Kuril Islands

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Overview
Overview: 

The Kuril Islands are located in the cold waters of the north-western Pacific Ocean between Kamchatka Peninsula and Hokkaido. The chain consists of 22 main islands, most of which are volcanically active, and around 30 smaller islets.   There are at least 160 volcanoes amongst   the islands, 40 of which can be described as currently active. The islands form part of the “Pacific Ring of Fire”.

Geography
Geographical Information: 
The Kuril islands stretch for 1,250 km from the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula southwards to the Japanese island of Hokkaido, thus forming a neat boundary between the Sea of Okhotsk (on the West) and the Pacific Ocean (on the east). The chain consists of 22 main islands, most of which are volcanically active, and around 30 smaller islets.
Area: 
Total area of all islands is 15,600km2
Maximum Altitude: 
Atlasova Island 2,339m
Physical Features: 

Several of the islands are large Iturup (3,200km2 ),  Paramushir (2,053km2), Kunashir (1,490km2) and Urup (1,450km2) . All are highly distinctive in their narrow and elongate forms that are dotted with chains of volcanoes.  Most of the islands are mountainous, although terrain can be highly variable and include low hills, plains and valleys. Many of the islands are endowed with impressive geological features such as the Tao-Rusyr caldera on Onekotan Island.

History
Historical Features: 

Artefacts recovered from recent excavations suggest that the original inhabitants may well date to the Epi-Jomon period (2250-1300 year BP).  There is significant number of artefacts’ attributable to the historic Ainu population which thrived on the Islands from about 800 years BP till the recently.  The Kurils were settled by both Russians and Japanese in the 18th century. In 1875 Japan ceded to Russia the nearby island of Sakhalin in exchange for full Japanese possession of the Kurils.  The Islands were returned to the USSR by an agreement reached by the Allied powers at the Yalta Conference during World War ll. Japan continues to claim the southern Kurils calling them the Northern Territories. A number of the Islands are still populated with estimated total population (2005) is 30,000 people.  The majority of these people are on the southern most islands of Iturup, Urup  and Kunashir  with a few people still resident on Paramushir Island.

Fauna & Flora
Flora and Vegetation: 

Most of the islands are densely vegetated where the terrain allows, in higher areas the vegetation is tundra like or absent. Flora comprises broadleaf forest, dark coniferous forests, open woodland, grasslands and the alpine tundra zone. Vegetation becomes more luxuriant and taller from north to south as the climate becomes milder, eventually allowing the growth of dense stands of bamboo on Urup Island. On all of the islands vegetation type is strongly affected by the vertical relief as well as the islands geographical position within the Kuril Chain.

Birding Highlights: 

The Kuril islands form a natural “flyway” for migratory species moving north and south, it is not surprising then that the order Passeriformes  is very well represented with  some 68 species being recorded as breeding on the islands.  The other well represented order is Charadriiformes  with some 24 species being recorded. These include the  Thin-billed and Thick-billed Murrre, the pigeon and spectacled guillemot, marbled and Ancient Murrelet, four species of Auklet including Crested, Whiskered, Least, Parakeet and Rhinoceros.  Both Horned and Tufted Puffins also breed on the islands.  The Order Anseriforme is also well represented with 15 species of waterfowl recorded breeding.  There are 9 species from the order Falconiforme breeding on these islands.