Russian Kuril Islands on the map. History of the Kuril Islands

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Good day, dear viewers! Today, after a short pause for the next collection of information, I want to send you on a mini-trip to the Kuriles)
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I wish you all a pleasant experience!
Let's go)

The next series of "Unknown Russia" is dedicated to the Kuriles, or the Kuril Islands - a stumbling block in Russian-Japanese relations.

The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido, separating the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean in a convex arc. The length of the arc is about 1200 km. The archipelago includes 30 large and many small islands. The Kuril Islands are part of Sakhalin region.

The four southern islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai - are disputed by Japan, which on its maps includes them as part of Hokkaido Prefecture and considers them "temporarily occupied."

There are 68 volcanoes on the Kuril Islands, 36 of which are active.

There is a permanent population only in Paramushir, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan.

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." The word “kuru” turned out to be consonant with our “smoke” - after all, there is always smoke over volcanoes

In Russia, the first mention of the Kuril Islands dates back to 1646, when the traveler N.I. Kolobov spoke about the bearded Ainu inhabiting the islands. The first Russian settlements of that time are evidenced by Dutch, German and Scandinavian medieval chronicles and maps.

The Japanese first received information about the islands during an expedition to Hokkaido in 1635. It is not known whether she actually got to the Kuriles or learned about them indirectly from local residents, but in 1644 the Japanese compiled a map on which the Kurils were designated under the collective name "thousand islands".

Throughout the 18th century, the Russians intensively mastered the Kuriles. In 1779, Catherine II, by her decree, freed all the islanders who accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes.

In 1875, Russia and Japan agreed that the Kuriles belong to Japan, and Sakhalin to Russia, but after the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Russia transferred to Japan southern part Sakhalin.

In February 1945 Soviet Union promised the United States and Great Britain to start a war with Japan on the condition that the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands be returned to him. Japan, as you know, was defeated, the islands were returned to the USSR.

On September 8, 1951, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, according to which it renounced "all rights, titles and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the islands adjacent to it, sovereignty over which Japan acquired under the Portsmouth Treaty of September 5, 1905 of the year". However, in view of many other serious shortcomings of the San Francisco Treaty, representatives of the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia and a number of other countries refused to sign it. This now gives Japan the formal right to assert its belated claim to the islands.

As you can see, there is no way to sort out the question of who should own the Kuril Islands. As long as they belong to us. In international law, they refer to the so-called "disputed territories".

Iturup

The largest island in the archipelago. It is located in its southern part. The population is about 6 thousand people. On Iturup is the main city of the archipelago - Kurilsk. There are 9 active volcanoes on Iturup.

Kunashir Island

southernmost island Kuril ridge. The population is about 8 thousand people. Administrative center- the village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk. In Yuzhno-Kurilsk there is a monument-obelisk in honor of the liberation of the island, on which it is written: “Soviet troops landed in this area in September 1945. Historical justice was restored: the original Russian lands - the Kuril Islands - were liberated from the Japanese militarists and forever reunited with the Motherland - Russia.

There are 4 active volcanoes on the island and many thermal springs, which are places of relaxation. It is separated from Japan by only a 25-kilometer strait. The main attraction is Cape Stolbchaty, a fifty-meter rock, built of almost regular hexagons, tightly adjacent to each other in the form of rods.

(pink salmon spawning)

Shumshu Island

The northernmost of the Kuril Islands, during the Second World War was a powerful military fortress of the Japanese. A 20,000-strong garrison with tanks, pillboxes and airfields was based on it. The capture of Shumshu by Soviet troops was a decisive event in the course of the entire Kuril operation. Now there are remnants of Japanese technology lying around everywhere. Very picturesque.

That, in fact, is all for today!)
Thank you all for another portion of attention and interest in your country)
World!

The mysterious Kuriles are a paradise for any romantic traveler. Inaccessibility, uninhabited, geographical isolation, active volcanoes, far from a "beach climate", avaricious information - not only do not scare away, but also increase the desire to get to the foggy, fire-breathing islands - the former military fortresses of the Japanese army, still hiding deep underground many secrets.
The Kuril arc is a narrow chain of islands, like openwork bridge, connects two worlds - Kamchatka and Japan. The Kuriles are part of the Pacific volcanic ring. The islands are the tops of the highest structures of the volcanic ridge, protruding from the water only 1-2 km, and extending into the depths of the ocean for many kilometers.

In total, there are over 150 volcanoes on the islands, of which 39 are active. The highest of them is the Alaid volcano - 2339 m, located on the island of Atlasov. The presence of numerous thermal springs on the islands is associated with volcanic activity, some of them are curative.

Experts compare the Kuril Islands with a huge Botanical Garden, where representatives of various floras coexist: Japanese-Korean, Manchurian and Okhotsk-Kamchatka. Here they grow together - polar birch and thousand-year-old yew, larch with spruce and wild grapes, cedar dwarf and velvet tree, interweaving of woody vines and carpet thickets of lingonberries. Traveling around the islands, you can visit various natural areas, get from the pristine taiga to subtropical thickets, from the moss tundra to the jungle of giant grasses.
The seabed around the islands is covered with dense vegetation, in the thickets of which numerous fish, molluscs, marine animals find refuge, and crystal pure water makes it possible for lovers of underwater travel to navigate well in the jungle of sea kale, where unique finds also occur - sunken ships and Japanese military equipment- reminders of military events in history Kuril archipelago.

Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Kunashir

GEOGRAPHY, WHERE THEY ARE, HOW TO GET TO
The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido, separating the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean in a slightly convex arc.
The length is about 1200 km. The total area is 10.5 thousand km². To the south of them is the state border of the Russian Federation with Japan.
The islands form two parallel ridges: the Greater Kuril and the Lesser Kuril. Includes 56 islands. They are of great military-strategic and economic importance. The Kuril Islands are part of the Sakhalin region of Russia. The southern islands of the archipelago - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group - are disputed by Japan, which includes them in the Hokkaido prefecture.

The Kuril Islands belong to the regions of the Far North
The climate on the islands is marine, rather severe, with cold and long winters, cool summers, and high humidity. The mainland monsoon climate undergoes significant changes here. In the southern part of the Kuril Islands, winter frosts can reach -25 ° C, average temperature February - -8 °C. In the northern part, the winter is milder, with frosts down to -16 ° C and -7 ° C in February.
In winter, the islands are affected by the Aleutian baric minimum, the effect of which weakens by June.
The average temperature in August in the southern part of the Kuril Islands is +17 °C, in the north - +10 °C.

