Though all of the islands lie under Russian administration, Japan claims the four southernmost islands, including two of the three largest ones ( Iturup and Kunashir), as part of its territory as well as Shikotan and the Habomai islets, which has led to the ongoing Kuril Islands dispute. They cover an area of around 10,503.2 square kilometres (4,055.3 sq mi), with a population of roughly 20,000. The Kuril Islands consist of the Greater Kuril Chain and the Lesser Kuril Chain.
There are 56 islands and many minor rocks. It stretches approximately 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean.
The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands is a volcanic archipelago part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. Composite map of the islands between Kamchatka Peninsula and Nemuro Peninsula, combining twelve US Army Map Service maps compiled in the early 1950s
