Who lives in the southern Kuril Islands. Where are the Kuril Islands and who owns them? Kuril Islands and Japan

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 the island landmass called Hokkaido. A peculiar 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. On the southern side there is a state border between Japan and Russia.

The lands in question are of invaluable economic as well as 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, as well as the Habomai group, is disputed by the Japanese authorities, which classify the listed islands as Hokkaido Prefecture. Thus, you can find the Kuril Islands on a map of Russia, but Japan plans to legalize ownership of some of them. These territories have their own characteristics. For example, the archipelago entirely belongs to the Far North, if you look at legal documents. And this despite the fact that Shikotan is located at the same latitude as the cities 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 influence on climatic conditions is exerted by baric systems, which usually form over the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, the cold Kuril Current, and the Sea of Okhotsk. The southern part of the archipelago is covered by monsoon atmospheric flows, for example, the Asian winter anticyclone also dominates there.

Shikotan Island

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

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

If we consider the components of the middle and northern group of islands, it is worth noting that the temperature of the coastal waters there does not rise above five to six degrees, therefore these territories are characterized by the lowest summer temperature for the Northern Hemisphere. Throughout the year, the archipelago receives from 1000 to 1400 mm of precipitation, which is evenly distributed throughout the seasons. We can also talk about excess moisture everywhere. On the southern side of the chain in summer, the humidity level exceeds ninety percent, which is why fogs appear dense in consistency. If you carefully examine the latitudes where the Kuril Islands are located on the map, you can conclude that the terrain is particularly complex. It is regularly affected by cyclones, which are accompanied by excessive precipitation and can also cause typhoons.

Simushir Island

Population

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

The high population of the territories during the Soviet Union is explained by subsidies from those regions, as well as by the large number of military personnel who populated the islands of Simushir, Shumshu, and so on.

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

Uninhabited Islands of Ushishir

How to get to the Kuril Islands

The most convenient way to get here is by air. The 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, therefore it was given the status of an international air point. The first flight, which later became regular, was accepted on September 22, 2014. It was an Aurora company plane that flew in from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. There were a total of fifty passengers on board. This event was perceived negatively by the Japanese authorities, who consider this territory to be their country. Therefore, disputes about who owns the Kuril Islands continue to this day.

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

Urup is an uninhabited island of 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 explored by Martin Fries and his team. The first information obtained by Russian scientists dates back to 1697, when V. Atlasov’s campaign across Kamchatka took place. All subsequent expeditions under the leadership of I. Kozyrevsky, F. Luzhin, M. Shpanberg and others were aimed at the systematic development of the area. After it has become clear who discovered the Kuril Islands, you can familiarize yourself with several interesting facts related to the archipelago:

To get to the Kuril Islands, a tourist will need a special permit, since the zone is borderline. This document is issued exclusively by the border department of the FSB of Sakhalin. 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 next day. Therefore, the traveler will definitely stay in the city for one day, which should be taken into account when planning a trip.
Due to the unpredictable climate, if you visit the islands, you can be stuck here for a long time, because in bad weather, the airport of the Kuril Islands and their ports stop operating. High clouds and fog become a frequent obstacle. At the same time, we are not talking about a couple of hour flight delay at all. A traveler should always be prepared to spend an extra week or two here.
All five hotels are open for guests of the Kuril Islands. The hotel called "Vostok" has eleven rooms, "Iceberg" - three rooms, "Flagman" - seven rooms, "Iturup" - 38 rooms, "Island" - eleven rooms. Reservations are required in advance.
Japanese lands can be seen from the windows of local residents, but the best view is from Kunashir. To check this fact, the weather must be clear.
The Japanese past is closely connected with these territories. There are Japanese cemeteries and factories here, and the coast on the Pacific Ocean side is thickly lined with fragments of Japanese porcelain that existed before the war. Therefore, you can often meet archaeologists or collectors here.
It is also worth understanding that the disputed Kuril Islands are, first of all, volcanoes. Their territory consists of 160 volcanoes, of which about forty remain active.
The local flora and fauna is amazing. Bamboo grows here along the highways, and a magnolia or mulberry tree can grow near the Christmas tree. The lands are rich in berries; blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, princelings, redberries, Chinese lemongrass, blueberries and so on grow abundantly here. Local residents claim that you can meet a bear here, especially near the Tyati Kunashir volcano.
Almost every local resident has a car, but there are no gas stations in any of the settlements. The fuel is supplied inside special barrels from Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
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 high-rises and a great rarity.
While it is being decided whose Kuril Islands belong, the Russians living here will have a vacation duration of 62 days per year. Residents of the southern ridge can enjoy a visa-free regime with Japan. About 400 people use this opportunity per year.

