 49 species of trees, including 6 conifers, 94 species of shrubs, including 3 conifers, 11 species of woody lianas, 9 species of shrubs, 5 species of bamboo, 30 species of evergreens, including 7 coniferous and 23 deciduous species. In respect of the richest is Kunashir, where 883 species grow. There are somewhat fewer species on Iturup (741) and Shikotan (701). The terrestrial invertebrate fauna of the South Kuril Islands is unique and far from being fully explored. Here passes the northern border of the distribution of a huge number of species found in addition to the South Kuriles in Japan, Korea and China. In addition, the Kuril species are represented by populations adapted to the peculiar insular conditions of existence. The insect fauna of the southern part of the Kuril archipelago is closer to the fauna of Hokkaido.

The permanent population of the islands lives mainly on the southern islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the northern ones - Paramushir, Shumshu. The basis of the economy is the fishing industry, because. the main natural wealth is the biological resources of the sea. Agriculture, due to unfavorable natural conditions, has not received significant development. The population today is about 8,000 people. The number of employees has steadily increased in recent years and reached 3,000 in 2000. The bulk of the population is employed in industry. In recent years, the birth rate has slightly exceeded the death rate. Natural population decline has been replaced by natural population growth. The migration balance is also negative.

The problem of ownership of the southern Kuril Islands is a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, which Japan considers unresolved since the end of World War II. After the war, all the Kuril Islands came under the administrative control of the USSR, but a number of the southern islands are disputed by Japan. The Kuril Islands are of great geopolitical and military-strategic importance for Russia and affect the national security of Russia. On the way to solving the problem of the Kuril Islands, our country still has to go through a lot of discussions and disputes, but the only key to mutual understanding between the two countries is the creation of a climate of trust.

Geographical position

On the border of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, between the island of Hokkaido and the Kamchatka Peninsula, lies the Kuril archipelago.1 The archipelago forms two ridges: the Greater Kuril and the Lesser Kuril. The Great Kuril Ridge stretches for almost 1,200 km between 43 degrees 39 minutes (Cape Veslo on the island of Kunashir) and 50 degrees 52 minutes north (Cape Kurbatov on the island of Shumshu). The ridge includes about 30 islands (the largest of them are Kunashir, Iturup, Urup, Simushir, Onekotan, Paramushir and Shumshu), as well as a large number of small islands and rocks. The Lesser Kuril Ridge stretches parallel to the Greater Ridge for 105 km between 43 degrees 21 minutes and 43 degrees 52 minutes north latitude. It includes 6 small islands (the largest of them is Shikotan) and many rocks. The total area of ​​the Kuril Islands is 15.6 thousand square meters. km. The length is 1175 km. The area is 15.6 thousand km². Coordinates: 46°30? with. sh. 151°30? in. d.? / ?46.5° N sh. 151.5° E e. They are of great military-strategic and economic importance. Includes 20 large and more than 30 small islands. List of islands from north to south:

northern group:

Shumshu Atlasov Island (Alaid)

Paramushir

Antsiferov Island

Middle group:

Macanrushi

Avos Rocks

· Onekotan

Harimkotan

· Chirinkotan

Shiashkotan

· Trap Rocks

Raikoke

· Medieval rocks

Ushishir Islands

Ryponkicha

Simushir

Broughton Island

The Black Brothers

Brother Chirpoev

Southern group:

Kunashir

Small Kuril Ridge

Shikotan

Islands of the South Kuril chain

Polonsky Island

· Shard Islands

Green Island

Tanfiliev Island

Yuri Island

Demin Islands

Anuchin Island

Signal Island

At the moment, all the Kuril Islands are controlled by Russia and are included in its Sakhalin region, some of the islands are the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.

Administrative division

The Kuril Islands are administratively part of the Sakhalin Oblast. They are divided into three districts: North Kuril, Kuril and South Kuril. The centers of these regions have the corresponding names: Severo-Kurilsk, Kurilsk and Yuzhno-Kurilsk. And there is another village - Malo-Kurilsk (the center of the Lesser Kuril Ridge). There are four Kurils in total. Currently, the Sakhalin Region includes 25 municipalities: 17 urban districts and 2 municipal districts, on the territory of which there are 3 urban settlements and 3 rural settlements.

