Kuriles: history with geography. Kuril Islands, small ridge, Habomai archipelago

Since 1945, the authorities of Russia and Japan have not been able to sign a peace treaty because of a dispute over the ownership of the southern part of the Kuril Islands.

The Northern Territories Issue (北方領土問題 Hoppo: ryō:do mondai) is a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia that Japan considers unresolved since the end of World War II. After the war, all the Kuril Islands came under the administrative control of the USSR, but a number of the southern islands - Iturup, Kunashir and the Lesser Kuril Ridge - are disputed by Japan.

In Russia, the disputed territories are part of the Kuril and South Kuril urban districts. Sakhalin region. Japan claims four islands in the southern part of the Kuril ridge - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, referring to the bilateral Treatise on Trade and Borders of 1855. Moscow's position is that the southern Kuriles became part of the USSR (of which Russia became the successor) according to the results of the Second World War, and Russian sovereignty over them, which has the appropriate international legal design, is beyond doubt.

The problem of ownership of the southern Kuril Islands is the main obstacle to the complete settlement of Russian-Japanese relations.

Iturup(Jap. 択捉島 Etorofu) is an island of the southern group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands, the largest island of the archipelago.

Kunashir(Ainu Black Island, Japanese 国後島 Kunashiri-to:) is the southernmost island of the Great Kuril Islands.

Shikotan(Jap. 色丹島 Sikotan-to: ?, in early sources Sikotan; name from the Ainu language: "shi" - large, significant; "kotan" - village, city) - the largest island of the Lesser Ridge of the Kuril Islands.

Habomai(Jap. 歯舞群島 Habomai-gunto ?, Suisho, "Flat Islands") - Japanese name island groups in the northwest Pacific Ocean, together with the island of Shikotan in Soviet and Russian cartography, considered as the Lesser Kuril Ridge. The Habomai group includes the islands of Polonsky, Oskolki, Zeleny, Tanfiliev, Yuri, Demin, Anuchin and a number of small ones. Separated by the Soviet Strait from the island of Hokkaido.

History of the Kuril Islands

17th century
Before the arrival of the Russians and the Japanese, the islands were inhabited by the Ainu. In their language, “kuru” meant “a person who came from nowhere,” from which their second name “smokers” came from, and then the name of the archipelago.

In Russia, the first mention of the Kuril Islands dates back to 1646, when N. I. Kolobov spoke about the bearded people inhabiting the islands Ainakh.

The Japanese first received information about the islands during an expedition [source not specified 238 days] to Hokkaido in 1635. It is not known whether she actually got to the Kuriles or learned about them indirectly, but in 1644 a map was drawn up on which they were designated under the collective name "thousand islands". Candidate of Geographical Sciences T. Adashova notes that the map of 1635 "is considered by many scientists to be very approximate and even incorrect." Then, in 1643, the islands were explored by the Dutch, led by Martin Fries. This expedition was over detailed maps and described the land.

18th century
In 1711, Ivan Kozyrevsky went to the Kuriles. He visited only 2 northern islands: Shumshu and Paramushir, but he asked in detail the Ainu and Japanese who inhabited them and the Japanese brought there by a storm. In 1719, Peter I sent an expedition to Kamchatka led by Ivan Evreinov and Fyodor Luzhin, which reached Simushir Island in the south.

In 1738-1739, Martyn Spanberg walked along the entire ridge, putting the islands he met on the map. In the future, the Russians, avoiding dangerous voyages to the southern islands, mastered the northern ones, taxed the local population with yasak. From those who did not want to pay it and went to distant islands, they took amanats - hostages from among close relatives. But soon, in 1766, the centurion Ivan Cherny from Kamchatka was sent to the southern islands. He was ordered to attract the Ainu into citizenship without the use of violence and threats. However, he did not follow this decree, mocked them, poached. All this led to a rebellion of the indigenous population in 1771, during which many Russians were killed.

Great success was achieved by the Siberian nobleman Antipov with the Irkutsk translator Shabalin. They managed to win the favor of the Kuril people, and in 1778-1779 they managed to bring into citizenship more than 1500 people from Iturup, Kunashir and even Matsumaya (now Japanese Hokkaido). In the same 1779, Catherine II by decree freed those who accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes. But relations were not built with the Japanese: they forbade the Russians to go to these three islands.

In "Extensive Land Description Russian state... "In 1787, a list was given from the 21st island, owned by Russia. It included islands up to Matsumaya (Hokkaido), whose status was not clearly defined, since Japan had a city in its southern part. At the same time, the Russians had no real control even over the islands south of Urup. There, the Japanese considered the Kurilians their subjects, actively used violence against them, which caused discontent. In May 1788, a Japanese merchant ship that had come to Matsumai was attacked. In 1799, by order of the central government of Japan, two outposts were founded on Kunashir and Iturup, and guards began to be constantly guarded.

19th century
In 1805, a representative of the Russian-American Company, Nikolai Rezanov, who arrived in Nagasaki as the first Russian envoy, tried to resume negotiations on trade with Japan. But he also failed. However, the Japanese officials, who were not satisfied with the despotic policy of the supreme power, gave him hints that it would be nice to carry out a forceful action in these lands, which could push the situation off the ground. This was carried out on behalf of Rezanov in 1806-1807 by an expedition of two ships led by Lieutenant Khvostov and midshipman Davydov. Ships were plundered, a number of trading posts were destroyed, and a Japanese village was burned on Iturup. Later they were tried, but the attack for some time led to a serious deterioration in Russian-Japanese relations. In particular, this was the reason for the arrest of Vasily Golovnin's expedition.

In exchange for the right to own southern Sakhalin, Russia transferred to Japan in 1875 all the Kuril Islands.