The Great Kuril Arc is surrounded by underwater volcanoes, some of which regularly make themselves felt. Any eruption causes renewed seismic activity, which provokes a “seaquake”. Therefore, local lands are susceptible to frequent tsunamis. A powerful tsunami wave about 30 meters high in 1952 completely destroyed a 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 prevent local cities from developing and the population from growing.

Scope valid until 2015 Federal Target Program "Socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands for 2007-2015" amounts to 21 billion rubles.

The bulk of this amount is allocated from the federal budget. The Sakhalin Region also plans to attract funds from private investors for the development of the Kuril Islands. Private investment in the islands’ economy now amounts to a billion rubles a year, and by 2015 it will increase to 6 billion. details about the new infrastructure of the Kuril Islands (many photos) The Kuril Islands include 30 large and many small islands. The population lives permanently only in Paramushir, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan. Population of the Kuril Islands - 18,735 people Kunashir Island- the southernmost island of the Great Kuril Islands. Population - approx. 8000 people. Yuzhno-Kurilsk- administrative center of the South Kuril Okrug.

Social housing

In August 2012, a ceremony for presenting warrants and keys to new apartments took place in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. The 10-apartment building was built with funds from the regional and local budgets under one of the regional programs.
House of Culture (medical and educational expedition “Borders of Russia”, August 2010)
New kindergarten Port of Yuzhno-Kurilsk New deep-water pier

The commissioning of modern deep-sea berthing complexes in Kunashir and Iturup will bring the transport infrastructure in the Kuril Islands to a qualitatively new level and improve the quality of life on the islands. The motor ship "Igor Farkhutdinov" moored at the new pier for the first time (February 2011)
Construction is underway with funds from the federal program for the socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands and the budget of the Sakhalin region marine terminal on the territory of the constructed mooring complex in the South Kuril Bay. In addition to passengers, this building will house various services - a border checkpoint, a customs post, port supervision, administration and a control room of the seaport. Completion of construction is planned for 2012.

Mendeleevo Airport The airfield was built by the Japanese when the island of Kunashir was still under Japanese control and has hardly been rebuilt since then. In 2006 it was closed due to complete deterioration of the infrastructure and destruction of the runway. During the reconstruction, within the framework of the Federal Target Program for the socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands, a new passenger terminal, taxiways, a new apron, a runway (runway), a landing system and lighting equipment were put into operation. Operates on the island Mendeleevskaya GeoTPP(geothermal power plant), which provides the island with heat and electricity. Volcano energy as a source of heat and light for humans is the operating principle of this station. Commissioning of the second stage of the station in 2007 provided 100% of the heat demand in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. The planned modernization of the Mendeleevskaya Geothermal Power Plant will increase its capacity from 3.6 MW to 7.4 MW.
On about. Kunashir operates two fish processing plants - LLC PKF "South Kuril Fish Processing Plant" and LLC "Delta". The Yuzhno-Kuril Fish Processing Plant has modernized its production processing lines. All fish and seafood caught by its own trawl fleet are delivered ashore without loss of quality. Integrated shift of 25 people successfully copes with large volumes of incoming raw materials.In 2011, the first kilometers of asphalt were laid on Kunashir Island.

Iturup Island-an island of the southern group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands, the largest island of the archipelago. Population - 6387 people. Kurilsk- the administrative center of the island. In recent years, a modern microdistrict “Severny” has been built in the village of Kurilsk. Within its boundaries it is planned to build a large palace of culture and sports, under the roof of which there will be a sports complex, a swimming pool, a cultural center and other institutions. In 2006, a modern fish processing complex "Reidovo" was launched on the island..
Six air freezing chambers ensure the production of 74 tons of finished frozen fish products per day.
On about. Iturup also houses the Yasny fish processing plant, equipped with a one-of-a-kind freezing tunnel for air freezing of fish, which allows the continuous freezing of 210 tons of finished fish products per day. There is a caviar workshop where 3 tons of caviar are produced per day. In addition, there is a salting shop with a capacity of 25 tons per day and a refrigerator with a capacity of 2300 tons of simultaneous storage. There are several other fishing enterprises, the largest of which are Skit, Bug, and Continent. The buildings of the Kuril Secondary School for 250 students have already been built on the island, as well as a modern central regional hospital with 50 beds and a clinic for 100 visits per shift. New hospital
Sports complex

