The New Encyclopaedia Britanica Volume 7 MICROPAEDIA 15th edition

Kuril Islands

Russian KURILSKIYE OSTROVA, Japanese CHISHIMA-RETTO, archipelago in Sakhalin oblast (province), far-eastern Russia.The archipelago extends for 750 miles (1,200km) from the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) to the northeastern corner of Hokkaido island (Japan) and separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. The 56 islands cover 6,000 square miles (15,600 square km).

The chain is part ofthe belt ofgeologic instability circling the Pacific and contains at least 100 volcanoes, of which 35 are still active, and many hot springs. Earthquakes and tidal waves are common; the tidal wave of 1737 attained a height of 2 10 feet (64 m), one of the highest on record. Parallel to the chain, in the Pacific floor, is the Kuril Trench, which reaches a depth of more than 6.5 miles (10.5 km). The climate in the islands is evere, with long, cold, snowy winters and cool, wet, foggy summers. The average annual precipitation is 30-40 inches (760-1,000 mm), most of which falls as snow, which may occur in any month from the end of September to the beginning of June. Vegetation ranges from tundra on the northern islands to dense forest on the larger southern islands. The only significant occupation is fishing, especially for crab. The principal centres are the towns of Kurilsk on Iturup, the largest island, and Severo-Kurilsk on Paramushir. Some vegetables are grown on the southern islands.

The Kurils were originally settled by the Russians, following their exploration in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1855, however, Japan seized a group of the southern islands and in 1875 took possession of the entire chain. In 1945, as part of the Yalta agreements, the islands were ceded to the Soviet Union, and the Japanese population was repatriated and replaced by Soviets. Japan still claims historical rights to the southernmost islands and hastried repeatedly to persuade the Soviet Union and, from 1991 , Russia to return the islands to Japanese sovereignty.


参考(最後の節の翻訳:
 千島には最初にロシア人が住み着いた。これは17、18世紀の探検に引き続いて行われた。しかし、1855年、日本は南千島を奪取し、1875年には全千島列島を領有した。1945年、ヤルタ協定に基いて、島々はソ連に割譲された。日本人は引き揚げ、替わってソ連人が移住した。日本は、今でも、南部諸島に対する歴史的権利を主張し、島々に対する日本の主権を回復するように、ソ連・ロシアを、繰り返し説得している。