20th century
After the defeat in 1905 in the Russo-Japanese War, Russia transferred the southern part of Sakhalin to Japan.
In February 1945, the Soviet Union promised the United States and Great Britain to start a war with Japan on the condition that Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands be returned to it.
February 2, 1946. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the inclusion of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the RSFSR.
1947. Deportation of Japanese and Ainu from the islands to Japan. Displaced 17,000 Japanese and an unknown number of Ainu.
November 5, 1952. A powerful tsunami hit the entire coast of the Kuriles, Paramushir suffered the most. A giant wave washed away the city of Severo-Kurilsk (formerly Kasivabara). The press was forbidden to mention this catastrophe.
In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan agreed to a Joint Treaty formally ending the war between the two states and ceding Habomai and Shikotan to Japan. Signing the treaty, however, failed: the United States threatened not to give Japan the island of Okinawa if Tokyo renounces its claims to Iturup and Kunashir.

Maps of the Kuril Islands

Kuril Islands on English map 1893. Plans of the Kuril Islands, from sketches chiefly mand by Mr. H. J. Snow, 1893. (London, Royal Geographical Society, 1897, 54×74 cm)

Map fragment Japan and Korea - Location of Japan in the Western Pacific (1:30,000,000), 1945

Photomap of the Kuril Islands based on a NASA space image, April 2010.

List of all islands

View of Habomai from Hokkaido
Green Island (志発島 Shibotsu-to)
Polonsky Island (Jap. 多楽島 Taraku-to)
Tanfiliev Island (Jap. 水晶島 Suisho-jima)
Yuri Island (勇留島 Yuri-to)
Anuchina Island
Demina Islands (Japanese: 春苅島 Harukari-to)
Shard Islands
Kira rock
Rock Cave (Kanakuso) - a rookery of sea lions on a rock.
Sail Rock (Hokoki)
Candle Rock (Rosoku)
Fox Islands (Todo)
Bump Islands (Kabuto)
Can Dangerous
Watchtower Island (Homosiri or Muika)

Drying Rock (Odoke)
Reef Island (Amagi-sho)
Signal Island (Jap. 貝殻島 Kaigara-jima)
Amazing Rock (Hanare)
Seagull Rock

Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, Habomai - four words sound like a spell. Southern Kuriles- the most distant, most mysterious and most problematic islands of the country. Probably every literate citizen of Russia has heard about the “problem of the islands”, although the essence of the problem for many is as vague as the weather in the Far East region. These difficulties only add to the tourist attraction: it is worth seeing Cape World's End, while traveling to it does not require a visa. Although a special permit to visit the border zone is still required.

Cossack Not good and sedentary gilyaks

The islands of Iturup and Kunashir belong to the Greater Kuril Ridge, Shikotan to the Lesser. It is more difficult with Habomai: on modern maps there is no such name, this is the old Japanese designation for the rest of the islands of the Small Ridge. It is used precisely when the “problem of the South Kuriles” is being discussed. Iturup is the largest of all the Kuril Islands, Kunashir is the southernmost of the Greater Kuriles, Shikotan is the northernmost of the Lesser ones. Since Habomai is an archipelago consisting of a dozen small and very small parts of the land, the disputed Kuril Islands are actually not four, but more. Administratively, they all belong to the South Kuril District of the Sakhalin Region. The Japanese attribute them to the Nemuro District of Hokkaido Prefecture.

The Russian-Japanese territorial dispute is a product of the 20th century, although the question of the ownership of the islands was more open than clearly defined before. The uncertainty is based on the very history of geography: the Kuril ridge, stretching in an arc from Kamchatka to Hokkaido, was discovered by the Japanese and Russians almost simultaneously.

More precisely, some land shrouded in fog north of Hokkaido was discovered back in 1643 by the Dutch expedition of Friz. The Japanese at that time only mastered the north of Hokkaido, sometimes swimming to the neighboring islands. In any case, on japanese map In 1644, Iturup and Kunashir were already marked. Around the same time, in 1646, the Yenisei Cossack Nehoroshko Ivanovich Kolobov, an associate of the explorer Ivan Moskovitin, reported to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich that there were islands in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk with "sitting gilyaks" who kept "fed bears." Gilyaks is the Russian name for the Nivkhs, the Far Eastern natives, and "sedentary" means settled. The Nivkhs were the indigenous people of the islands, along with the ancient people of the Ainu. The bear is a totem animal of the Ainu, who specially raised bears for the most important tribal rituals. The word "gilyaks" in relation to the Kuril and Sakhalin aborigines was used until the 19th century, it can be found in Chekhov's "Sakhalin Island". And the name of the Kuriles themselves, according to one version, is reminiscent of smoking volcanoes, and according to another, it goes back to the Ainu language and the root “kur”, meaning “man”.

Kolobov, perhaps, visited the Kuril Islands before the Japanese, but his detachment definitely did not reach the Small Ridge. Only half a century later, Russian navigators sailed to Simushir Island in the middle of the Kuriles, and moved south already in the time of Peter I. Russian names for them: Figured, Three Sisters and Citron. Most likely, Figured is Shikotan, and Three Sisters and Citron is Iturup, mistaken for two islands.

Decrees, treatises and pacts

As a result of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, forty Kuril Islands were included in the 1745 atlas "General Map of Russia". This position was confirmed in 1772, when the islands were transferred under the control of the chief commander of Kamchatka, and once again secured in 1783 by the decree of Catherine II on the preservation of Russia's right to the lands discovered by Russian navigators. In the Kuriles, free fishing for sea animals was allowed, and Russian settlements began to appear on the islands. The mainland Cossacks collected tribute from the indigenous smokers, periodically going too far. So, in 1771, after the visit of a violent detachment of the Kamchatka centurion Ivan Cherny, the Ainu rebelled and tried to get out of Russian citizenship. But in general, they treated the Russians well - they won against the backdrop of the Japanese, who considered the natives "eastern savages" and fought with them.

A sunken ship in the Yuzhno-Kurilskaya Bay on the Kunashir Island of the Kuril Ridge. Photo: Vladimir Sergeev / ITAR-TASS

Japan, by that time closed to foreigners for a hundred years, naturally had its own views of the islands. But the Japanese have not yet fully mastered even Hokkaido, originally inhabited by the same Ainu, so their practical interest in the South Kuriles flared up only towards the end of the 18th century. Then they officially forbade Russians not only to trade, but simply to appear in Hokkaido, Iturup and Kunashir. A confrontation began on the islands: the Japanese destroyed Russian crosses and put up their own signs in return, the Russians, in turn, corrected the situation, and so on. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian-American campaign was engaged in trade in all the Kuriles, but it was not possible to establish normal ties with Japan.