Iturup Island, White Rocks Kuril Islands

List of KURIL ISLANDS
List of islands with an area of ​​more than 1 km² in the direction from north to south.
Name, Area, km², height, Latitude, Longitude
Great Kuril Ridge
northern group
Atlasova 150 2339 50°52" 155°34"
Shumshu 388 189 50°45" 156°21"
Paramushir 2053 1816 50°23" 155°41"
Antsiferova 7 747 50°12" 154°59"
Macanrushi 49 1169 49°46" 154°26"
Onecotan 425 1324 49°27" 154°46"
Harimkotan 68 1157 49°07" 154°32"
Chirinkotan 6 724 48°59" 153°29"
Ekarma 30 1170 48°57" 153°57"
Shiashkotan 122 934 48°49" 154°06"

middle group
Raikoke 4.6 551 48°17" 153°15"
Matua 52 1446 48°05" 153°13"
Russhua 67 948 47°45" 153°01"
Ushishir Islands 5 388 — —
Ryponkicha 1.3 121 47°32" 152°50"
Yankich 3.7 388 47°31" 152°49"
Ketoi 73 1166 47°20" 152°31"
Simushir 353 1539 46°58" 152°00"
Broughton 7 800 46°43" 150°44"
Black Brothers Islands 37,749 — —
Chirpoy 21 691 46°30" 150°55"
Brat-Chirpoev 16,749 46°28" 150°50" Kuril Islands

Southern group
Urup 1450 1426 45°54" 149°59"
Iturup 3318.8 1634 45°00" 147°53"
Kunashir 1495.24 1819 44°05" 145°59"

Small Kuril Ridge
Shikotan 264.13 412 43°48" 146°45"
Polonsky 11.57 16 43°38" 146°19"
Green 58.72 24 43°30" 146°08"
Tanfilyev 12.92 15 43°26" 145°55"
Yuri 10.32 44 43°25" 146°04"
Anuchina 2.35 33 43°22" 146°00"

volcano Atsonapuri Kuril Islands

Geological structure
The Kuril Islands are a typical ensimatic island arc at the edge of the Okhotsk plate. It sits above a subduction zone where the Pacific Plate is being swallowed up. Most of the islands are mountainous. highest height 2339 m - Atlasov Island, Alaid volcano. The Kuril Islands are located in the Pacific volcanic ring of fire in a zone of high seismic activity: out of 68 volcanoes, 36 are active, there are hot mineral springs. Large tsunamis are not uncommon. The most famous are the tsunami of November 5, 1952 in Paramushir and the Shikotan tsunami of October 5, 1994. The last major tsunami occurred on November 15, 2006 in Simushir.

South Kuril Bay, Kunashir Island

earthquakes
In Japan, an average of 1,500 earthquakes per year is recorded, i.e. 4 earthquakes per day. Most of they are associated with movement in the earth's crust (tectonics). Over 15 centuries, 223 destructive earthquakes and 2000 of medium strength were noted and described: These, however, are far from complete numbers, since earthquakes began to be recorded in Japan with special instruments only since 1888. A significant proportion of earthquakes occur in the Kuril Islands region, where they are often appear as seaquakes. Captain Snow, who hunted sea animals here for many years, at the end of the last century, repeatedly observed such phenomena. So, for example, on July 12, 1884, 4 miles west of the Srednov stones, the gusty noise and shuddering of the ship lasted about two hours with intervals of 15 minutes and a duration of 30 seconds. The waves of the sea were not noticed at that time. The water temperature was normal, about 2.25°C.
Between 1737 and 1888 16 devastating earthquakes were noted in the region of the islands, for 1915-1916. - 3 catastrophic earthquakes in the middle part of the ridge, in 1929 - 2 similar earthquakes in the north.
Sometimes these phenomena are associated with underwater lava eruptions. The destructive impacts of earthquakes sometimes raise a huge wave (tsunami) on the sea, which is repeated several times. With colossal force, it falls on the shores, complementing the destruction from the shaking of the soil. The height of the wave can be judged, for example, from the case of the ship “Natalia”, sent by Lebedev-Lastochkin and Shelekhov under the command of the navigator Petushkov to the 18th island: “On January 8, 1780, there was a severe earthquake; the sea rose so high that the gukor (A. S.’s ship), which was in the harbor, was carried to the middle of the island ... ”(Berkh, 1823, pp. 140-141; Pozdneev, p. 11). The wave caused by the earthquake of 1737 reached a height of 50 m and hit the shore with terrible force, breaking the rocks. Several new rocks and cliffs have risen in the Second Channel. During an earthquake on Simushir in 1849, all sources of groundwater dried up, and its population was forced to move to other places.

Paramushir island, Ebeko volcano

Mendeleev volcano, Kunashir island

Mineral springs
The presence of numerous hot and highly mineralized springs on the islands is associated with volcanic activity. They are found on almost all islands, especially on Kunashir, Iturup, Ushishir, Raikok, Shikotan, Ekarma. On the first of them there are quite a few boiling springs. On others, hot keys have a temperature of 35-70 ° C. They go out to different places and have different debits.
On about. A Raikoke spring with a temperature of 44°C gushes at the foot of high cliffs and forms bath-like pools in the cracks of the hardened lava.
On about. Ushishir is a powerful boiling spring that comes out in the crater of a volcano, etc. The water of many springs is colorless, transparent, and most often contains sulfur, sometimes deposited along the edges with yellow grains. For drinking purposes, the water of most sources is unsuitable.
Some springs are considered healing and on the inhabited islands are used for healing. The gases emitted by volcanoes along fissures are often also rich in sulfurous fumes.

Devil's finger Kuril Islands

Natural resources
On the islands and coastal zone industrial reserves of non-ferrous metal ores, mercury, natural gas, and oil have been explored. On the island of Iturup, in the area of ​​the Kudryavy volcano, there is the richest mineral deposit of rhenium known in the world. Here, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Japanese mined native sulfur. The total resources of gold in the Kuril Islands are estimated at 1867 tons, silver - 9284 tons, titanium - 39.7 million tons, iron - 273 million tons. Currently, the development of minerals is not numerous.
Of all the Kuril Straits, only the Frieze Strait and the Ekaterina Strait are non-freezing navigable.