improvement work

In February 2012, two 8-apartment buildings were put into operation
The new airport “Iturup” is located on the sunny side of the island, which will allow easy access to the island even in bad weather. The extended 2.2 km long runway will accommodate all types of aircraft operating in the region. Near Kurilsk there is a geothermal spring with radon waters.
A few years ago, the springs consisted of two concrete vats for salting fish, in which vacationers took baths, not forgetting to litter the surrounding area with broken bottle glass. Geothermal springs were improved by the company "Gidrostoroy"
Shikotan Island- the largest island of the Malaya ridge of the Kuril Islands. Malokurilskoe- the administrative center of the island. Population - approx. 2100 people. Using funds from the federal program, a deep-water pier has already been built and is being operated in Malokurilskaya Bay on Shikotan, and in the neighboring Krabozavodskaya Bay on the same Shikotan, the construction of a pier is nearing completion on co-financing terms - the own funds of Gidrostroy JSC and the regional budget.

The Krabozavodsk fish processing complex is equipped with the most modern equipment.
The workshop's capacity allows it to receive and process up to 300 tons of raw fish every day.
New kindergarten for 70 places (2010)

Moving to the Kuril Islands for permanent residence is a topic that recently began to interest potential immigrants. This chain of islands located between Hokkaido and Kamchatka has long been the subject of disputes between Russia and Japan, but after the presidents of these two countries agreed in December 2016 to conduct joint farming on the islands, there was hope that the standard of living and development of these territories will go up. The islands are divided into three parts: the Northern, Middle and Southern Kuriles. Despite the rather average standard of living on these islands, the magnificent nature that will forever remain in your memory even if you came just on an excursion, largely due to the influence of the Pacific Ocean, the climate is more humid and warm; in cold times, even in February the lowest temperature is - 5.

Economic and territorial features

The Sakhalin Peninsula, which also includes the northern and middle Kuril Islands, is one of the most remote and inaccessible regions. The infrastructure there is poorly developed, it is difficult both to come there and to go back, planes and ferries are often canceled due to weather conditions. But if you still want to move to this region of Russia, rich in amazing nature, then any specialists in social professions will be gladly accepted there: doctors, teachers, etc. For workers in this area, they will be happy to provide not only jobs, but also housing for the first time.

Moving to the Northern and Middle Kuril Islands and how to get permanent residence

It is as easy for a Russian to move there as to any other region, but with foreign citizens the situation is the same as with moving to Russia in general. The procedure for obtaining permanent residence permit (permanent residence permit) occurs in several stages:

Come to the territory of the Russian Federation and register temporarily (for this you need the consent of the person receiving you with a Russian passport).
Apply for a temporary residence permit (temporary residence permit issued for a period of three years).
Submit documents for a residence permit (permanent residence permit, valid for 5 years; after living in the country for this period, subject to certain conditions, you can apply for citizenship).

After you have completed temporary registration, you need to decide on the basis for submitting documents for a temporary residence permit. It can be obtained in two ways:

in the usual way (then you must meet one of the main grounds: marriage with a Russian, official employment, family reunification, etc.);
become a participant in the “Resettlement of Compatriots” program (in this case, you can apply for citizenship bypassing the procedure for obtaining a residence permit).

Attention! If during the period of validity of the temporary residence permit you were absent from the country for more than six months, your temporary residence permit may be cancelled!

Requirements for the applicant

When obtaining a residence permit and then citizenship in general, you must comply with one of the following points:

an adult citizen of another country who has lived for 3 years under a temporary residence permit (if a temporary residence permit is issued on the basis of marriage, you can apply for a residence permit after just six months);
highly qualified specialists (this also includes scientists, athletes, etc.);
a foreign disabled person whose guardian is a Russian or a migrant with a residence permit;
citizen of Belarus, participant in the “resettlement program” or “native speaker of Russian”;
immigrant with refugee status;

If everything is fine with the basis for your request, you must collect and prepare the necessary package of documents in advance; all documents must be provided in Russian or with a notarized translation. After submitting the documents within two months, the governing bodies will make a decision on granting or denying you a residence permit. If two months have passed and you have not received a letter with an answer, do not rush to panic, call the department where you submitted the documents, because if the decision was made on the last day of the two-month period, then by now they will send you a notification and it will reach you It may take you about another month.

