Kurilsky District (Russian: Кури́льский райо́н, romanized: Kuríl'skiy rayón) is an administrative district (raion) of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia; one of the seventeen in the oblast. Municipally, it is incorporated as Kurilsky Urban Okrug. It is located on the central Kuril Islands southeast of the Island of Sakhalin. The area of the district is 5,145.9 square kilometers (1,986.8 sq mi). Its administrative center is the town of Kurilsk. Population: 7,359 (2010 census); 7,108 (2002 census); 10,498 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Kurilsk accounts for 28.1% of the district's total population. The name is sometimes spelled Kurliskiy or Kurliskiye in English.
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👉 Kurilsky District in the context of Kuril Islands dispute
44°6′N 146°42′E / 44.100°N 146.700°E
Japan and Russia have a territorial dispute over the four southernmost Kuril Islands. The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands that stretch between the Japanese island of Hokkaido at their southern end and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula at their northern end. The islands separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. The four disputed islands, like other islands in the Kuril chain which are not in dispute, were unilaterally annexed by the Soviet Union following the Invasion of the Kuril Islands at the end of World War II. The disputed islands are under Russian administration as the South Kuril District and part of the Kuril District of the Sakhalin Oblast (Сахалинская область, Sakhalinskaya oblast). They are claimed by Japan, which refers to them as its Northern Territories or Southern Chishima, and considers them part of the Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture.
In this Dossier
Kurilsky District in the context of Iturup
Iturup (Russian: Итуру́п, romanized: iturúp; Japanese: 択捉島, romanized: etorofu-tō), also historically known by other names, is an island in the Kuril Archipelago separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. The town of Kurilsk, administrative center of Kurilsky District, is located roughly midway along its western shore. Iturup is the largest and northernmost of the southern Kurils, ownership of which is disputed between Japan and Russia. It is located between Kunashiri 19 km (12 mi) to its southwest and Urup 37 km (23 mi) to its northeast. The Vries Strait between Iturup and Urup forms the Miyabe Line dividing the predominant plants of the Kurils.
The native inhabitants of the islands since at least the 14th century were the Ainu. Various European explorers passed the area over the years but settlement varied between Russian and Japanese. The island was formally claimed as Japanese territory in 1855. Near the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Soviet Union occupied the southern Kurils and forcibly removed its Japanese residents. Japan continues to claim the islands and considers the northern edge of the island to be its own northernmost point.
Kurilsky District in the context of Kurilsk
Kurilsk (Russian: Кури́льск; Japanese: 紗那村 Shana-mura) is a town and the administrative center of Kurilsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located on the island of Iturup. Population: 2,070 (2010 census); 2,233 (2002 census); 2,699 (1989 Soviet census).