Bird's waterfall, Kunashir

Flora and fauna
Flora
Due to the large length of the islands from north to south, the flora of the Kurils is extremely different. On northern islands(Paramushir, Shumshu and others), due to the harsh climate, woody vegetation is rather scarce and is represented mainly by shrub forms (dwarf trees): alder (alder), birch, willow, mountain ash, elfin cedar (cedar). On the southern islands (Iturup, Kunashir) grow coniferous forests from Sakhalin fir, Ayan spruce and Kuril larch with a large participation of broad-leaved species: curly oak, maples, elms, calopanax seven-lobed with big amount woody vines: petiolate hydrangeas, actinidia, Chinese magnolia vine, wild grapes, poisonous oriental toxicodendron, etc. In the south of Kunashir, there is the only wild magnolia species in Russia - obovate magnolia. One of the main landscape plants of the Kuriles, starting from the middle islands (Ketoi and to the south), is Kuril bamboo, which forms impenetrable thickets on mountain slopes and forest edges. Tall grasses are common on all islands due to the humid climate. Various berries are widely represented: crowberry, lingonberry, blueberry, honeysuckle and others.
There are more than 40 species of endemic plants. For example, Kavakam astragalus, island wormwood, Kuril edelweiss, found on Iturup Island; Ito and Saussurea Kuril, growing on the island of Urup.
The following plants are protected on the island of Iturup: endangered Asiatic half-flower, flowering plants mainland aralia, heart-shaped aralia, seven-lobed calopanax, Japanese kandyk, Wright's viburnum, Glen's cardiocrinum, obovate peony, Fori rhododendron, Sugeroki's holly, Gray's two-leaf, pearl marsh, wolfwort low, mountain peony, lichens glossodium japanese and stereocaulon naked, gymnosperms juniper Sargent and yew spiky, bryophyte bryoxiphium savatier and atractylocarpus alpine, growing near the volcano Baransky. On the island of Urup protected viburnum Wright, Aralia heart-shaped and plagiotium obtuse.

Alaid volcano, Atlasov Island

Fauna
A brown bear lives on Kunashir, Iturup and Paramushir, and a bear was also found on Shumshu, but during a long stay on the island of a military base, due to its relatively small size, the bears on Shumshu were mostly knocked out. Shumshu is a connecting island between Paramushir and Kamchatka, and individual bears are now found there. Foxes and small rodents live on the islands. A large number of birds: plovers, gulls, ducks, cormorants, petrels, albatrosses, passerines, owls, falconiformes and others. Lots of bird colonies.
coastal undersea world, unlike the islands, is not only numerous, but also very diverse. Seals, sea otters, killer whales, sea lions live in coastal waters. Of great commercial importance are: fish, crabs, molluscs, squids, crustaceans, trepangs, sea cucumbers, sea ​​urchins, seaweed, whales. The seas washing the shores of Sakhalin and the Kuriles are among the most productive areas of the World Ocean.
Endemic animals (mollusks) are also present on Iturup Island: Iturup lacustrine, Iturup sharovka (Lake Reidovo), Kuril pearl mussel, Sinanodont-like kunashiriya and Iturup zatvorka are found on Dobroye Lake.
On February 10, 1984, the Kurilsky State Nature Reserve was established. 84 species included in the Red Book of Russia live on its territory.

Kunashir Island, Pervukhin Bay

History of the islands
17th-18th century
The honor of discovery, exploration and initial development of the Kuril Islands belongs to Russian expeditions and colonists.

The first visit to the islands is attributed to the Dutchman Gerrits Fries, who visited Fr. Uruppu. Calling this land "Company Land" - Companys lant (Reclus, 1885, p. 565), Friese, however, did not assume that it was part of the Kuril ridge.
The remaining islands north of Uruppu to Kamchatka were discovered and described by Russian "explorers" and navigators. And the Russians discovered Uruppa for the second time at the beginning of the 18th century. Japan at that time were known only o. Kunashiri and the Malaya Kuril ridge, but they were not part of the Japanese Empire. The northernmost colony of Japan was about. Hokkaido.
The server islands of the Kuril ridge were first reported by the clerk of the Anadyr prison, the Pentecostal Vl. Atlasov, who discovered Kamchatka. In 1697, he walked along the western coast of Kamchatka to the south to the mouth of the river. Golygina and from here "I saw how there are islands at sea."
Not knowing that trade with foreigners had been prohibited in Japan since 1639, Peter I in 1702 gave the task of establishing good-neighbourly trade relations with Japan. From that time on, Russian expeditions persistently made their way south of Kamchatka in search of trade route to Japan. In 1706, the Cossack M. Nasedkin clearly saw land in the south from Cape Lopatka. According to the order of the Yakut voivode to “provide” this land, the Cossack ataman D. Antsiferov and Yesaul Ivan Kozyrevsky in 1711 went to about. Shumushu (Shumshu) and Paramusir (Paramushir), and upon their return they made a “drawing” of all the islands. To draw the southern islands, they used the stories of Japanese fishermen who were thrown out by a storm to Kamchatka and saw southern islands.
In the campaign of 1713, Yesaul Ivan Kozyrevsky again "visited" the islands beyond the "transitions" (straits) and made a new "drawing". The surveyors Evreinov and Luzhin were surveying on the map in 1720 from Kamchatka to the Sixth Island (Simushiru). After 10 years, the brave leader of the "explorers" V. Shestakov with 25 service people visited the five northern islands. Following him, thorough work "for the sake of observation and finding a way to Japan" was carried out by Captain Spanberg, Bering's assistant on his second expedition.
During 1738-1739. Spanberg mapped and described almost all the islands. Based on his materials, they were shown on the "General Map Russian Empire» in the Academic Atlas of 1745, 40 islands under Russian names, for example, the islands of Anfinogen, Krasnogorsk, Stolbovoy, Krivoy, Osypnoy, Kozel, Brat, Sister, Olkhovy, Zeleny, etc. As a result of Spanberg’s work, the composition of the entire island range. The previously known extreme southern islands (“Company Land”, the island of “States”) were defined as components of the Kuril ridge.
For a long time before that, there was an idea of ​​some large "Land of Gama" to the east of Asia. The legend of Gama's hypothetical Land was forever dispelled.
In the same years, the Russians got acquainted with the small indigenous population of the islands - the Ainu. According to the largest Russian geographer of that time, S. Krasheninnikov, on about. Shumushu by the 40s of the 18th century. there were only 44 souls.
In 1750 he sailed to about. Shimushiru is the foreman of the First Nick Island. Storozhev. After 16 years (in 1766), foremen Nikita Chikin, Chuprov and centurion Iv. Black again tried to find out the number of all the islands and the population on them.

