Kuril Islands Remain in Dispute Between Japan & Russia


Over the past seventy years Japan and Russia have been locked in one of the longest-running unresolved international disputes.  The two nations have not resolved a territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands – which are located off the coast of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The disputed territory includes 4 islands: Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan, and Habomai.  The island chain stretches 810 miles from Hokkaido, Japan to Kamchatka, Russia.  The islands are located in Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast region and they separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean.  There are 56 islands that compose the Kuril Island chain.  Today, approximately 30,000 people live on the islands.  The islands serve as a vital resource for fishing and offshore reserves of gas & oil.
  
Japan refers to the islands as the Northern Territories and Russia refers to the islands as the Southern Kurils.  Originally, the islands were under Japanese control.  During the 18th & 19th centuries, people from the Japanese mainland migrated to the Kuril Islands.  In 1855, the Treaty of Shimoda was signed by Japan and Russia.  This treaty gave Japan ownership of the 4 most southern Kuril Islands, while promising Russia control of all of the northern islands of the archipelago.

In 1945, following the Japanese surrender to Allied Forces at the conclusion of World War II, Soviet Union forces assumed control of the four southern Kuril Islands.  Since the Kuril Islands dispute remains unresolved, Japan and Russia have still not signed a peace treaty to formally conclude World War II.  By 1949, Russia had deported all of the Japanese residents of the Kuril Islands.  In 1951, the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed between Allied forces and Japan.  Under this agreement, Japan ceded its control over the Kuril Islands.  However, since Russia never signed this treaty, Japan still claims ownership of the 4 southern most islands of the Kuril Island chain.

Both Japan and Russia claim their nations should have control over the Kuril Island chain.  The governments are still negotiating jurisdiction of the islands.

Sources:
“Why Russia and Japan Can’t Solve the Kuril Islands Dispute” by Dmitry Streltsov, January 24, 2019.
“Kuril Islands dispute between Russia and Japan.” April 29, 2013. www.bbc.com
“Russia and Japan at odds over seven-decade-old Kuril Islands dispute” by Euan McKirdy. January 21, 2019. www.cnn.com.

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