Moving to the Southern Kuril Islands, features of obtaining permanent residence

For those who decide to move to the Southern Kuril Islands, the situation looks a little different, since moving to this part of the islands and obtaining permanent residence is the same under the conditions as obtaining this status in the Land of the Rising Sun.
To do this, you must first also obtain a residence permit, and then live under it for a certain period, extending it legally.
Who can get a residence permit in Japan:

Based on training. To obtain higher education in Japan and a residence permit on this basis, the first step is to apply for an annual student visa, which can be extended an unlimited number of times while you continue your studies.
Get an official job. In this case, it is necessary to know the language of the country at least at an initial business level; English in Japan is much less important than your native one, and therefore, in order to get a prestigious position and then apply for citizenship, you will need to graduate from at least a language school.
Obtain refugee status. In this case, the immigrant is issued a three-year residence permit, with the opportunity to apply for permanent residence after this period.
Based on marriage to a Japanese man/woman. The shortest and fastest way to obtain permanent residence and citizenship. In addition, children born in a legal marriage will automatically receive citizenship.

Attention! Dual citizenship is not allowed in Japan, but the exception is for children under 18 years of age born in a marriage where only one parent is Japanese; upon reaching this age, the person is given 2 years to choose citizenship.

The Kuril Islands have good weather twice a year. In May and September. Cold rains in summer. In winter there are terrible snowfalls. And typhoons come without warning. People live here. They are born and... do not die. Northern bonuses and early retirement are a reason to buy a house by the warm sea and move out.

If you decide to move to the Kuril Islands, then get ready for challenges. Manpower, of course, is needed every year during Putin. From May to October. To do this you need to be recruited. Get a special pass. Border zone. But everything will pay off handsomely. Salaries are not the same as they were in the USSR, but a fisherman receives a million per season. I sailed to Iturup in the same cabin with the refrigerator man Igor from Bendery. I was returning “home” to Shikotan. His specialty is worth its weight in gold. He is a foreigner to us. Doesn't enjoy any benefits. And for our own - a godsend. He saved up for a house in Bendery a long time ago. But while you’re young, you have to plow. He goes back and forth. Respected frame in Shikotan.

In the morning we moored at Iturup. The village of Kitovy. The pier is brand new. Built by South Koreans. We received a protest from the Japanese against this “unfriendly step”. Whatever it is, the pier is more modern than the Sakhalin one. Cleaner and safer. What struck me was that there were a lot of people from Kyrgyzstan. They help at the port and at construction sites. How did this workforce get here at such an exorbitant ticket price? Although, on the other hand, when you see comrades from Central Asia, you understand that this is a marker of economic growth. Where it is empty, these people do not live.

Kuriles are caviar. At breakfast I was given two bowls of this wonderful product. Salmon and pollock. What was devastated sooner? The pollock with onion and sunflower oil was a real success. There was a "raznorybitsa" going on. This is the first stage of the poutine, when cod, flounder and the regal pollock are pulled out. My cat has never eaten it before. And now he is the king! True true...

Pollock is caught by the old sea wolf Vladimir Grigorievich Lysenko. Originally from Ukraine. Graduated from college on Sakhalin. He goes into the sea as if for a walk. I was put as a passenger on his MRS 348. MRS is a small fishing seiner. It started pumping immediately after leaving Yasnaya Bay. Oh, guys, how much it cost me to write these lines!..

Lysenko looks into the echo sounder. Only he understands where each fish goes. This is a perch. There is no license for it. Here's the cod. Here's a flounder. They cast a two-kilometer seine. About forty minutes later, when the MRS made a circle and captured the prey, the real work began. All seven crew members pulled out the trawl. The result is flounder.

In the Kuril Islands it is customary to give a lift. Let's go. The girl votes.

To Reidovo!

Sit down!

We started talking. Anna is a graduate of the Kuril school. I came here with my parents. They work at a fish factory. After passing the exams, he will go to study in Khabarovsk.

My grandfather is there. Very calling!

And then will you come back?

I don’t know... What should I do here? Once a week there is a disco. Video. Well, the pool. What else?

What else does the younger generation need?

I didn’t explain to her that life in the Kuril Islands is a real drive. Although the internet here is crappy. They are pulling the cable from Sakhalin. Optical fiber. Everything will be fine. But expensive! 1000 rubles per 1 GB.

A swimming pool with a cinema hall was recently built. The owner appeared on the islands. "Gidrostroy". This is such an island-forming company. Two former military men have taken the fishing industry into their own hands. The islands have been transformed. Gidrostroy gave me the job. People began to earn money. Everything went its way. By the way, every Kuril resident remembers July 31, 2013. On this day the first meter of asphalt was laid. They built a factory. Imported bitumen, of course. But the asphalt is the same as in Japan. I can testify. I caught local beauties on the main street of Kurilsk for a mini-interview.