After the death of Chikina on about. Simushiru I. Cherny spent the winter on this island. In 1767 he reached Fr. Etorofu, and then settled on about. Uruppu. Returning to Kamchatka in the autumn of 1769, Cherny reported that on 19 islands (including Etorofu) 83 "shaggy" (Ainu) had accepted Russian citizenship.
In their actions, Chikin and Cherny were obliged to be guided by the instructions of the Bolsheretsk office: “When traveling to distant islands and back ... describe .... their size, the width of the straits, which are on the islands, animals, also rivers, lakes and fish in them. .. To visit about gold and silver ores and pearls ... offenses, taxes, robbery ... and other acts contrary to the decrees and rudeness and fornication violence, not to show, expecting the highest mercy and reward for jealousy. After some time, the Tyumen merchant Yak. Nikonov, as well as the sailors of the Protodyakonov trading company and other "explorers" delivered more accurate news about the islands.
In order to firmly and finally consolidate the islands and develop them, the chief commander of Kamchatka, Bem, proposed to build on about. Uruppu fortification, create a Russian settlement there and develop the economy. To implement this proposal and develop trade with Japan, the Yakut merchant Lebedev-Lastochkin equipped an expedition in 1775 under the command of the Siberian nobleman Antipin. The expedition ship "Nikolai" crashed near about. Uruppu. Two years later, to Antipin on about. Uruppa was sent from Okhotsk the ship "Natalia" under the command of navigator M. Petushkov.
After wintering on Uruppu, "Natalia" went to Akkesi Bay on about. Hokkaido and met a Japanese ship here. By agreement with the Japanese, Antipin and the translator, the Irkutsk townsman Shabalin, appeared in 1779 with the goods of Lebedev-Lastochkin on about. Hokkaido to Akkeshi Bay. Strictly mindful of the instructions received by Antipin that “... having met with the Japanese, act courteously, affectionately, decently ... find out what Russian goods they need“ things and what kind of things you can get from them in return, set prices and whether they would like to for mutual bargaining, to make an agreement on some island that would guide the future ... to establish peaceful relations with the Japanese, ”the merchants counted on trade that would be beneficial for both sides. But their hopes were not justified. In Akkesi, they were given the prohibition of the Japanese not only to trade on about. Hokkaido (Matsmai), but also sail to Etorofu and Kunashiri.
Since that time, the Japanese government began to oppose the Russians in the southern islands in every possible way. In 1786, it commissioned an official, Mogami Tokunai, to inspect the islands. Finding three Russians on Etorofu and interrogating them, Tokunai handed them an order: “Foreign nationals are strictly forbidden to enter Japanese territory. Therefore, I order you to return to your state as soon as possible. The movement of Russian merchants to the south for peaceful purposes was interpreted by the Japanese in a completely different way.

city ​​of Severo-Kurilsk

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 a while led to a serious deterioration Russo-Japanese relations. In particular, this was the reason for the arrest of Vasily Golovnin's expedition.
The first distinction between the possessions of Russia and Japan in the Kuril Islands was made in the Shimoda Treaty of 1855.
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 formation on the territory of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands of the Khabarovsk Territory RSFSR.
November 5, 1952. A powerful tsunami hit the entire coast of the Kuriles, Paramushir suffered the most. 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 adopted a Joint Treaty officially ending the war between the two states and transferring Habomai and Shikotan to Japan. Signing the agreement, however, did not work out, because it came out that Japan was waiving the rights to Iturup and Kunashir, because of which the United States threatened not to give Japan the island of Okinawa.

Church of the Holy Trinity, Yuzhno-Kurilsk

The Problem of Ownership
At the end of World War II in February 1945, at the Yalta Conference of the Heads of Power, the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition, an agreement was reached on the unconditional return of the southern part of Sakhalin and the transfer of the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union after the victory over Japan.
On July 26, 1945, within the framework of the Potsdam Conference, the Potsdam Declaration was adopted, which limited the sovereignty of Japan to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. On August 8, the USSR joined the Potsdam Declaration. On August 14, Japan accepted the terms of the Declaration and on September 2, 1945, signed the Instrument of Surrender confirming these terms. But these documents did not speak directly about the transfer of the Kuril Islands to the USSR.
On August 18 - September 1, 1945, Soviet troops carried out the Kuril landing operation and occupied, among other things, the southern Kuril Islands - Urup, Iturup, Kunashir and the Lesser Kuril ridge.
In accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of February 2, 1946, in these territories, after their exclusion from Japan by Memorandum No. 677 of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces of January 29, 1946, was formed South Sakhalin Region as part of the Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR, which on January 2, 1947 became part of the newly formed Sakhalin Region as part of the RSFSR.
On September 8, 1951, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, according to which it renounced "all rights, titles and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the islands adjacent to it, sovereignty over which Japan acquired under the Portsmouth Treaty of September 5, 1905 G." When discussing the San Francisco Treaty in the US Senate, a resolution was adopted containing the following clause: damage to the rights and legal foundations of Japan in these territories, as well as any provisions in favor of the USSR in relation to Japan contained in the Yalta Agreement will not be recognized. In view of the serious claims to the draft treaty, the representatives of the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia refused to sign it. The treaty was also not signed by Burma, the DRV, India, the DPRK, the PRC, and the MPR, which were not represented at the conference.
Japan makes territorial claims to the southern Kuril Islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai with a total area of ​​5175 km². These islands are called the "Northern Territories" in Japan. Japan substantiates its claims with the following arguments:
According to Article 2 of the Shimoda Treaty of 1855, these islands were included in Japan and they are the original possession of Japan.
This group of islands, according to the official position of Japan, is not included in the Kuril chain (Chishima Islands) and, having signed the act of surrender and the San Francisco Treaty, Japan did not renounce them.
The USSR did not sign the San Francisco Treaty.
However, the Shimodsky treatise is considered annulled due to the Russo-Japanese War (1905).
In 1956, the Moscow Declaration was signed, which ended the state of war and established diplomatic and consular relations between the USSR and Japan. Article 9 of the Declaration states, in part:
The USSR, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Islands to Japan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty.
On November 14, 2004, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on the eve of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan, stated that Russia, as the successor state of the USSR, recognizes the 1956 Declaration as existing and is ready to conduct territorial negotiations with Japan on its basis.
It is noteworthy that on November 1, 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian leader to visit the Kuril Islands. President Dmitry Medvedev then stressed that “all the islands of the Kuril chain are the territory of the Russian Federation. This is our land, and we must equip the Kuriles.” The Japanese side remained implacable and called this visit regrettable, which in turn caused a response from the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to which there could be no changes in the status of the Kuril Islands.
Some Russian official experts, in search of a solution that could satisfy both Japan and Russia, offer very peculiar options. So, Academician K.E. Chervenko in April 2012, in an article on the possibility of a final settlement of the territorial dispute between the Russian Federation and Japan, voiced an approach in which the countries participating in the San Francisco Treaty (states that have the right to determine the international legal status of South Sakhalin with the adjacent islands and all the Kuril Islands) recognize the Kuriles de facto the territory of the Russian Federation, leaving behind Japan the right to consider them de jure (under the terms of the aforementioned agreement) not included in Russia.

