Kuril Islands

The Kuril Islands are a chain of 22 primary islands and 32 small islets in the Russian Far East, part of Sakhalinskaya Oblast' (Сахалинская область). The island chain is divided into three areas: the Northern Kuril Islands, the Central Kuril Islands and the Southern Kuril Islands. The Kuril Islands sit on top of a geological composition called the Greater Kuril Ridge.

The Kurils once belonged to Russia, but were under Japanese control at the time of World War II. Russia seized them from Japan after the end of the War, but sovereignty over parts of the islands remains in dispute, and Japan has refused to sign a formal peace treaty with Russia because of disputes over the Kurils and Sakhalin.