Kunashir
Sakhalin region, South Kuril district, Big Kuril ridge, Pacific Ocean, Russia.
Description:
The southernmost island of the Great Range of the Kuril Islands is Kunashir. It belongs to the South Kuril urban district of Russia of the Sakhalin region. Japan disputes its Russian identity, assigning the island to Nemuro County, Hokkaido.
The name “Kunashir” translates as “black island”. The thing is that there are 4 active volcanoes on the island: Tyatya, Ruruy, Golovnina and Mendeleeva.
The area of the territory is 1,490 square kilometers, the length from the north-east to the south-west is 123 kilometers, the highest point is the Tyatya volcano - 1,819 meters, the population is 8,000 people (in 2007).
The rivers of the island are shallow and short, the lakes are caldera and lagoon. There are hot springs of volcanic origin. In 1984, the Kurilsky State Nature Reserve was created on the island, which is home to 84 species of animals already included in the Red Book of Russia.
The island has a monsoon climate, it is influenced by the surrounding waters - the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk. Winter and summer are much warmer here than on the Pacific coast.
Kunashir has a rich fauna. It is home to such mammals as brown bear, weasel, sable, Shikotan vole, Japanese mouse, sable and many others. A large number of birds nest on the island.
The territory is filled with coniferous forests from Glen, ayan fir and Sakhalin fir, and in the southern part there are broad-leaved forests of maples, thin-haired oak, ilma of lobed and wooden lianas.
The island is provided with heat thanks to Mendeleevskaya GeoTPP. The main industry is fishing and processing.