Cape Stolbchaty, Kunashir Island

Population
The Kuril Islands are extremely unevenly populated. The population lives permanently only in Paramushir, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan. There is no permanent population on the other islands. At the beginning of 2010, there are 19 settlements: two cities (Severo-Kurilsk, Kurilsk), an urban-type settlement (Yuzhno-Kurilsk) and 16 villages.
The maximum value of the population was noted in 1989 and amounted to 29.5 thousand people. In Soviet times, the population of the islands was significantly higher due to high subsidies and a large number of military personnel. Thanks to the military, the islands of Shumshu, Onekotan, Simushir and others were populated.
As of 2010, the population of the islands is 18.7 thousand people, including in the Kuril urban district - 6.1 thousand people (on the only inhabited island of Iturup, also includes Urup, Simushir, etc.); in the South Kuril urban district - 10.3 thousand people. (Kunashir, Shikotan and other islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge (Khabomai)); in the North Kuril urban district - 2.4 thousand people (on the only inhabited island of Paramushir, also includes Shumshu, Onekotan, etc.).

Onekotan Island

Economy and development
August 3, 2006 at a meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation approved federal program development of the islands from 2007 to 2015, including 4 blocks: the development of transport infrastructure, the fish processing industry, social infrastructure and the solution of energy problems. The program provides:
The allocation of funds for this program is almost 18 billion rubles, that is, 2 billion rubles a year, which is equivalent to about 300 thousand rubles for each inhabitant of the islands, which will increase the population from 19 to 30 thousand people.
The development of the fishing industry - at present, there are only two fish factories on the islands, and both are state-owned. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation proposes to create another 20 new fish hatcheries to replenish biological resources. The federal program provides for the creation of the same number of private fish breeding plants and the reconstruction of one fish processing plant.
On the islands, it is planned to build new kindergartens, schools, hospitals, develop a transport network, including the construction of a modern all-weather airport.
The problem of electricity shortage, which is four times more expensive in the Kuril Islands than in Sakhalin, is planned to be solved through the construction of power plants operating on geothermal springs using the experience of Kamchatka and Japan.
In addition, in May 2011, the Russian authorities announced their intention to allocate an additional 16 billion rubles, thereby doubling the funding for the development program for the Kuril Islands.
In February 2011, it became known about plans to strengthen the defense of the Kuriles with an air defense brigade, as well as a mobile coastal missile system with Yakhont anti-ship missiles.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads.
Photo: Tatyana Selena, Viktor Morozov, Andrey Kapustin, Artem Demin
Russian Academy Sciences. Institute of Geography RAS. Pacific Institute of Geography FEB RAS; Editors: V. M. Kotlyakov (chairman), P. Ya. Baklanov, N. N. Komedchikov (chief editor) and others; Rep. editor-cartographer Fedorova E. Ya. Atlas of the Kuril Islands. — M.; Vladivostok: IPTs "DIK", 2009. - 516 p.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia for the Sakhalin Region. Report "On the state and protection of the environment of the Sakhalin region in 2002" (2003). Retrieved June 21, 2010. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
Sakhalin region. Official site of the governor and government of the Sakhalin region. Retrieved June 21, 2010. Archived from the original on October 7, 2006.
Makeev B. "The Kuril problem: the military aspect". World economy And international relationships, 1993, No. 1, p. 54.
Wikipedia site.
Solovyov A.I. Kuril Islands / Glavsevmorput. - Ed. 2nd. - M .: Publishing House of the Glavsevmorput, 1947. - 308 p.
Atlas of the Kuril Islands / Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Geography RAS. Pacific Institute of Geography FEB RAS; Editors: V. M. Kotlyakov (chairman), P. Ya. Baklanov, N. N. Komedchikov (chief editor) and others; Rep. editor-cartographer Fedorova E. Ya .. - M .; Vladivostok: IPTs "DIK", 2009. - 516 p. - 300 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89658-034-8.
http://www.kurilstour.ru/islands.shtml

URUP

ITURUP

KUNASHIR

SHIKOTAN

territory disputed islands Kuril archipelago.

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herself

KURILE ISLANDS- a chain of volcanic islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) and about. Hokkaido (Japan); separates the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. They are part of the Sakhalin Region (Russian Federation). The length is about 1200 km. The area is about 15.6 thousand km2. They consist of two parallel ridges of islands - the Greater Kuril and Lesser Kuril (Shikotan, Khabomai, etc.).

The Great Kuril Ridge is divided into 3 groups: southern (Kunashir, Iturup, Urup, etc.), middle (Simushir, Ketoi, Ushishir, etc.) and northern (Traps, Shiashkotan, Onekotan, Paramushir, etc.). Most of the islands are mountainous (height 2339 m). About 40 active volcanoes; hot mineral springs, high seismicity. On the southern islands - forests; the northern ones are covered with tundra vegetation. Fishing (chum salmon, etc.) and sea animals (nerpa, sea lions, etc.).

URUP, an island in the Kuril Islands group, territory of the Russian Federation. OK. 1.4 thousand km2. Consists of 25 volcanoes connected by bases. Height up to 1426 m. 2 active volcanoes (Trident and Berga).

ITURUP, the largest in area (6725 km2) island in the group of the Kuril Islands (Russian Federation, Sakhalin region). Volcanic massif (height up to 1634 m). Thickets of bamboo, spruce-fir forests, elfin. On Iturup - Kurilsk.

KUNASHIR, an island in the Kuril Islands group. OK. 1550 km2. Altitude up to 1819 m. Active volcanoes (Tyatya and others) and hot springs. Pos. Yuzhno-Kurilsk. Reserve Kuril.

SHIKOTAN, the largest island in the Lesser Kuril Ridge. 182 km2. Height up to 412 m. Settlements— Malokurilskoye and Krabozavodskoye. Fishing. Harvest of marine animals.

The territory of the disputed islands of the Kuril archipelago.