Finally, in 1855, Russia and Japan signed the first diplomatic treaty, the Shimoda Treaty. The treaty established the Russian-Japanese state border between the islands of Iturup and Urup, and Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the rest of the islands of the Small Ridge went to Japan. The treaty was signed on February 7, and at the end of the 20th century, this very day became the public holiday- Day of the Northern Territories. The Shimoda treatise is the point from which the “problem of the South Kuriles” has grown.

In addition, the treaty left the much more important island of Sakhalin in an uncertain position for Russia: it remained in the joint possession of both countries, which again gave rise to conflicts and hindered Russian plans to develop coal deposits in the south of the island. For the sake of Sakhalin, Russia went to the "exchange of territories", and under the new Petersburg Treaty of 1875, it transferred to Japan the rights to all the Kuril Islands, gaining full control over Sakhalin. As a result, Russia lost not only the islands, but also access to the Pacific Ocean - the straits from Kamchatka to Hokkaido were now controlled by the Japanese. With Sakhalin, too, it did not turn out too well, since hard labor was immediately established on it, and coal was mined by the hands of convicts. This could not contribute to the normal development of the island.

Shikotan Island. Members of the expedition to the Kuril Islands with local residents. 1891. Photo: Patriarche / pastvu.com

The next stage was the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. The Portsmouth Peace Treaty of 1905 canceled all previous agreements: not only the Kuriles, but also the southern half of Sakhalin went to Japan. This position was preserved and even strengthened under the Soviet government, which signed the Beijing Treaty in 1925. The USSR did not recognize itself as the legal successor of the Russian Empire and, in order to protect its eastern borders from the hostile actions of the "samurai", agreed to very favorable conditions for Japan. The Bolsheviks had no claims to the Kuriles and the southern part of Sakhalin, and Japanese companies received a concession - the right to develop oil and coal deposits on Soviet territory.

In the years before World War II, the Japanese built many engineering structures and military bases in the Kuriles. These bases almost did not participate in hostilities, except for one case: in 1941, aircraft carriers left Iturup Island, heading for Pearl Harbor. And the Japanese concession in the north of Sakhalin was officially in force until the same 1941, when the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact was concluded. The pact was terminated in August 1945: following the decisions of the Yalta Conference, the USSR entered the war with Japan, subject to the return of all the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.

Chisima Islands trick

In September 1945, the Kuriles were occupied by Soviet troops who accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrisons. The Memorandum of General MacArthur and the San Francisco Peace Treaty with the Allies confirmed the fact that Japan renounces the rights to all territories received under the Potsdam Treaty of 1905 - Sakhalin and the Chisima Islands.

Shikotan Island. Whaling plant. 1946. Photo: Patriarche / pastvu.com

It was in this formulation that the root of the "island problem" lurked. By Japanese version, historical province Tisima is Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands north of Kunashir. Kunashir itself, Iturup and the Small Ridge are not among them. Japan, therefore, did not renounce them, and can lay a legal claim to " northern territories». Soviet side did not sign the treaty, insisting on changing the wording, therefore, legally, Russia and Japan remain at war to this day. There is also a joint declaration of 1956, when the USSR promised to transfer Shikotan and Habomai to Japan after the conclusion of peace, and a few years later announced unilateral refusal from this point.

The Russian Federation recognizes itself as the legal successor of the USSR and accordingly recognizes the agreements signed by the Soviet Union. Including the declaration of 1956. Bidding for Shikotan and Habomai continues.

island treasures

The main myth about the South Kuriles is the assertion that their loss will lead to the loss of the only non-freezing exit from Sea of ​​Okhotsk to the Pacific Ocean through the Frieze and Catherine Straits. The straits do not really freeze, but this does not matter much: most of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk freezes anyway, and without icebreakers, winter navigation is impossible here. Moreover, in any case, Japan cannot restrict the passage through the straits, as long as it adheres to the international maritime law. In addition, the main routes of the region do not pass through the South Kuriles.

Another myth is the opposite: as if the Southern Kuriles bring more headaches than they have value, and no one will lose anything from their transfer. This is wrong. The islands are rich natural resources, including unique ones. On Iturup, for example, there is an extremely valuable deposit of the rarest rhenium metal on the Kudryavy volcano.

Kunashir Island. Golovnin volcano caldera. Photo: Yury Koshel

But the most obvious Kuril resource- natural. Since 1992, Japanese tourists have been actively traveling here on a visa-free exchange, and Kunashir and Iturup have long become the most popular of all Kuril tourist routes. After all, the Southern Kuriles are an ideal place for ecotourism. whims local climate, fraught with the most dangerous cataclysms from eruptions to tsunamis, bathe in the pristine beauty of the islands in the ocean.

For more than thirty years, the nature of the Southern Kuriles has an official protected status. The Kurilsky Reserve and the Small Kuriles reserve of federal importance protect most of Kunashir and Shikotan and many other small islands of the Small Ridge. And even a sophisticated traveler will not be indifferent to the ecological routes of the reserve to the Tyatya volcano, to the picturesque mineralized lakes of the caldera of the oldest volcano on the islands of Golovnin, to the thicket of the relict forest along the Stolbovskaya ecotrail, to the fantastic basalt rocks of Cape Stolbchaty, similar to a huge stone organ. And there are also bears of a special gray color, fearless foxes, curious anthur seals, graceful Japanese cranes, thousands of flocks of waterfowl on autumn and spring migrations, dark coniferous forests where one of the rarest birds on the planet lives - the fish owl, impenetrable thickets of bamboo above human growth, a unique wild magnolia, hot springs and icy mountain rivers, "boiling" from flocks of pink salmon coming to spawn.