History of the islands

Before the arrival of the Russians and the Japanese, the islands were inhabited by the Ainu. In their language, “kuru” meant “a person who came from nowhere,” from which their second name “smokers” came from, and then the name of the archipelago. In Russia, the first mention of the Kuril Islands dates back to 1646. The first Russian settlements of that time are evidenced by Dutch, German and Scandinavian medieval chronicles and maps. In 1644, a map was drawn up, on which the islands were designated under the collective name "thousand islands". Then, in 1643, the islands were explored by the Dutch, led by Marten Fiers. This expedition made more detailed maps and described the lands.

18th century

In 1738-1739, Martyn Spanberg walked along the entire ridge, putting the islands he met on the map. In the future, the Russians, avoiding dangerous voyages to the southern islands, mastered the northern ones. Great success was achieved by the Siberian nobleman Antipov with the Irkutsk translator Shabalin. They managed to win the favor of the Kuriles, and in 1778-1779 they managed to bring into citizenship more than 1500 people from Iturup, Kunashir and even Matsumaya (now Japanese Hokkaido). In the same 1779, Catherine II by decree freed those who accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes. But relations were not built with the Japanese: they forbade the Russians to go to these three islands. In the "Extensive land description of the Russian state ..." of 1787, a list of the 21st island belonging to Russia was given. It included the islands up to Matsumai, whose status was not clearly defined, since Japan had a city in its southern part. At the same time, the Russians had no real control even over the islands south of Urup. There, the Japanese considered the Kuriles to be their subjects.

19th century

In 1805, a representative of the Russian-American Company, Nikolai Rezanov, who arrived in Nagasaki as the first Russian envoy, tried to resume negotiations on trade with Japan. But he also failed. However, the Japanese nobles, who were not satisfied with the despotic policy of the supreme power, hinted to him that it would be nice to carry out a forceful action in these lands, which could push the situation off the ground. This was carried out on behalf of Rezanov in 1806-1807 by an expedition of two ships. Ships were plundered, a number of trading posts were destroyed, and a Japanese village was burned on Iturup. Later they were tried, but the attack for some time led to a serious deterioration in Russian-Japanese relations.

20th century

February 2, 1946. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the inclusion of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the RSFSR.

1947. Deportation of Japanese and Ainu from the islands to Japan. Displaced 17,000 Japanese and an unknown number of Ainu.

November 5, 1952. A powerful tsunami hit the entire coast of the Kuriles, Paramushir suffered the most. A giant wave washed away the city of Severo-Kurilsk.

Where did such unusual, exotic names come from? The term "Kuril Islands" is of Russian-Ainu origin. It is related to the word "kur", which means "man". At the very end of the 17th century, Kamchatka Cossacks for the first time called the inhabitants of the south of Kamchatka (Ainu) and the then unknown southern islands "Kurils". Peter I became aware in 1701-1707. about the existence of the "Kuril Islands", and in 1719 "Kuril Land" was for the first time clearly marked on the map by Semyon Remizov. Any suggestions that the name of the archipelago was given by "smoking" volcanoes belong to the realm of legends.

These are the words of the Ainu language: Paramushir - wide island, Onekotan - old settlement, Ushishir - land of bays, Chiripoy - birds, Urup - salmon, Iturup - big salmon, Kunashir - black island, Shikotan - the best place. Beginning in the 18th century, the Russians and the Japanese tried to rename the islands in their own way. Most often used serial numbers - the first island, the second, etc.; only the Russians counted from the north, and the Japanese from the south.

Relief

The Kuril Islands, which are an area of ​​active volcanic activity, are two parallel underwater ridges, which above the ocean level are expressed by a chain of islands of the Greater and Lesser Kuril ridges.

The relief of the first is predominantly volcanic. There are more than a hundred volcanoes here, of which more than 40 are active. Volcanic structures often merge at their bases and form narrow, ridge-like, with steep (usually 30-40°) ridges, elongated mainly along the strike of the islands. Often volcanoes rise in the form of isolated mountains: Alaid - 2339m, Fussa - 1772m, Milna - 1539m, Bogdan Khmelnitsky - 1589m, Tyatya - 1819m. The heights of other volcanoes, as a rule, do not exceed 1500m. Volcanic massifs are usually separated by low isthmuses, which are composed of Quaternary marine deposits or volcanic-sedimentary rocks of the Neogene age. The forms of volcanoes are different. There are volcanic structures in the form of regular and truncated cones; often in the crater of an older truncated cone rises a young one (Krenitsyn volcano on Onekotan Island, Tyatya volcano on Kunashir). Calderas are widely developed - giant cauldron-shaped failures. They are often flooded by lakes or the sea and form huge deep-water (up to 500 m) bays (Broughton on Simushir Island, Lion's Mouth on Iturup).