Borders between Russia and Japan in the Kuril Islands region.
Russian navigators Captain Spanberg and Lieutenant Walton in 1739 were the first Europeans to open the way to the eastern shores of Japan, visited the Japanese islands of Hondo (Honshu) and Matsmae (Hokkaido), described the Kuril ridge and mapped all the Kuril Islands and the eastern coast of Sakhalin. The expedition found that under the rule of the Japanese Khan [ emperor?] there is only one island of Hokkaido, the rest of the islands are not subject to it. Since the 60s, interest in the Kuril Islands has noticeably increased, Russian fishing vessels are increasingly mooring on their shores, and soon local population(Ainu) on the islands of Urup and Iturup were brought into Russian citizenship. Merchant D. Shebalin office port of Okhotsk an order was given to "convert the inhabitants of the southern islands to Russian citizenship and start bargaining with them." Having brought the Ainu into Russian citizenship, the Russians founded winter huts and camps on the islands, taught the Ainu how to use firearms, breed livestock and grow some vegetables. Many of the Ainu converted to Orthodoxy and learned to read and write. At the behest of Catherine II in 1779, all fees that were not established by decrees from St. Petersburg were canceled. Thus, the fact of the discovery and development of the Kuril Islands by the Russians is undeniable.
Over time, the crafts in the Kuriles were depleted, becoming less and less profitable than off the coast of America, and therefore, by the end of the 18th century, the interest of Russian merchants in the Kuriles had weakened. In Japan, by the end of the same century, interest in the Kuriles and Sakhalin was just awakening, because before that the Kurils were practically unknown to the Japanese. The island of Hokkaido - according to the Japanese scientists themselves - was considered a foreign territory and only a small part of it was inhabited and developed. In the late 70s, Russian merchants reached Hokkaido and tried to start trading with local residents. Russia was interested in acquiring food in Japan for Russian fishing expeditions and settlements in Alaska and the Pacific Islands, but it was not possible to start trade, as it forbade the Japan isolation law of 1639, which read: "For the future, until the sun illuminates world, no one has the right to land on the shores of Japan, even if he were an envoy, and this law can never be repealed by anyone on pain of death. And in 1788, Catherine II sent a strict order to Russian industrialists in the Kuriles so that they "do not touch the islands under the jurisdiction of other powers," and a year before that, she issued a decree on equipment round the world expedition for an accurate description and mapping of the islands from Masmaya to Kamchatka Lopatka, in order to "formally classify them all as the possession of the Russian state." Blyo is ordered not to allow foreign industrialists to "trade and industries in belonging to Russia treat local residents peacefully." But the expedition did not take place due to the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish war [ refers to the war of 1787-1791].
Taking advantage of the weakening of Russian positions in the southern part of the Kuriles, Japanese fishermen first appear in Kunashir in 1799, and the next year on Iturup, where they destroy Russian crosses and illegally set up a pillar with a sign indicating that the islands belong to Japan. Japanese fishermen often began to arrive on the shores of South Sakhalin, fished, robbed the Ainu, which was the reason for frequent skirmishes between them. In 1805, Russian sailors from the frigate "Yunona" and the tender "Avos" on the shores of Aniva Bay set up a pole with the Russian flag, and the Japanese parking lot on Iturup was devastated. The Russians were warmly welcomed by the Ainu.

In 1854, in order to establish trade and diplomatic relations with Japan, the government of Nicholas I sent Vice Admiral E. Putyatin. His mission also included the delimitation of Russian and Japanese possessions. Russia demanded recognition of its rights to the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which had long belonged to it. Knowing perfectly well what a difficult situation Russia found itself in, waging a war with three powers in the Crimea at the same time, Japan put forward unfounded claims to the southern part of Sakhalin. At the beginning of 1855, in the city of Shimoda, Putyatin signed the first Russian-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship, according to which Sakhalin was declared undivided between Russia and Japan, the border was established between the islands of Iturup and Urup, and the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate were opened for Russian ships and Nagasaki. The Shimoda Treaty of 1855 in Article 2 defines:
“From now on, the border between the Japanese state and Russia will be established between the island of Iturup and the island of Urup. The entire island of Iturup belongs to Japan, the entire island of Urup and the Kuril Islands to the north of it belong to Russia. As for the island of Karafuto (Sakhalin), the border between Japan and Russia is still not divided.

In our time, the Japanese side claims that this treaty comprehensively took into account the activities of Japan and Russia in the region of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands up to the time of its conclusion and was concluded as a result of negotiations between Japan and Russia in a peaceful atmosphere. The plenipotentiary representative of the Russian side at the talks, Admiral Putyatin, when signing the treaty, said: “In order to prevent future disputes, as a result of careful study, it was confirmed that Iturup Island is Japanese territory". Documents recently published in Russia show that Nicholas I considered Urup Island to be the southern limit of Russian territory.
The Japanese side considers erroneous the assertion that Japan imposed this treatise on Russia, which was in a difficult position during the Crimean War. It is completely contrary to the facts. At that time, Russia was one of the great European powers, while Japan was a small and weak country that the US, England and Russia forced to abandon the 300-year policy of self-isolation of the country.
Japan also considers erroneous the assertion that Russia allegedly has "historical rights" to the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai ridge, confirmed by this treatise as a Japanese possession, by virtue of their discovery and expeditions. As mentioned above, both Nicholas I and Admiral E.V. Putyatin (1803-1883+) concluded a treaty on the basis of the then objective situation, realizing that the southern limit of Russia was the island of Urup, and Iturup and to the south of it were the territory of Japan. Beginning in 1855, for more than 90 years, neither Tsarist Russia nor the Soviet Union ever insisted on these so-called "historical rights."
For Japan, there was no need to discover these islands, located at the shortest distance from it and visible from Hokkaido to the naked eye. On the map of the Shoho era, published in Japan in 1644, the names of the islands Kunashir and Iturup are recorded. Japan ruled these islands before anyone else. Actually, Japan substantiates its claims to the so-called "Northern Territories" precisely by the content of the Shimodsky treatise of 1855 and by the fact that until 1946 the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and the Habomai ridge were always territories of Japan and never became territories of Russia.

The government of Alexander II made the Middle East and Central Asia and, fearing to leave its relations with Japan uncertain in the event of a new aggravation of relations with England, went to the signing of the so-called Petersburg Treaty of 1875, according to which all the Kuril Islands, in exchange for the recognition of Sakhalin as Russian territory, passed to Japan. Alexander II, who had previously sold Alaska in 1867 for a symbolic and at that time amount of 11 million rubles, and this time made a big mistake, underestimating strategic importance Kuriles, which were later used by Japan for aggression against Russia. The tsar naively believed that Japan would become a peaceful and calm neighbor of Russia, and when the Japanese, substantiating their claims, refer to the treaty of 1875, they for some reason forget (as G. Kunadze "forgot" today) about his first article: ".. ... and henceforth eternal peace and friendship will be established between the Russian and Japanese empires."
Then there was 1904, when Japan treacherously attacked Russia... At the conclusion of the peace treaty in Portsmouth in 1905, the Japanese side demanded the island of Sakhalin from Russia as an indemnity. The Russian side then stated that this was contrary to the 1875 treaty. What did the Japanese say to this?
- The war crosses out all agreements, you have been defeated and let's proceed from the current situation.
It was only thanks to skillful diplomatic maneuvers that Russia managed to maintain northern part Sakhalin for themselves, and South Sakhalin went to Japan.

