South Kuril Islands

The Kuril Islands are a volcanic archipelago located in the Russian Far East, stretching approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. The islands have a total area of around 10,503.2 square kilometers and a population of roughly 20,000. The Kuril Islands consist of the Greater Kuril Chain and the Lesser Kuril Chain, with around 100 volcanoes, some 40 of which are active, and frequent seismic activity. The islands have been under Russian administration since 1945, but Japan claims the four southernmost islands as part of its territory, leading to the ongoing Kuril Islands dispute. The climate on the islands is generally severe, with long, cold winters and short, foggy summers, and the chain ranges from temperate to sub-Arctic climate types.learn more on wikipedia