Yes, sidewalks appeared, and we began to dress differently! - says Vera.

Before there was dirt and more dirt! We wore boots. And now it also happens in sandals! - echoes Inna.

And at the highest point of Kurilsk they installed a metal... toilet! Also a sign of civilization. There is no attendant. Instead there is a sign: “Throw 30 rubles into a mug.” The mug was empty. With obvious sparse crowds, you can easily save money!

The prices are truly astronomical. Doctor's sausage 1000 rubles per kilogram. Vodka is the most affordable - 450. But fresh frozen flounder - 56 rubles per kilo! You can live.

Lyudmila Shapka, a former Vesti correspondent on Sakhalin, is now the head of public relations at Gidrostroy JSC. I decided to do a performance. Take pictures of fishermen in historical robes on the banner. Like the 60s, when the Kuril Islands began to fish. Network knitting workshop. It has been preserved in its original condition. I was invited as a consultant, for which I am immensely grateful. The docked fishermen went to the site. There were such types! And then the authorities arrived... They also found robes. You will never guess who is a simple fisherman from Olya Bay and who is the general director.

Pavel Panchenko is my colleague. He works for the local newspaper "Red Lighthouse". The editorial office occupied the building of a former Japanese hospital, which the Japanese donated after the terrible earthquake of 1994. The large hospital was built a long time ago. Well, the building shouldn’t disappear?

Pavel will soon be 55. He dreams of going to Sochi for permanent residence in December. I’ve already had my eye on the area.

People come here to earn benefits. Then they chose a new place of residence. As a rule, by the sea. The only thing that doesn't let go is the sea!

To confirm his words, he throws a spinning rod into a river near the Pacific Ocean and immediately pulls out a fish as big as his elbow. Three minutes - three fish. The supper is ready.

The Pacific Ocean was not quiet. The wind drove a frequent wave. Cars drove along the coastal volcanic sand, like on asphalt, to Goryachy Klyuch. While the tide is low, it's faster.

The main thing for a Kuril resident is registration! It provides not only preferential travel to the “mainland”, but also visa-free visits to the island of Hokkaido. Every year, quotas are allocated for treatment of children from the Kuril Islands in Japan. This is appreciated here. And they thank you. But at the same time, the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, together with ZAO Gidrostroy, twice a year lands troops of the best Russian doctors on the Kuril Islands - the medical and educational expedition "Frontiers of Russia". This is probably the best manifestation of citizenship.

Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe recently agreed on new economic projects in the Kuril Islands.

I ask the mayor of Kurilsk, Georgy Mitrik, what will interest Kurilsk most.

Construction of a waste incineration plant, of course! This is necessary for the island, for the environment! The city landfill is already full. Need to do something!

I asked myself the question a thousand times: “Why did I go to the Kuril Islands and why am I writing this material?” Prove that this is part of Russia? Obviously without me. Tell us how the locals live? The entire newspaper is not enough for this. I would like to quote one colonel with whom we banqueted at an official reception. He said a well-aimed but precise toast: “The Sea of Okhotsk is the Russian sea! The Kuril Islands are the key to it. And it is in the hands of Russia!” Well, sometimes colonels speak more clearly than diplomats. And I immediately drank with him.

The Kuril issue has not been resolved for many decades and keeps popping up on the agenda. What is it about these Kuril Islands that Russia and Japan are fighting so hard for them? Life decided to look at life on the islands from an ordinary human point of view.

Kuril Islands and tourists

1) To visit the Kuril Islands you need a special permit, since this is a border zone. It is issued by the border department of the FSB of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. You need to come on a weekday from 9:30 to 10:30 with your passport and its copy, and only the next day you will receive a pass. So any traveler will have to stay in the city for one day.

2) Planning a route around the Kuril Islands is not at all the same as planning your route through Europe. Let's figure it out. There are 56 islands in total, the most popular of which are Kunashir and Iturup. There are only two ways to get to them, and both are not easy. By plane: from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Kurilsk (Iturup Island) or from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Yuzhno-Kurilsk (Kunashir Island). There are basically no flights on Mondays and Thursdays, and tickets need to be purchased several months in advance, otherwise everything will simply be sold out. By boat: departs from the city of Korsakov, Sakhalin region, only twice a week. On the way - from 18 to 24 hours. But you can only buy tickets directly at the box office on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands; there are no online sales. So most often they are taken apart by local residents.

