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 northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean.
Russia currently maintains uncontested sovereignty over Sakhalin and the Kuril islands north of Kunashiri and Etorofu ex- tending up to the Kamchatka Peninsula. According to Tokyo, the ecology of the four disputed islands is similar to that of Japan’s main islands.
The strategically located islands were seized by Soviet forces in the closing days of WWII. Moscow and Tokyo have held talks about the Iturup (Etorofu in Japanese), Kunashir (Kunashiri), Shikotan and Habomai Islets several times in the past, but failed to agree on a solution.
Travelers going to the Kuril Islands arrive most quickly via plane from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, but it is also possible to take a slower ferry from Sakhalin to Kunashir and on to Iturup. Also ferries run from Japan at certain times of the year to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk.
Wednesday October 11, 2023. Brisbane, Queensland Time Zone. Australia Eastern Time Zone.
WE&P by:EZorrillaMc.
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