Kunashir Island (Russian: Кунаши́р, romanized: Kunashír; Japanese: 国後島, romanized: Kunashiri-tō; Ainu: クナシㇼ, romanized: Kunasir), possibly meaning Black Island or Grass Island in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands. The island has been under Russian administration since the end of World War II, when Soviet forces took possession of the Kurils. It is claimed by Japan (see Kuril Islands dispute).
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👉 Kunashir in the context of Kuril Ainu language
Kuril Ainu is an extinct and poorly attested Ainu language of the Kuril Islands. The main inhabited islands were Kunashir, Iturup and Urup in the south, and Shumshu in the north. Other islands either had small populations (such as Paramushir) or were visited for fishing or hunting. There may have been a small mixed Kuril–Itelmen population at the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Ainu of the Kurils appear to have been a relatively recent expansion from Hokkaidō, displacing an indigenous Okhotsk culture, which may have been related to the modern Itelmens. When the Kuril Islands passed to Japanese control in 1875, many of the northern Kuril Ainu evacuated to Ust-Bolsheretsky District in Kamchatka, where about 100 still live. In the decades after the islands passed to Soviet control in 1945, most of the remaining southern Kuril Ainu evacuated to Hokkaidō, where they have since been assimilated.
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Kunashir in the context of Kuril Islands
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 (810 mi) northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many minor islets. The Kuril Islands consist of the Greater Kuril Chain and, at the southwest end, the parallel Lesser Kuril Chain. The group termed the 'South Kurils' consists of those of the Lesser Kuril Chain together with Kunashir and Iturup in the Greater Kuril Chain. The Vries Strait between Iturup and Urup 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.
The islands have been under Russian administration since their 1945 invasion by the Soviet Union near the end of World War II. Japan claims the four southernmost islands, including two of the three largest (Iturup and Kunashir), as part of its territory, as well as Shikotan and the unpopulated Habomai islets, which has led to the ongoing Kuril Islands dispute. The disputed islands are known in Japan as the country's "Northern Territories".
Kunashir in the context of List of islands of Russia
This is a list of islands of Russia. It includes all islands in Russia with an area greater than 3,000 square kilometres (1,158 sq mi) and some of the more significant minor islands.
Kunashir in the context of Greater Kuril Chain
Greater Kuril Chain (Russian: Большая Курильская гряда) - a part of the Kuril Islands - is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. It includes North Kurils, Iturup and Kunashir.
At its south western end, the Greater Kuril Chain is separated from the Lesser Kuril Chain by the South Kuril Strait. The maximum altitude in the Greater Kuril Chain is 2339m, on (Atlasov Island).
Kunashir in the context of Habomai
The Habomai Islands (Japanese: 歯舞群島, romanized: Habomai guntō; Russian: Хабомаи, romanized: Khabomai) are a group of uninhabited islets (but for the Russian guards stationed there) in the southernmost Kuril Islands.
The islands have been under Soviet/Russian administration since the 1945 invasion by the Soviet Union near the end of World War II. But together with Iturup (Etorofu), Kunashir (Kunashiri), and Shikotan, the islands are claimed by Japan.