Kunashir Island. Volcano Tyatya. Photo: Vlada Valchenko

And Kunashir - the “black island” - is a village Hot Beach with thermal springs, the smoking solfataras of the Mendeleev volcano and the village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, which in the future may become a new center of Far Eastern tourism. Iturup, the largest of the Kuril Islands - "snowy subtropics", nine active volcanoes, waterfalls, thermal springs, hot lakes and the Ostrovnoy regional reserve. Shikotan, popular with “wild” hikers, has quaint bays, mountains, seal rookeries and bird colonies. And Cape Edge of the World, where you can meet the freshest dawn in Russia.

In the chain of islands between Kamchatka and Hokkaido, stretching in a convex arc between the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, on the border of Russia and Japan are the South Kuril Islands - the Habomai group, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup. These territories are disputed by our neighbors, who even included them in the Japanese prefecture. Since these territories are of great economic and strategic importance, the struggle for the South Kuriles has been going on for many years.

Geography

Shikotan Island is located at the same latitude as the subtropical city of Sochi, and the lower ones are at the latitude of Anapa. However, there has never been a climatic paradise here and is not expected. The South Kuril Islands have always belonged to the Far North, although they cannot complain about the same harsh Arctic climate. Here winters are much milder, warmer, summers are not hot. This temperature regime when in February - the coldest month - the thermometer rarely shows below -5 degrees Celsius, even the high humidity of the sea location deprives the negative impact. The monsoonal continental climate here changes significantly, since the close presence of the Pacific Ocean weakens the influence of the no less close Arctic. If in the north of the Kuriles in the summer it is +10 on average, then the South Kuril Islands constantly warm up to +18. Not Sochi, of course, but not Anadyr either.

The ensimatic arc of the islands is located at the very edge of the Okhotsk Plate, above the subduction zone where the Pacific Plate ends. For the most part, the South Kuril Islands are covered with mountains, on Atlasov Island the highest peak is more than two thousand meters. There are also volcanoes, since all the Kuril Islands lie in the Pacific fiery volcanic ring. Seismic activity is also very high here. Thirty-six of the sixty-eight active volcanoes in the Kuriles require constant monitoring. Earthquakes are almost constant here, after which the danger of the world's largest tsunami comes. So, the islands of Shikotan, Simushir and Paramushir have repeatedly suffered greatly from this element. The tsunamis of 1952, 1994 and 2006 were especially large.

Resources, flora

In the coastal zone and on the territory of the islands themselves, reserves of oil, natural gas, mercury, and a huge number of non-ferrous metal ores have been explored. For example, near the Kudryavy volcano there is the richest known rhenium deposit in the world. The same southern part of the Kuril Islands was famous for the extraction of native sulfur. Here, the total resources of gold are 1867 tons, and there are also a lot of silver - 9284 tons, titanium - almost forty million tons, iron - two hundred and seventy-three million tons. Now the development of all minerals is waiting for better times, they are too few in the region, except for such a place as South Sakhalin. The Kuril Islands can generally be regarded as the country's resource reserve for a rainy day. Only two straits of all the Kuril Islands are navigable all year round because they do not freeze. These are the islands of the South Kuril ridge - Urup, Kunashir, Iturup, and between them - the straits of Ekaterina and Friza.

In addition to minerals, there are many other riches that belong to all mankind. This is the flora and fauna of the Kuril Islands. It varies greatly from north to south, since their length is quite large. In the north of the Kuriles there is rather sparse vegetation, and in the south - coniferous forests of amazing Sakhalin fir, Kuril larch, Ayan spruce. In addition, broad-leaved species are very actively involved in covering island mountains and hills: curly oak, elms and maples, calopanax creepers, hydrangeas, actinidia, lemongrass, wild grapes and much, much more. There is even magnolia in Kushanir - the only wild species of obovate magnolia. The most common plant that adorns the South Kuril Islands (landscape photo is attached) is the Kuril bamboo, whose impenetrable thickets hide mountain slopes and forest edges from view. The grasses here, due to the mild and humid climate, are very tall and varied. There are a lot of berries that can be harvested on an industrial scale: lingonberries, crowberries, honeysuckle, blueberries and many others.

Animals, birds and fish

On the Kuril Islands (the northern ones are especially different in this regard), there are about the same number of brown bears as in Kamchatka. There would be the same number in the south if it were not for the presence of Russian military bases. The islands are small, the bear lives close to the rockets. On the other hand, especially in the south, there are many foxes, because there is an extremely large amount of food for them. Small rodents - a huge number and many species, there are very rare ones. Of the terrestrial mammals, there are four orders here: bats (brown earflaps, bats), hares, mice and rats, predators (foxes, bears, although they are few, mink and sable).

From marine mammals sea ​​otters, anturs (this is a species of island seal), sea lions and spotted seals live in the coastal island waters. A little further from the coast there are many cetaceans - dolphins, killer whales, minke whales, northern swimmers and sperm whales. Accumulations of eared sea lion seals are observed along the entire coast of the Kuril Islands, especially a lot of them on the season. Here you can see colonies of fur seals, bearded seals, seals, lionfish. decoration of marine fauna - sea otter. The precious fur animal was on the verge of extinction in the very recent past. Now the situation with the sea otter is gradually leveling off. Fish in coastal waters is of great commercial importance, but there are also crabs, and molluscs, and squids, and trepangs, all crustaceans, and seaweed. The population of the South Kuril Islands is mainly engaged in the extraction of seafood. In general, this place can be called without exaggeration one of the most productive territories in the oceans.

Colonial birds make up huge and most picturesque bird colonies. These are silly, storm-petrels, cormorants, various gulls, kittiwakes, guillemots, puffins and many, many more. There are many here and the Red Book, rare - albatrosses and petrels, mandarins, ospreys, golden eagles, eagles, peregrine falcons, gyrfalcons, Japanese cranes and snipes, owls. They winter in the Kuriles from ducks - mallards, teals, goldeneyes, swans, mergansers, sea eagles. Of course, there are many ordinary sparrows and cuckoos. Only on Iturup there are more than two hundred species of birds, of which one hundred are nesting. Eighty-four species from those listed in the Red Book live in.