A significant role in the formation of the relief of the islands is played by sea terraces of different heights: 25-30 m, 80-120 m and 200-250 m. .

The Lesser Kuril Ridge, protruding slightly on the day surface, continues in the northeast direction in the form of the underwater Vityaz Ridge. It is separated from the bed of the Pacific Ocean by the narrow Kuril-Kamchatka deep-water (10542 m) trench, which is one of the deepest-water trenches in the world. There are no young volcanoes on the Lesser Kuril Ridge. The islands of the ridge are flat land areas leveled by the sea, rising above the ocean level by only 20-40 m. The exception is the largest island of the ridge, Shikotan, which is characterized by low-mountain (up to 214 m) relief, formed as a result of the destruction of ancient volcanoes.

Geological structure

On the territory of the Kuril Islands, formations of the Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene and Quaternary periods come to the surface within two garlands of islands: Bolshekurilskaya and Malokurilskaya. tuff sandstones, tuff siltstones, tuff gravelstones, sandstones, siltstones, mudstones are noted on the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge. Volcanic, volcanogenic-sedimentary, sedimentary deposits of the Neogene and Quaternary age, intruded by numerous relatively small extrusive and subvolcanic bodies and dikes of a wide petrographic range, from basalts and dolerites to rhyolites and granites, take part in the geological structure of the Greater Kuril ridge. The territory of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands and the adjacent water area of ​​the Sea of ​​Japan and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk is part of the transition zone from the continent to the ocean, entering the northwestern segment of the Pacific mobile belt. The western part of this region belongs to the Khokkaido-Sakhalin geosynclinal-folded system, and the eastern part belongs to the Kuril-Kamchatka geosynclinal-island-arc system of the folded-block structure. The main difference between these systems lies in the Cenozoic history of development: in the Khokkaido-Sakhalin system, sedimentation processes prevailed in the Cenozoic, and volcanism occurred sporadically in local structures: the Kuril-Kamchatka system at that time developed in the mode of an active volcanic arc, which left an imprint on the composition of the formed here structural-material complexes. Cenozoic deposits were the first to fold into folds; formations of this age in the Kurile-Kamchatka system underwent block dislocations, and folded structures are not typical for them. Significant differences are also noted in the pre-Cenozoic formations of the two tectonic systems. The structures of the first order for both systems are troughs and uplifts that developed throughout the Cenozoic. The formation of the structural plan of the region was largely determined by faults.

Minerals

On the islands and in the coastal zone, industrial reserves of non-ferrous metal ores, mercury, natural gas, and oil have been explored.2 On the island of Iturup, in the region of the Kudryavy volcano, there is the only known deposit of rhenium in the world. Here, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Japanese mined native sulfur. The total resources of gold in the Kuril Islands are estimated at 1,867 tons, silver - 9,284 tons, titanium - 39.7 million tons, iron - 273 million tons. Currently, the development of minerals is not numerous.

Volcanism

Volcanoes are located almost exclusively on the islands of the Greater Kuril Ridge. Most of these islands are active or extinct volcanoes, and only the northernmost and southernmost islands are composed of sedimentary formations. These layers of sedimentary rocks on the mentioned islands were the foundation on which volcanoes arose and grew. Most of the volcanoes of the Kuril Islands arose directly on the seabed. The relief of the seabed between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido is a steep ridge with bottom depths of about 2,000 m towards the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, and near the island of Hokkaido even more than 3,300 m and with depths of more than 8,500 m towards the Pacific Ocean. As you know, directly southeast of the Kuril Islands is one of the deepest oceanic depressions, the so-called Tuscarora depression. The Kuril Islands themselves are the peaks and ridges of a solid mountain range hidden still under water. The Great Kuril Ridge is a remarkable and vivid example of the formation of a ridge on the earth's surface. Here one can observe a bend in the earth's crust, the crest of which rises 2–3 km above the bottom of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and 8–8.5 km above the Tuskarora depression. Faults formed at this bend along its entire length, along which fiery-liquid lava broke through in many places. It was in these places that the volcanic islands of the Kuril ridge arose. Volcanoes poured out lava, threw out a mass of volcanic sand and debris that settled nearby in the sea, and it became and becomes smaller and smaller. In addition, the bottom itself, due to various geological reasons, can rise, and if such a geological process continues in the same direction, then after millions of years, and maybe after hundreds of thousands, a continuous ridge will form here, which, on the one hand, will connect Kamchatka with Hokkaido, and on the other hand, it will completely separate the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. The volcanoes of the Kuril ridge are located on arcuate faults, which are a continuation of the faults of Kamchatka. Thus, they form one volcanic and tectonic Kamchatka-Kuril arc, convex towards the Pacific Ocean and directed from the southwest to the northeast. The activity of volcanoes on the Kuril Islands in the past and at present is very intense. There are about 100 volcanoes here, of which 40 are active and are in the solfataric stage of activity. Initially, volcanoes arose in the Upper Tertiary on the extreme southwestern and northeastern islands of the Kuril chain, and then they moved to its central part. Thus, volcanic life on them began quite recently, only one or a few million years, and continues to this day.