3) You can get stuck in the Kuril Islands for a long time simply because you won’t be able to return to the mainland. In bad weather, ships do not operate and planes do not fly. Locals even joke that the Kunashir airport was built in a place where fog and cloudiness most often occur. And we are not talking about a flight delay of a couple of hours. There is a possibility of spending an extra week or two in the Kuril Islands. The ferry service is also unreliable. This summer, one of the two ships simply broke down.

4) Actually, bad weather appears very often in the Kuril Islands. It is cold in winter, cool in summer, but always humid - either waist-deep snow, or fog, drizzle, rain and typhoons. Let the average temperature of the coldest month, February - minus 7 degrees - not seem like flowers, since the strongest winds always blow. Climate chaos is happening on the islands: in Yuzhno-Kurilsk it can rain, but already 13 kilometers from the city the sun is shining, then it rains again, and then at the 17th kilometer the sun is shining again!

5) We counted only five hotels in all of the Kuril Islands. Hotel "Iceberg" (3 rooms), "Vostok" (11 rooms), "Flagman" (7 rooms) - in Kunashir, hotels "Ostrov" (11 rooms) and "Iturup" (38 rooms) - respectively, in Iturup. Total - only 70 rooms! This pleasure costs about 3 thousand rubles for a double room. Locals advise always to find out if there are free rooms at the Russian-Japanese Friendship House in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. When Japanese tourists arrive in Kunashir, rooms are not rented out to Russians. Priority is given to foreigners.

Kuril Islands and Japan

6) Japan can be seen practically from the window. There are several most advantageous locations - on Kunashir, at the 13th and 17th kilometers from the coast, you can best see Japanese soil. But the weather must be clear.

7) Everywhere on the Kuril Islands the Japanese past is visible. There are former Japanese factories, Japanese cemeteries, and almost the entire Pacific coast of Kunashir near the river mouths is strewn with fragments of pre-war Japanese porcelain and empty bottles of Japanese beer - a good place for an archaeologist or just a collector!

8) In Kunashir you can visit the Japanese warehouse of left boots (more precisely, what is left of it). Why the left boots and not a pair? This is due to the fact that in the Japanese army the right and left boots were stored separately to prevent theft, and also so that the enemy could not use them if they discovered the warehouse.

Kuril Islands and nature

9) The Kuril Islands are, first and foremost, volcanoes! There are about 160 volcanoes on the islands, 40 of which are active. Just listen to their names: Stokap, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Chirip, Petrel, Demon, Ivan the Terrible, Bear, Stepmother, Dragon, Ermak, Curly, Little Brother.

10) The Kuril Islands also have unique flora and fauna. Here, instead of grass, bamboo grows along the roads, and next to the spruce you can see mulberry and magnolia. Kuril bamboo, by the way, reaches 3.5 meters. And everywhere there is a scattering of berries - cloudberries, lingonberries, blueberries, blueberries, stoneberries, princelings, Chinese lemongrass, redberries and others.

11) In the Kuril Islands you can easily encounter a bear. The vicinity of the Tyati Kunashir volcano is considered one of the most bearish regions.

12) The Kuril Islands are the birthplace of the Kuril Bobtail cat breed. From there, at the end of the 20th century, the Kuril Bobtail was brought to the mainland. A distinctive feature of the breed is a short tail, as it is also called a pom-pom tail.

Kuril Islands and Kuril Islands

13) Almost every Kuril resident has a car. Most often these are Japanese jeeps. But there is not a single gas station on the islands! Residents order barrels of fuel from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk or Vladivostok. Only this year, by October 1, the local authorities of Iturup promised to organize the first gas station.

14) Almost all houses on the Kuril Islands are two- and three-story. Five-story buildings are already considered high-rise buildings, and they are rather rare. This is all due to the high seismicity of the region.

15) Kuril residents have “northern” vacation - 62 days a year, and for residents of the southern islands of the Kuril chain (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group) there is a visa-free regime with Japan. However, in reality, locals rarely use this right - on average, about 400 people travel there from the Kuril Islands per year (in total, just over 19 thousand people live in the Kuril Islands).

16) TO Uril residents are open and kind people, this is what travelers who have visited the islands say about them. If you are a tourist, then you will not be left without attention and interest from local people; they will definitely ask you about your life and tell you about theirs, recommend visiting unique attractions, and sometimes even volunteer to take you to them.

Local residents, tourists and the travel company RussiaDiscovery took part in the preparation of the material.