History: seventeenth century

The problem of ownership of the South Kuril Islands did not appear yesterday. Before the arrival of the Japanese and Russians, the Ainu lived here, who met new people with the word "kuru", which meant - a person. The Russians picked up the word with their usual humor and called the natives "smokers". Hence the name of the entire archipelago. The Japanese were the first to draw up maps of Sakhalin and all the Kuriles. This happened in 1644. However, the problem of belonging to the South Kuril Islands arose even then, because a year earlier, other maps of this region were compiled by the Dutch, led by de Vries.

The lands have been described. But it's not true. Friz, after whom the strait he discovered is named, attributed Iturup to the northeast of the island of Hokkaido, and considered Urup to be part of North America. A cross was erected on Urup, and all this land was declared the property of Holland. And the Russians came here in 1646 with the expedition of Ivan Moskvitin, and the Cossack Kolobov with the funny name Nehoroshko Ivanovich later colorfully spoke about the bearded Ainu inhabiting the islands. The following, slightly more extensive information came from the Kamchatka expedition of Vladimir Atlasov in 1697.

18th century

The history of the South Kuril Islands says that the Russians really came to these lands in 1711. The Kamchatka Cossacks rebelled, killed the authorities, and then changed their minds and decided to earn forgiveness or die. Therefore, they assembled an expedition to travel to new uncharted lands. Danila Antsiferov and Ivan Kozyrevsky with a detachment in August 1711 landed on the northern islands of Paramushir and Shumshu. This expedition gave new knowledge about a whole range of islands, including Hokkaido. In this regard, in 1719, Peter the Great entrusted reconnaissance to Ivan Evreinov and Fyodor Luzhin, through whose efforts a whole range of islands was declared Russian territories, including the island of Simushir. But the Ainu, of course, did not want to submit and go under the authority of the Russian Tsar. Only in 1778, Antipin and Shabalin managed to convince the Kuril tribes, and about two thousand people from Iturup, Kunashir and even Hokkaido passed into Russian citizenship. And in 1779, Catherine II issued a decree exempting all new eastern subjects from any taxes. And even then conflicts began with the Japanese. They even banned the Russians from visiting Kunashir, Iturup and Hokkaido.

The Russians did not yet have real control here, but lists of lands were compiled. And Hokkaido, despite the presence on its territory japanese city, was recorded as belonging to Russia. The Japanese, on the other hand, visited the south of the Kuriles a lot and often, for which the local population rightly hated them. The Ainu did not really have the strength to rebel, but little by little they harmed the invaders: either they would sink the ship, or they would burn the outpost. In 1799, the Japanese had already organized the protection of Iturup and Kunashir. Although the Russian fishermen settled there relatively long ago - approximately in 1785-87 - the Japanese rudely asked them to leave the islands and destroyed all evidence of Russian presence on this land. The history of the South Kuril Islands already then began to acquire intrigue, but no one knew at that time how long it would be. For the first seventy years - until 1778 - the Russians did not even meet with the Japanese in the Kuriles. The meeting took place in Hokkaido, which at that time had not yet been conquered by Japan. The Japanese came to trade with the Ainu, and here the Russians are already catching fish. Naturally, the samurai got angry, began to shake their weapons. Catherine sent a diplomatic mission to Japan, but the conversation did not work out even then.

Nineteenth century - a century of concessions

In 1805, negotiations on trade tried to continue famous Nicholas Rezanov, who arrived in Nagasaki and failed. Unable to endure the shame, he instructed two ships to make a military expedition to the South Kuril Islands - to stake out the disputed territories. It turned out to be a good revenge for the destroyed Russian trading posts, burned ships and expelled (those who survived) fishermen. A number of Japanese trading posts were destroyed, a village on Iturup was burned. Russo-Japanese relations approached the last pre-war brink.

Only in 1855 was the first real demarcation of territories made. northern islands- Russia, southern - Japan. Plus joint Sakhalin. It was a pity to give away the rich crafts of the South Kuril Islands, Kunashir - especially. Iturup, Habomai and Shikotan also became Japanese. And in 1875, Russia received the right of undivided possession of Sakhalin for the cession of all the Kuril Islands without exception to Japan.

Twentieth century: defeats and victories

In the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Russia, despite the heroism of the worthy songs of cruisers and gunboats, which were defeated in an unequal battle, lost along with the war half of Sakhalin - the southern, most valuable one. But in February 1945, when the victory over Nazi Germany was already predetermined, the USSR set a condition for Great Britain and the United States: it would help defeat the Japanese if they returned the territories that belonged to Russia: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the Kuril Islands. The Allies promised, and in July 1945 the Soviet Union confirmed its commitment. Already in early September, the Kuril Islands were completely occupied by Soviet troops. And in February 1946, a decree was issued on education South Sakhalin region, which included the Kuriles in full force, which became part of the Khabarovsk Territory. This is how the return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to Russia happened.

Japan was forced to sign a peace treaty in 1951, which stated that it does not and will not claim rights, titles and claims regarding the Kuril Islands. And in 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan were preparing to sign the Moscow Declaration, which confirmed the end of the war between these states. As a sign of goodwill, the USSR agreed to transfer two Kuril Islands to Japan: Shikotan and Habomai, but the Japanese refused to accept them because they did not refuse claims to other southern islands - Iturup and Kunashir. Here again the United States had an impact on the destabilization of the situation when it threatened not to return the island of Okinawa to Japan if this document was signed. That is why the South Kuril Islands are still disputed territories.

Today's century, twenty-first

Today, the problem of the South Kuril Islands is still relevant, despite the fact that a peaceful and cloudless life has long been established in the entire region. Russia cooperates with Japan quite actively, but from time to time the conversation about the ownership of the Kuriles is raised. In 2003, a Russian-Japanese action plan was adopted regarding cooperation between the countries. Presidents and prime ministers exchange visits, numerous Russian-Japanese friendship societies of various levels have been created. However, all the same claims are constantly made by the Japanese, but not accepted by the Russians.