active volcanoes

21 active volcanoes are known on the Kuril Islands, of which five stand out for their more active activity, among the most active volcanoes of the Kuril ridge, these include Alaid, Sarychev Peak, Fuss, Snow and Milna. Among the active volcanoes of the Kuril Islands, the most active volcano is Alaid. It is also the highest among all the volcanoes of this ridge. As a beautiful cone-shaped mountain, it rises directly from the sea surface to a height of 2,339 m. At the top of the volcano there is a small depression, in the middle of which the central cone rises. It erupted in 1770, 1789, 1790, 1793, 1828, 1829, 1843 and 1858, that is, eight eruptions in the last 180 years. As a result of the last eruption, a volcanic island with a wide crater was formed, called Taketomi. It is a side cone of the Alaid volcano.

Sarychev Peak is in second place in terms of the intensity of volcanic activity and is a stratovolcano located on the island of Matua. It has the form of a two-headed cone. On the high (1497 m) peak there is a crater with a diameter of about 250 m and a depth of about 100 - 150 m. There are many cracks near the crater on the outer side of the cone, from which white vapors and gases were emitted (August and September 1946). To the southeast of the volcano are, apparently, small secondary cones. Starting from the 60s of the XVIII century to the present, its eruptions occurred in 1767, around 1770, around 1780, in 1878-1879, 1928, 1930 and 1946. In addition, there are numerous data on its fumarole activity. So in 1805, 1811, 1850, 1860. he "smoked". In 1924, an underwater eruption occurred near it. Thus, over the past 180 years, there have been at least seven eruptions. They were accompanied by both explosive activity and outpourings of basaltic lava.

The Fussa Peak Volcano is located on the island of Paramushir and is a free-standing beautiful cone, the western slopes of which steeply break into the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Fuss Peak erupted in 1737, 1742, 1793, 1854 and 1859, and the last eruption, i.e., 1859, was accompanied by the release of asphyxiating gases.

Snow Volcano is a small low domed volcano, about 400 m high, located on Chirpoi Island. At its top there is a crater about 300 m in diameter. Apparently, it belongs to the shield volcanoes. An indication without an exact date is known about the eruption of this volcano in the 18th century. In addition, Snow volcano erupted in 1854, 1857, 1859 and 1879.

Volcano Miln is located on the island of Simushir, is a two-headed volcano with an inner cone 1526m high. Lava flows are visible on the slopes, which in places protrude into the sea in the form of huge lava fields. There are several side cones on the slopes. There is information about the volcanic activity of the Milna volcano dating back to the 18th century. According to more accurate information, it erupted in 1849, 1881 and 1914. Less active volcanoes include Severgin, Sinarka, Raikoke and Medvezhiy volcanoes.

fading volcanoes

Attenuated volcanoes, which are in the solfataric stage of activity, are located mainly in the southern half of the Kuril chain. Only the intensely smoking Chikurachki volcano, 1817 m high, located on the island of Paramushir, and the Ushishir volcano, located on the island of the same name, are located in the northern half of the ridge. Ushishir volcano (400 m) the edges of its crater form a ring-shaped ridge, destroyed only on the south side, due to which the bottom of the crater is filled with sea. Black Volcano (625 m) is located on the Black Brothers Island. It has two craters: one at the top, about 800 m in diameter, and the other crack-shaped on the southwestern slope.

