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Kuril Islands
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<p>The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic <a href="/facts/Archipelago/50BeC9tl">archipelago</a> administered as part of <a href="/facts/Sakhalin_Oblast/RCEmHMXH">Sakhalin Oblast</a> in the <a href="/facts/Russian_Far_East/BT7sYGTP">Russian Far East</a>. The islands stretch approximately 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast from <a href="/facts/Hokkaido/kwacDkYD">Hokkaido</a> in <a href="/facts/Japan/U5mz0SRT">Japan</a> to <a href="/facts/Kamchatka_Peninsula/w9DK3jE6">Kamchatka Peninsula</a> in Russia, separating the <a href="/facts/Sea_of_Okhotsk/T4QL1000">Sea of Okhotsk</a> from the north <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific Ocean</a>. There are 56 islands and many minor islets. The Kuril Islands consist of the <a href="/facts/Greater_Kuril_Chain/wqR5nITq">Greater Kuril Chain</a> and, at the southwest end, the parallel <a href="/facts/Lesser_Kuril_Chain/IH4b2YTq">Lesser Kuril Chain</a>. The group termed the 'South Kurils' consists of those of the Lesser Kuril Chain together with <a href="/facts/Kunashir/hx8IptyD">Kunashir</a> and <a href="/facts/Iturup/0E6zqAK1">Iturup</a> in the Greater Kuril Chain. The <a href="/facts/Vries_Strait/GD4MC5D5">Vries Strait</a> between Iturup and <a href="/facts/Urup/TBxH47mb">Urup</a> forms the Miyabe Line dividing the North and South Kurils. The Kuril Islands cover an area of around 10,503.2 square kilometres (4,055.3 sq mi), with a population of roughly 20,000. </p><p>The islands have been under Russian administration since their <a href="/facts/Invasion_of_the_Kuril_Islands/wjqNHbBt">1945 invasion</a> by the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> near the end of <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>. Japan claims the four southernmost islands, including two of the three largest (<a href="/facts/Iturup/0E6zqAK1">Iturup</a> and <a href="/facts/Kunashir/hx8IptyD">Kunashir</a>), as part of its territory, as well as <a href="/facts/Shikotan/Pwkq5GAL">Shikotan</a> and the unpopulated <a href="/facts/Habomai/lJaaobCj">Habomai</a> islets, which has led to the ongoing <a href="/facts/Kuril_Islands_dispute/bqKRj53z">Kuril Islands dispute</a>. The disputed islands are known in Japan as the country's "Northern Territories". </p>