In 2006, a whole delegation from a public organization popular in Japan, the Solidarity League for the Return of Territories, visited Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. In 2012, however, Japan abolished the term "illegal occupation" in relation to Russia in matters relating to the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. And in the Kuril Islands, the development of resources continues, federal programs for the development of the region are being introduced, the amount of funding is increasing, a zone with tax benefits has been created there, the islands are visited by the highest government officials of the country.

The Problem of Ownership

How can one disagree with the documents signed in February 1945 at Yalta, where the conference of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition decided the fate of the Kuriles and Sakhalin, which would return to Russia immediately after the victory over Japan? Or did Japan not sign the Potsdam Declaration after signing its own Instrument of Surrender? She did sign. And it clearly states that its sovereignty is limited to the islands of Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu. All! On September 2, 1945, this document was signed by Japan, therefore, and the conditions indicated there were confirmed.

And on September 8, 1951, a peace treaty was signed in San Francisco, where she renounced in writing all claims to the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island with its adjacent islands. This means that its sovereignty over these territories, obtained after the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, is no longer valid. Although here the United States acted extremely insidiously, adding a very tricky clause, because of which the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia did not sign this treaty. This country, as always, did not keep its word, because it is in the nature of its politicians to always say "yes", but some of these answers will mean - "no". The United States left a loophole in the treaty for Japan, which, having slightly licked its wounds and released, as it turned out, paper cranes after the nuclear bombings, resumed its claims.

Arguments

They were as follows:

1. In 1855, the Kuril Islands were included in the original possession of Japan.

2. The official position of Japan is that the Chisima Islands are not part of the Kuril chain, so Japan did not renounce them by signing an agreement in San Francisco.

3. The USSR did not sign the treaty in San Francisco.

So, Japan's territorial claims are made to the South Kuril Islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup, whose total area is 5175 square kilometers, and these are the so-called northern territories, owned by Japan. In contrast, Russia says on the first point that the Russo-Japanese War annulled the Shimoda Treaty, on the second point - that Japan signed a declaration on the end of the war, which, in particular, says that the two islands - Habomai and Shikotan - the USSR is ready give after the signing of the peace treaty. On the third point, Russia agrees: yes, the USSR did not sign this paper with a cunning amendment. But there is no country as such, so there is nothing to talk about.

At one time, it was somehow inconvenient to talk about territorial claims with the USSR, but when it collapsed, Japan plucked up courage. However, judging by everything, even now these encroachments are in vain. Although in 2004 the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that he agreed to talk about the territories with Japan, nevertheless, one thing is clear: no changes in the ownership of the Kuril Islands can occur.

habomai map, habomai
(Jap. 歯舞群島 Habomai-gunto ?, Suisho, “Flat Islands”) is the Japanese name for a group of islands in the northwest Pacific Ocean, together with Shikotan Island in Soviet and Russian cartography included in the Lesser Kuril Ridge. The Habomai group includes the islands of Polonsky, Oskolki, Zeleny, Tanfiliev, Yuri, Demin, Anuchin and a number of small ones. Separated by the Soviet Strait from the island of Hokkaido. Area - 100 km².

• 1 Etymology and use of the name
• 2 Description
• 3 List of islands
• 4 Notes
• 5 Links

Etymology and use of the name

The unifying Japanese name for the group of islands is derived from the former administrative-territorial division of Japan: until April 1, 1959, Habomai County formally existed.

In recent years, there has been a discussion in Russian society about the permissibility of using the name "Habomai" in Russian. So, in the resolution of the Sakhalin Regional Duma dated February 18, 1999, it was noted that the name Habomai was used in a number of Russian-Japanese agreements of 1998, which led to the widespread use of this name in the Russian media. The statement drew attention to the letter of the Interdepartmental Commission on Geographical Names of the Russian Federation (MVK N 2257 of October 1, 1997), as well as to the requirements of Art. 8, 11 of the Federal Law "On the names of geographical objects" N 152-FZ of December 18, 1997. Based on these documents, the Sakhalin Oblast Duma

1. demanded that the use of such Japanese geographical names in Russian official documents and mass media be considered unacceptable;
2. proposed to make appropriate changes to the Russian-Japanese treaties of 1998.

Responding to this kind of criticism, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov explained that the name "Habomai" was used "... in the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan of October 19, 1956, which was ratified by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and is a valid international treaty. Since international treaties take precedence over domestic legislation, the name "Habomai" was later repeatedly used in official Russian-Japanese documents."

In the summer of 2006, Sakh.com news agency reported on a situation where the use of the name "Habomai" on a website was recognized as an administrative offense, for which a fine of 30 minimum wages (equivalent to 3,000 rubles) was collected from the site manager.

Description

The islands are elongated in a line parallel to the Great Kuril Ridge, 48 km south of the latter. The straits between the islands are shallow, filled with reefs and underwater rocks. Strong tidal currents and persistent thick fogs make the straits extremely dangerous for navigation.

Most of the islands are low-lying. Desert, rocky, meadow landscapes; there are no forests, there are bush thickets and swamps. This group of islands is characterized by a humid maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. Judging by the observation of the breeding season of some rodents, which here lasts until November, the climate of Khabomaev is even milder than in Kunashir.

There are no civilians on the islands - only Russian border guards.

The Habomai archipelago, along with the islands of Kunashir, Iturup and Shikotan, is the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.

List of islands

• Green Island (志発島, shibotsu-to: ?
• Polonsky Island (jap. 多楽島 taraku-to:?
• Tanfiliev Island
• Yuri Island
• Anuchin Island (秋勇留島 akyu:ri-to:?
• Demin Islands (Jap. 春苅島 harukari-to:?
• Shard Islands
  • Kira rock
  • Rock Cave (Kanakuso) - a rookery of sea lions on a rock.
  • Sail Rock (Hokoki)
  • Candle Rock (Rosoku)
  • Fox Islands (Todo)
  • Bump Islands (Kabuto)
• Can Dangerous
  • Watchtower Island (Homosiri or Muika)
  • Drying Rock (Odoke)
  • Reef Island (Amagi-sho)
  • Signal Island
• Amazing Rock (Hanare)
• Seagull Rock

Notes

1. What is the "Northern Territories"?
2. 1 2 3 4 S. A. Ponomarev // Provincial Gazette (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk). - September 19, 2001. - No. 176.