Extinct volcanoes

There are many extinct volcanoes of various shapes on the Kuril Islands - cone-shaped, dome-shaped, volcanic massifs, the “volcano in a volcano” type. Among the cone-shaped volcanoes, Atsonupuri stands out for its beauty, 1206 m high. It is located on the island of Iturup and is a regular cone; on its top there is an oval-shaped crater, about 150 m deep. The following volcanoes also belong to the cone-shaped volcanoes: Aka (598 m) on the island of Shiashkotan; Roko (153m), located on the island of the same name near Brat Chirpoev Island (Black Brothers Islands); Rudakov (543m) with a lake in the crater, located on the island of Urup, and Bogdan Khmelnitsky volcano (1587m), located on the island of Iturup. Dome-shaped volcanoes are Shestakov (708 m), located on the island of Onekotan, and Broughton - 801 m high, located on the island of the same name. Volcanic massifs include Ketoi volcano - 1172 m high, located on the island of the same name, and Kamuy volcano - 1322 m high, located in the northern part of Iturup Island. The “volcano within a volcano” type includes: Krenitsyn Peak on Onekotan Island.

Climate

The climate of the Kuril Islands is determined by their location between two vast bodies of water - the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. The climate of the Kuril Islands is moderately cold, monsoonal. The average temperature in February (the coldest month on the islands) is from -5 to -7 degrees C. The average temperature in August is from 10 degrees C in the north to 16 degrees C in the south. Precipitation for the year falls 1000-1400 mm. The features of the monsoon climate are more pronounced in the southern part of the Kuril Islands, which is more influenced by the Asian continent, which cools in winter, from where cold and dry westerly winds blow. Winter in the south is cold, with frosts down to -25°. In the north, winters are milder: frosts reach only -16 °. The northern part of the ridge is in winter under the influence of the Aleutian baric minimum; cyclonic activity develops along its western periphery, with which storm winds and significant precipitation are associated. Sometimes up to 1.5 m of snow falls per day. The action of the Aleutian minimum weakens towards June and fades in July-August. The sea waters washing the islands heat up more slowly in summer than land, and the winds blow through the Kuril chain from the ocean to the mainland. They carry a lot of water vapor, the weather becomes cloudy, foggy (due to the temperature difference between cold sea masses and warming land). Dense fogs persist for weeks; cloudiness prevents the heating of the sea and islands by the sun's rays. However, in summer there is not such a noticeable increase in precipitation as in the continental monsoon region of the Far East, since a lot of precipitation also falls in winter. For three summer months, they fall only 30-40% of the annual amount, equal to 1000-1400 mm. The average temperature of the warmest month - August - from 10 ° in the north to 17 ° in the south. In September, the action of the Aleutian low again intensifies, in connection with which prolonged drizzling rains begin in the northern half of the Kuril arc. In the south, monsoon rains are replaced by good weather, occasionally disturbed by typhoons. The general severity of the climate of the Kuril Islands is due not only to the low temperatures of the waters of the neighboring Sea of ​​Okhotsk, but also to the influence of the cold Kuril current, which washes the island ridge from the east. Only the climate of the southernmost islands is somewhat mitigated by the warm Soya current fading here.

Water resources

Significant amounts of precipitation and a high runoff coefficient favor the development of a dense network of small streams on the islands. In total, there are more than 900 rivers here. Due to the mountainous surface of the islands, the surface runoff is divided into numerous small drainage basins, forming a system of streams spreading from the central heights. The mountainousness of the islands also determines the steep slope of the rivers and the high speed of their flow; rapids and waterfalls are frequent in the riverbeds. Rivers of the flat type are a rare exception. Approaching the sea, some rivers rush down waterfalls from high cliffs, others go out onto a flat, sandy or swampy coast; at the mouths of these rivers there are often shallow bars, pebble spits and embankments that block the entry of boats into the rivers even at high tide. The main food of the river is received from rains, snow nutrition also plays a significant role, especially from snowfields occurring in the mountains. Rivers flood in spring and after heavy rains in summer. Mountain rivers are not covered with ice every year, and waterfalls freeze only in exceptionally severe winters. Only slowly flowing streams within the flat areas are covered with ice every year; the longest freeze-up period is 4-5 months. The water of many rivers is undrinkable due to high salinity and, in particular, high sulfur content. There are several dozen lakes of various origins on the islands. Some of them are associated with volcanic activity. These are small and deep mountain lakes lying in the Craters of extinct volcanoes; sometimes volcanic dam lakes are found. The waters of these lakes have a yellowish color from the release of sulfur sources. On the coast there are larger, usually lagoon-type lakes up to 10 km long, often containing fresh water; they are separated from the sea by dunes and are often connected to it through small channels.