At the Yalta Conference of the Heads of Powers, the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition, held in February 1945, it was decided after the end of the Second World War that South Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands be transferred to the Soviet Union, and this was the condition for the USSR to enter the war with Japan - three months after end of the war in Europe.
On September 8, 1951, 49 states signed a peace treaty with Japan in San Francisco. The draft treaty was prepared during the period " cold war without the participation of the USSR and in violation of the principles of the Potsdam Declaration. Soviet side proposed to carry out demilitarization and ensure the democratization of the country. Representatives of the United States and Great Britain told our delegation that they had come here not to discuss, but to sign the treaty, and therefore they would not change a single line. The USSR, and with it Poland and Czechoslovakia, refused to sign the treaty. And interestingly, Article 2 of this treaty states that Japan waives all rights and title to Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. So Japan herself renounced territorial claims to our country, backing it up with her signature.
At present, the Japanese side claims that the islands of Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and the Habomai ridge, which have always been Japanese territory, are not included in the Kuril Islands, which Japan abandoned. The US government, regarding the scope of the “Kuril Islands” concept in the San Francisco Peace Treaty, stated in an official document: “(They) do not include and there was no intention to include (in the Kuriles) the Habomai and Shikotan ridges, or Kunashir and Iturup, which previously have always been part of Japan proper and therefore must rightly be recognized as being under Japanese sovereignty."
1956, Soviet-Japanese negotiations on the normalization of relations between the two countries. The Soviet side agrees to cede the two islands of Shikotan and Habomai to Japan and offers to sign a peace treaty. The Japanese side is inclined to accept the Soviet proposal, but in September 1956 the United States sends a note to Japan stating that if Japan renounces its claims to Kunashir and Iturup and is satisfied with only two islands, then in this case the United States will not give up the Ryukyu Islands where the main island is Okinawa. American intervention played its part and... the Japanese refused to sign a peace treaty on our terms. The subsequent security treaty (1960) between the United States and Japan made it impossible for Japan to transfer Shikotan and Habomai. Our country, of course, could not give the islands to American bases, nor could it bind itself to any obligations to Japan on the issue of the Kuriles.

A worthy answer about the territorial claims to us from Japan was given at the time by A.N. Kosygin:
- The borders between the USSR and Japan should be considered as the result of the Second World War.

This could be put an end to, but I would like to remind you that only 6 years ago, M.S. Gorbachev, at a meeting with a delegation of the SPJ, also strongly opposed the revision of borders, while emphasizing that the borders between the USSR and Japan were "legal and legally justified" .

Statement Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the intention to resolve the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands and again drew the attention of the general public to the so-called "problem of the South Kuriles" or "northern territories".

Shinzo Abe's loud statement, however, does not contain the main thing - an original solution that could suit both sides.

Land of the Ainu

The dispute over the South Kuriles has its roots in the 17th century, when there were no Russians or Japanese on the Kuril Islands yet.

The Ainu can be considered the indigenous population of the islands - a nation whose origin scientists argue to this day. The Ainu, who once inhabited not only the Kuriles, but also all the Japanese islands, as well as the lower reaches of the Amur, Sakhalin and the south of Kamchatka, today have become a small nation. In Japan, according to official figures, there are about 25 thousand Ainu, and in Russia there are just over a hundred of them left.

The first mention of the islands in Japanese sources dates back to 1635, in Russian - 1644.

In 1711, a detachment of Kamchatka Cossacks led by Danila Antsiferova And Ivan Kozyrevsky first landed on the northernmost island of Shumshu, defeating a detachment of local Ainu here.

The Japanese also showed more and more activity in the Kuriles, but there was no line of demarcation and no agreements between the countries.

Kuriles - to you, Sakhalin— us

In 1855, the Shimoda Treaty on Trade and Borders between Russia and Japan was signed. This document for the first time defined the border of the possessions of the two countries in the Kuriles - it passed between the islands of Iturup and Urup.

Thus, the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands, that is, the very territories around which there is a dispute today, were under the rule of the Japanese emperor.

It was the day of the conclusion of the Shimoda Treaty, February 7, that was declared in Japan as the so-called "Day of the Northern Territories".

Relations between the two countries were quite good, but they were spoiled by the “Sakhalin issue”. The fact is that the Japanese claimed the southern part of this island.

In 1875, a new treaty was signed in St. Petersburg, according to which Japan renounced all claims to Sakhalin in exchange for the Kuril Islands - both Southern and Northern.

Perhaps, it was after the conclusion of the 1875 treaty that relations between the two countries developed most harmoniously.

Exorbitant appetites of the Land of the Rising Sun

Harmony in international affairs, however, is a fragile thing. Japan, emerging from centuries of self-isolation, developed rapidly, and at the same time, ambitions grew. The Land of the Rising Sun has territorial claims against almost all of its neighbors, including Russia.

This resulted in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, which ended in a humiliating defeat for Russia. And although Russian diplomacy managed to mitigate the consequences of military failure, but, nevertheless, in accordance with the Portsmouth Treaty, Russia lost control not only over the Kuriles, but also over South Sakhalin.

This state of affairs did not suit not only tsarist Russia but also the Soviet Union. However, it was impossible to change the situation in the mid-1920s, which resulted in the signing of the Beijing Treaty between the USSR and Japan in 1925, according to which the Soviet Union recognized the current state of affairs, but refused to recognize “political responsibility” for the Portsmouth Treaty.

In subsequent years, relations between the Soviet Union and Japan teetered on the brink of war. Japan's appetites grew and began to spread to the continental territories of the USSR. True, the Japanese defeats at Lake Khasan in 1938 and at Khalkhin Gol in 1939 forced official Tokyo to slow down somewhat.

However, the "Japanese threat" hung like a sword of Damocles over the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.

Revenge for old grievances

By 1945, the tone of Japanese politicians towards the USSR had changed. There was no talk of new territorial acquisitions - the Japanese side would be quite satisfied with the preservation of the existing order of things.

But the USSR gave an obligation to Great Britain and the United States that it would enter the war with Japan no later than three months after the end of the war in Europe.

The Soviet leadership had no reason to feel sorry for Japan - Tokyo behaved too aggressively and defiantly towards the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s. And the insults of the beginning of the century were not forgotten at all.

On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. It was a real blitzkrieg - the millionth Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria was utterly defeated in a matter of days.

On August 18, Soviet troops launched the Kuril landing operation, the purpose of which was to capture the Kuril Islands. Fierce battles unfolded for the island of Shumshu - this was the only battle of a fleeting war in which the losses of the Soviet troops were higher than those of the enemy. However, on August 23, the commander of the Japanese troops in the Northern Kuriles, Lieutenant General Fusaki Tsutsumi, capitulated.

The fall of Shumshu became key event The Kuril operation - in the future, the occupation of the islands on which the Japanese garrisons were located turned into acceptance of their surrender.

They took the Kuriles, they could have taken Hokkaido

On August 22, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Forces in the Far East, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky, without waiting for the fall of Shumshu, gives the order to the troops to occupy the Southern Kuriles. The Soviet command is acting according to plan - the war continues, the enemy has not capitulated completely, which means that we should move on.

The original military plans of the USSR were much broader - Soviet units were ready to land on the island of Hokkaido, which was supposed to become a Soviet zone of occupation. How the further history of Japan would develop in this case, one can only guess. But in the end, Vasilevsky received an order from Moscow to cancel the landing operation in Hokkaido.