   In fact, Habomai is, firstly, the name of a village on the island of Hokkaido - the center of the county of the same name, and secondly, the unifying Japanese name for a group of small islands, derived from the former administrative division Japan. Russian cartography, these islands are part of the Lesser Kuril chain, where they are included together with the larger island of Shikotan.

   Behind the foreign name Khabomai, which seems to be hammered into national self-consciousness, there are about 20 islands and rocks that have their own Russian names.

3. Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Atlas of the USSR. - M., 1990. - S. 76.
4. Oleg Alekseevich Bogatikov. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. petrographic committee. Oceanic magmatism: evolution, geological correlation. - Moscow: Nauka, 1986. - S. 186.
5. V. Barkalov, S. S. Kharkevich. Institute of Biology and Soil (Academy of Sciences of the USSR), All-Union Botanical Society, Scientific Council on the problem "Biological Basis for the Rational Use, Transformation and Protection of the Plant World" (Academy of Sciences of the USSR). Far East branch. Plant world of high-mountain ecosystems of the USSR: a collection of scientific papers. - Vladivostok, 1986. - 159 p.
6. N. N. MIKHAILOV My Russia. - Soviet Russia. - M., 1971. - S. 232.
7. Japan

   As for the problem of border demarcation, official Tokyo, having formally abandoned the policy of "linking" the development of bilateral relations with the solution of the territorial problem, nevertheless, does not miss the opportunity to emphasize that "building a strategic partnership with Russia based on genuine trust is possible only while simultaneously moving towards a solution to the problem of issues”, of course, on the basis of the well-known Japanese position (Russia's recognition of Japanese sovereignty over the South Kuril islands of Kunashir and Iturup, as well as the Lesser Kuril Ridge - Shikotan Island and the Khabomai group of islands.)

8. "On the use of Russian names of geographical objects on the Kuril Islands". Resolution of the Sakhalin Regional Duma (February 18, 1999 No. 16/4/52-2). Retrieved September 14, 2011. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012.
9. Igor Ivanov. Russia should be active in the Asia-Pacific Region, Nezavisimaya Gazeta (02/23/1999). Retrieved September 15, 2011.
10. Natalia Krapivina. Erase Habomai - 2, Sakhalin.info, Sakh.com news agency (June 7, 2006). Retrieved September 15, 2011.
11. DisCollection.ru:: Small mammals of the southern Kuril Islands
12. Country Studies: Southern Kuriles or Northern Territories?
13. Soviet-Japanese declaration of 1956

    At the same time, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests Japanese state, agrees to the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the island of Sikotan to Japan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan.

14. Tokyo Declaration on Russo-Japanese Relations

    The President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of Japan, adhering to a common understanding of the need to overcome the difficult legacy of the past in bilateral relations, held serious talks on the issue of belonging to the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai islands. The parties agree that negotiations should be continued with a view to the speedy conclusion of a peace treaty by resolving this issue, based on historical and legal facts, and on the basis of documents developed by agreement between the two countries, as well as the principles of legality and justice, and thus fully normalize bilateral relationship.

15. Irkutsk Statement by the President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of Japan on the further continuation of negotiations on the problem of a peace treaty

    ... based on this, we agreed to speed up further negotiations with a view to concluding a peace treaty by resolving the issue of ownership of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai and thus achieve the full normalization of bilateral relations on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration of 1993.

Links

• Topographic map of the Habomai archipelago
• Small Kuril Ridge

habomai, habomai map

Habomai Information About

In view of recent events, many inhabitants of the planet are interested in where the Kuril Islands are located, as well as to whom they belong. If there is still no concrete answer to the second question, then the first can be answered quite unambiguously. The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands approximately 1.2 kilometers long. It runs from the Kamchatka Peninsula to an island landmass called Hokkaido. A kind of convex arc, consisting of fifty-six islands, is located in two parallel lines, and also separates the Sea of ​​​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. The total territorial area is 10,500 km 2. Stretched from the south state border between Japan and Russia.

The lands in question are of inestimable economic and military-strategic importance. Most of them are considered part of the Russian Federation and belong to the Sakhalin region. However, the status of such components of the archipelago, including Shikotan, Kunashir, Iturup, and the Habomai group, is disputed by the Japanese authorities, which classifies the listed islands as part of the Hokkaido prefecture. Thus, you can find the Kuril Islands on the map of Russia, but Japan plans to legalize the ownership of some of them. These territories have their own characteristics. For example, the archipelago belongs entirely to the Far North, if you look at legal documents. And this is despite the fact that Shikotan is located in the same latitude as the city of Sochi and Anapa.

Kunashir, Cape Stolbchaty

Climate of the Kuril Islands

Within the area under consideration, a temperate maritime climate prevails, which can be called cool rather than warm. The main impact on climatic conditions exert baric systems, which are usually formed above northern part the Pacific Ocean, the cold Kuril Current, and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. South part the archipelago is covered by monsoon atmospheric flows, for example, the Asian winter anticyclone also dominates there.

Shikotan Island

It should be noted that the weather on the Kuril Islands is quite changeable. The landscapes of the local latitudes are characterized by less heat supply than the territories of the corresponding latitudes, but in the center of the mainland. The average minus temperature in winter is the same for each island included in the chain, and ranges from -5 to -7 degrees. In winter, prolonged heavy snowfalls, thaws, increased cloudiness and blizzards often occur. In summer, temperature indicators vary from +10 to +16 degrees. The further south the island is located, the higher the air temperature will be.

The main factor influencing the summer temperature index is the nature of the hydrological circulation characteristic of coastal waters.