Flora and fauna

In the Kuril Islands, according to D.P. Vorobyov, 1171 species of only vascular plants grow, belonging to 450 genera and 104 families. There is no more accurate information, since no one was engaged in generalization and analysis of the flora of the region after him. Of these, 47 species (4%) are adventitious plants. There are 49 species of trees, including 6 conifers, 94 species of shrubs, of which 3 are conifers, 11 species of woody lianas, 9 species of shrubs, 5 species of bamboo, 30 species of evergreens, including 7 coniferous and 23 deciduous. Among the latter heather and lingonberry predominate - 16 species. In floristic terms, the richest is Kunashir, where 883 species grow. There are somewhat fewer species on Iturup (741) and Shikotan (701). All types of trees, 10 types of vines and 4 types of bamboo are found on these islands. The flora of the vascular plants of the Kuriles reveals a significant similarity with the flora of neighboring countries and regions. Species common with Kamchatka - 44%, with Sakhalin - 67%, with Japan - 78%, with Primorye and Amur Region - - 54%, with North America - 28%. Common species for the Kuriles and Sakhalin make up 56.7% of the entire flora of Sakhalin. In the Kuril Islands, only 2 families of the Sakhalin flora are absent - water-colored and boxwood, they are absent in Kamchatka and Primorye. The flora of the Kuriles is much poorer in comparison with the flora of Primorye and the Amur Region: representatives of 240 genera of the flora of this part of the mainland, including apricot, microbiota, ephedra, hazel, hornbeam, barberry, deutsia, mistletoe, etc., are absent on the islands. The flora of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, closest to the Kuriles, has 1629 species. The Japanese flora has the greatest similarity with the flora of the southern Kuriles (37.7%) and less with the flora of the northern islands (17.86%). In the 60s of the last century, Kuril Vorobyov counted 34 endemics among the species of vascular flora. But this number, in his opinion, should be reduced due to the description of some of them in Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and Japan. Among the endemics there are 4 species of grasses, sedges - 2 species, willows - 5, dandelions - 8, wrestler - 1, St. Significant differences in the ecological situation on the islands determined both the distribution of individual species and the quantitative representation of some taxa. The number of species on the islands given below is not definitively established. Research is constantly making adjustments. Literature data indicate that 883 species grow in Kunashir, Iturup 741, Shikotan 701, Urup 399, Simushin 393, Ketoi 241, Paramushir 139, Alaida 169. Extensive thickets of algae are common off the coast of the Kuriles. The vegetation of fresh water bodies is not very rich.

