Kuril Islands

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Lore & Background

The name Kuril originates from the autonym that the Indigenous Ainu had used for the islands, kur, meaning 'man'. In Japanese, the Kuril Islands are known as the Chishima Islands (Kanji: 千島列島, Chishima Rettō, lit. 'Thousand-Island Archipelago'). 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. The islands form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Ring of Fire. 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 15 November 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).

Reader's Guide

The Kuril Islands are significant for their strategic location and natural resources. They separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean and are surrounded by waters that are among the most productive in the North Pacific, supporting a wide range and high abundance of marine life. Extensive kelp beds surrounding almost every island provide crucial habitat for sea urchins, various mollusks and countless other invertebrates. The islands are home to many millions of seabirds, including northern fulmars, tufted puffins, murres, kittiwakes, guillemots, auklets, petrels, gulls and cormorants. Terrestrial species are dominated by Asian mainland taxa via migration from Hokkaido and Sakhalin Islands and by Kamchatkan taxa from the North. The largest southernmost and northernmost islands are inhabited by brown bear, foxes, and martens. The ongoing territorial dispute between Russia and Japan over the southernmost islands — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and the Habomai islets — remains a key issue in bilateral relations. The islands also hold scientific interest due to their volcanic activity and unique biogeography, with the Miyabe Line dividing the differing sets of predominant plants of the Kurils, corresponding to the Vries Strait between Iturup and Urup.

Did You Know?

• The Vries Strait between Iturup and Urup forms the Miyabe Line dividing the North and South Kurils.
• The northernmost island, Atlasov Island, is an almost-perfect volcanic cone rising sheer out of the sea, and its summit is the highest point in Sakhalin Oblast.
• A magnitude 8.5 earthquake struck the Kuril Islands in 1963, and another of magnitude 8.3 was recorded on 15 November 2006, which sent tsunami waves up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) to the California coast.
• The now extinct Japanese sea lion was known to occasionally haul out on the Kuril islands.
• The Kurilian Bobtail, a domesticated cat breed, is claimed to originate from the Kuril Islands, with its bobtail due to the mutation of a dominant gene.