The bad weather somewhat delayed the actions of the Soviet troops in the South Kuriles, but by September 1, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan came under their control. The Habomai group of islands was completely taken under control on September 2-4, 1945, that is, after the surrender of Japan. There were no battles during this period - Japanese soldiers meekly surrendered.

So, at the end of the Second World War, Japan was completely occupied by the allied powers, and the main territories of the country fell under the control of the United States.

On January 29, 1946, by Memorandum No. 677 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Powers, General Douglas MacArthur, the Kuril Islands (Chishima Islands), the Habomai (Khabomadze) island group and Sikotan Island were excluded from the territory of Japan.

On February 2, 1946, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Region was formed in these territories as part of the Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR, which on January 2, 1947 became part of the newly formed Sakhalin Region as part of the RSFSR.

Thus, de facto South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands passed to Russia.

Why the USSR did not sign a peace treaty with Japan

However, these territorial changes were not formalized by a treaty between the two countries. A political situation changed in the world, and yesterday's ally of the USSR, the United States, turned into Japan's closest friend and ally, and therefore was not interested in either resolving Soviet-Japanese relations or resolving the territorial issue between the two countries.

In 1951, a peace treaty was concluded in San Francisco between Japan and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, which the USSR did not sign.

The reason for this was the revision by the United States of previous agreements with the USSR reached in the Yalta Agreement of 1945 - now official Washington believed that the Soviet Union had no rights not only to the Kuriles, but also to South Sakhalin. In any case, it was precisely such a resolution that was adopted by the US Senate during the discussion of the treaty.

However, in the final version of the San Francisco Treaty, Japan renounces the rights to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. But here, too, there is a hitch - the official Tokyo both then and now declares that it does not consider that Habomai, Kunashir, Iturup and Shikotan are part of the Kuriles.

That is, the Japanese are sure that they really renounced South Sakhalin, but they never abandoned the “northern territories”.

The Soviet Union refused to sign a peace treaty, not only because of the unsettled territorial disputes with Japan, but also because he did not resolve similar disputes between Japan and China, then an ally of the USSR.

Compromise ruined Washington

Only five years later, in 1956, was the Soviet-Japanese declaration on ending the state of war signed, which was supposed to be the prologue to the conclusion of a peace treaty.

A compromise solution was also announced - the islands of Habomai and Shikotan would be returned to Japan in exchange for the unconditional recognition of the sovereignty of the USSR over all the rest. disputed territories. But this could happen only after the conclusion of a peace treaty.

In fact, these conditions suited Japan quite well, but here a “third force” intervened. The United States was not at all pleased with the prospect of establishing relations between the USSR and Japan. The territorial problem acted as an excellent wedge driven between Moscow and Tokyo, and Washington considered its resolution highly undesirable.

It was announced to the Japanese authorities that if a compromise was reached with the USSR on the "Kuril problem" on the terms of the division of the islands, the United States would leave the island of Okinawa and the entire Ryukyu archipelago under its sovereignty.

The threat was truly terrible for the Japanese - it was a territory with more than a million people, which has the most important historical meaning for Japan.

As a result, a possible compromise on the issue of the South Kuriles vanished like smoke, and with it the prospect of concluding a full-fledged peace treaty.

By the way, control of Okinawa finally passed to Japan only in 1972. At the same time, 18 percent of the island's territory is still occupied by American military bases.

Complete stalemate

In fact, no progress in territorial dispute hasn't happened since 1956. In the Soviet period, without reaching a compromise, the USSR came to the tactic of completely denying any dispute in principle.

In the post-Soviet period, Japan began to hope that Russian President Boris Yeltsin, generous with gifts, would give away the "northern territories." Moreover, such a decision was considered fair by very prominent figures in Russia - for example, Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Perhaps at this point, the Japanese side made a mistake, instead of compromise options like the one discussed in 1956, insisting on the transfer of all disputed islands.

But in Russia, the pendulum has already swung the other way, and those who consider it impossible to transfer even one island are much louder today.

For both Japan and Russia Kuril issue has become a matter of principle over the past decades. For both Russian and Japanese politicians, the slightest concessions threaten, if not the collapse of their careers, then serious electoral losses.

Therefore, the declared desire of Shinzo Abe to solve the problem is undoubtedly commendable, but completely unrealistic.

The Kuril Islands, which are part of the Sakhalin Region, consist of 56 large and small islands. volcanic origin. Stretching from north to south, from Kamchatka to Japanese island Hokkaido, these islands are of much more important geostrategic importance for Russia than it might seem at first glance.

Non-freezing straits

Between the islands of the Kuril chain there are only two straits that do not freeze during the cold season. This is the Catherine Strait, located between the islands of Iturup and Kunashir, as well as the Friza Strait between the islands of Iturup and Urup. If these southern islands belonged to another country, it is even difficult to imagine how transport communication would be carried out between, for example, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Vladivostok in winter. In addition, do not forget about the Russian navy in the Far East. Ships from Vladivostok will not be able to enter the Pacific Ocean in winter without the consent of third countries.

Mineral deposits

Despite their small size, the islands of the Kuril chain contain significant amounts of explored minerals. Non-ferrous metal ores, mercury are found here, and hydrocarbon deposits are found in the coastal zone. In addition, the richest mineral deposit of rhenium in the world was found on Iturup Island. Rhenium is contained here in the form of the mineral rhenite, the extraction of metal from which is more promising than extraction by traditional methods. In addition, rhenium is a very rare metal with a number of unique properties, and therefore it is highly valued in the world market.

Status of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk

In 2014, one of the most important events of recent times took place in the field of regulating the legal status of Russian shelf territories. The UN Commission on the Continental Shelf recognized the Sea of ​​Okhotsk inland sea Russian Federation, and, accordingly, the right to all Natural resources that this area contains. These are not only the richest deposits of hydrocarbons, but also biological resources - fish, crabs and other seafood. It is not difficult to guess that if at least part of the Kuril Islands belonged to another country, Russia would have to share these riches with a neighbor.

Fishing for bioresources

The coastal waters of the Kuril Islands are the richest reserves of king crabs, salmon and many other valuable biological resources. The increased interest in this territory from other countries is eloquently evidenced by regular cases of poaching of foreign ships in the coastal waters of the archipelago.

Population of the Kuril Islands

non-freezing straits and natural resources- this is certainly very important. But the main wealth of the Kuril Islands is the people who live here. According to 2017 data, more than 19 thousand people live in the territory of two cities and several villages. This is quite a lot, given the island specifics of the region and certain difficulties caused by transport accessibility. The islands are special world, and the people who inhabit the Kuriles are very fond of their small homeland.