Fauna and wildlife

The terrestrial invertebrate fauna of the South Kuril Islands is unique and far from being fully explored. Here passes the northern border of the distribution of a huge number of species found in addition to the South Kuriles in Japan, Korea and China. In addition, the Kuril species are represented by populations adapted to the peculiar insular conditions of existence. The insect fauna of the southern part of the Kuril archipelago is closer to the fauna of Hokkaido. However, the insect fauna of the islands is given a certain originality by the Kuril endemics, the presence of which has been established only in recent years. Currently, 37 species and subspecies of endemic insect species are known, found on the territory of Kunashir and Shikotan. The fauna of the orders of Hemiptera (230 species), Coleoptera (only weevils make up 90 species), Orthoptera (27 species), mayflies (24 species) and other representatives of this vast class is diverse. 4 species of South Kuril insects are currently listed in the Red Book of Russia. These are: wrinkled-winged ground beetle, Maksimovich's beauty, similar mimevemia, owl asteropetes. In addition, two types of sailboats common in the reserve: the tail-bearer Maaka and the tail-bearer blue are included in the regional Red Book of the Sakhalin Region. On Kunashir Island and the islands of the Lesser Kuril Range (including Shikotan), there are currently 110 species of non-marine molluscs. The species composition of fish in inland waters is the richest in Kunashir and includes 22 species. Salmonids (pink salmon, chum salmon, Dolly Varden) are the most widespread. Sakhalin taimen, spawning in the lakes of the island, is listed in the Red Book of Russia. In the Kurilsky Reserve on the island of Kunashir, there are 3 species of amphibians - the Far Eastern frog, the Far Eastern tree frog and the Siberian salamander. The total number of birds found in the territory of the Kuril Reserve and the Small Kurils reserve is 278 species. There are 113 species of rare birds, of which 40 species are listed in the Red Data Books of the IUCN and the Russian Federation. About 125 species of birds nest on the islands. The Kuril Islands are inhabited by a unique population of the island subspecies of the fish owl. This area has the highest density of this species in the world. At least 26 pairs of these birds nest in Kunashir, and there are only a little more than 100 pairs left in the world. The South Kuril Islands are inhabited by 28 species of mammals. Of these, 3 species of marine mammals are listed in the Red Books of the IUCN and the Russian Federation - the Kuril sea otter, the island seal Antur and the sea lion. An endemic species, the Shikotan vole, lives on the island of Shikotan. The largest representative of the terrestrial fauna is the brown bear, found only in Kunashir (more than 200 animals). Chipmunk, sable, weasel and acclimatized European mink are also found in the thickets on Kunashir Island. On the territory of the islands of Kunashir and Shikotan, the fox and hare are widespread. The most numerous representatives of the fauna are small mammals: shrews (the most common species is the clawed shrew) and rodents (red-gray vole, Japanese mouse). On the territory of the small islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, only the fox, the gray-backed vole, the rat, the house mouse and the clawed shrew are found. Of the cetaceans in the waters of the islands, families of killer whales, minke whales, flocks of the Pacific white-sided dolphin, white-winged and common porpoise can often be found.

Population

76.6% of the population are Russians, 12.8% Ukrainians, 2.6% Belarusians, 8% other nationalities. The permanent population of the islands lives mainly on the southern islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the northern ones - Paramushir, Shumshu. The basis of the economy is the fishing industry, because. the main natural wealth is the biological resources of the sea. Agriculture has not received significant development due to unfavorable natural conditions. There are certain features in the formation of the population of the Kuril Islands. After the deportation of Japanese citizens in the post-war years, the influx of labor was mainly carried out by immigrants from the mainland. In national terms, the population was mainly represented by Slavic peoples. Representatives of the peoples of the North and Koreans were practically absent in the Kuriles. This trend continues to the present. Over the past decades, the process of forming a permanent population has continued on the islands, primarily at the expense of local natives and people of retirement age, who, due to the current difficult socio-economic situation, are not able to move to the mainland. The number of both the actual population and the permanent one, after the collapse of the 90th year, continues to decline and today is about 8,000 people. The reasons for this situation are the low natural population growth and the migration outflow of the Kuril people. More of them drop out than they come in. An analysis of the age and sex structure of the population leads to the conclusion that the process of its formation has not yet ended. The main indicator of this is the predominance of men over women, an increased proportion of people of working age and a small number of elderly people, which is not typical for most regions of the country. Consider those who are employed in the field of labor activity. The number of employees has steadily increased in recent years and reached 3,000 in 2000. At the same time, the number of unemployed has been declining in recent years. The labor resources of the region were distributed as follows - the bulk of the able-bodied population is employed in industry, the rest are evenly distributed among other sectors of the national economy. In recent years, the birth rate has slightly exceeded the death rate. Thus, we can say that the natural decline in the population was replaced by a natural increase in the population. The migration balance is also negative. Although the outflow of the population that took place in the 90s has decreased. Most of the youth receive higher education (60-70%). In general, the population of the Kuril Islands is decreasing. This is primarily due to the remoteness of the islands, undeveloped transport infrastructure, adverse weather conditions, and a difficult socio-economic situation. Added to this is the uncertainty about the future political status of a number of the South Kuril Islands, the territory of which Japan claims. The inhabitants of the disputed islands, and even the regional authorities, are practically removed from the ongoing negotiations between Moscow and Tokyo.

Weekly tour, one-day hiking trips and excursions combined with comfort (trekking) in the mountain resort of Khadzhokh (Adygea, Krasnodar Territory). Tourists live at the camp site and visit numerous natural monuments. Rufabgo Waterfalls, Lago-Naki Plateau, Meshoko Gorge, Big Azish Cave, Belaya River Canyon, Guam Gorge.