If we consider the components of the average and northern group islands, it is worth noting that the temperature of coastal waters there does not rise above five to six degrees, therefore, these territories are characterized by the lowest summer rate for the Northern Hemisphere. During the year, the archipelago receives from 1000 to 1400 mm of precipitation, which is evenly distributed over the seasons. You can also talk about everywhere excess moisture. IN south side chains in summer, the humidity index exceeds ninety percent, due to which fogs dense in their consistency appear. If you carefully consider the latitudes where the Kuril Islands are located on the map, we can conclude that the area is particularly difficult. It is regularly affected by cyclones, which are accompanied by excessive precipitation, and can also cause typhoons.

Simushir Island

Population

Territories are populated unevenly. The population of the Kuril Islands lives year-round in Shikotan, Kunashir, Paramushir and Iturup. There is no permanent population in other parts of the archipelago. In total, there are nineteen settlements, including sixteen villages, an urban-type settlement called Yuzhno-Kurilsk, and two major cities, including Kurilsk and Severo-Kurilsk. In 1989 it was recorded maximum value the population, which was equal to 30,000 people.

The high population density at the time Soviet Union due to subsidies from those regions, as well as big amount military personnel who inhabited the islands of Simushir, Shumshu and so on.

By 2010, the rate had dropped significantly. In total, 18,700 people occupied the territory, of which approximately 6,100 live within the Kuril District, and 10,300 in the South Kuril District. The rest of the people occupied the local villages. The population has decreased significantly due to the remoteness of the archipelago, but the climate of the Kuril Islands also played its role, which not every person can withstand.

Uninhabited Ushishir Islands

How to get to the Kuriles

The easiest way to get here is by air. local airport called "Iturup" is considered one of the most important aviation facilities built from scratch in post-Soviet times. It was built and equipped in accordance with modern technological requirements, so it was given the status of an international air point. The first flight, which later became regular, was accepted on September 22, 2014. They became the plane of the company "Aurora", which arrived from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. There were fifty passengers on board. This event was negatively perceived by the Japanese authorities, who attribute this territory to their country. Therefore, disputes about who owns the Kuril Islands continue to this day.

It is worth noting that a trip to the Kuriles must be planned in advance. Route planning should take into account that the total archipelago includes fifty-six islands, among which Iturup and Kunashir are the most popular. There are two ways to get to them. It is most convenient to fly by plane, but tickets should be bought a few months before the scheduled date, since there are quite a few flights. The second way is a trip by boat from the port of Korsakov. The journey takes from 18 to 24 hours, but you can buy a ticket only at the box office of the Kuriles or Sakhalin, that is, online sales are not provided.

Urup is desert island volcanic origin

Interesting Facts

Despite all the difficulties, life on the Kuril Islands is developing and growing. The history of the territories began in 1643, when several sections of the archipelago were surveyed by Marten Fries and his team. The first information received by Russian scientists dates back to 1697, when V. Atlasov's campaign across Kamchatka took place. All subsequent expeditions led by I. Kozyrevsky, F. Luzhin, M. Shpanberg and others were aimed at systematic development of the area. After it became clear who discovered the Kuril Islands, you can familiarize yourself with several interesting facts associated with the archipelago:

1. To get to the Kuriles, a tourist will need a special permit, since the zone is a border zone. This document is issued exclusively by the border department of the FSB of Sakhalinsk. To do this, you will need to come to the institution at 9:30 - 10:30 with your passport. The permit will be ready the very next day. Therefore, the traveler will definitely stay in the city for one day, which should be taken into account when planning a trip.
2. Due to the unpredictable climate, visiting the islands, you can get stuck here for a long time, because with bad weather the airport of the Kuril Islands and their ports stop their work. Frequent obstacles are high clouds and nebula. At the same time, we are not talking about a couple of hour flight delays. The traveler should always be prepared to spend an extra week or two here.
3. All five hotels are open for guests of the Kuriles. The hotel called "Vostok" is designed for eleven rooms, "Iceberg" - three rooms, "Flagship" - seven rooms, "Iturup" - 38 rooms, "Island" - eleven rooms. Reservations must be made in advance.
4. Japanese lands can be seen from the windows of local residents, but the best view opens on Kunashir. To verify this fact, the weather must be clear.
5. The Japanese past is closely connected with these territories. Japanese cemeteries and factories remained here, the coast from the Pacific Ocean is densely lined with fragments of Japanese porcelain, which existed even before the war. Therefore, here you can often meet archaeologists or collectors.
6. It is also worth understanding that the disputed Kuril Islands, first of all, are volcanoes. Their territories consist of 160 volcanoes, of which about forty remain active.
7. local flora and the fauna is amazing. Bamboo grows here along the highways, magnolia or mulberry tree can grow near the Christmas tree. The lands are rich in berries, blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, princesses, redberries, Chinese magnolia vines, blueberries and so on grow abundantly here. Locals say that you can meet a bear here, especially near the Tyati Kunashir volcano.
8. Almost every local resident has a car at his disposal, but there are no gas stations in any of the settlements. Fuel is delivered inside special barrels from Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
9. Due to the high seismicity of the region, its territory is built up mainly with two- and three-story buildings. Houses with a height of five floors are already considered skyscrapers and a rarity.
10. Until it is decided whose Kuril Islands, the Russians living here, the duration of the vacation will be 62 days a year. Inhabitants southern ridge can use visa-free regime with Japan. This opportunity is used by about 400 people per year.

The Great Kuril Arc is surrounded underwater volcanoes, some of which regularly make themselves felt. Any eruption causes a resumption of seismic activity, which provokes a “seaquake”. Therefore, local lands are subject to frequent tsunamis. The strongest tsunami wave about 30 meters high in 1952 completely destroyed the city on the island of Paramushir called Severo-Kurilsk.

The last century was also remembered for several natural disasters. Among them, the most famous was the 1952 tsunami that occurred in Paramushir, as well as the 1994 Shikotan tsunami. Therefore, it is believed that such a beautiful nature of the Kuril Islands is also very dangerous for human life, but this does not interfere local cities develop and the population grow.