Kunashir

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Kunashir" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Kunashir Island

Disputed island Native name: Ainu: クナシㇼ
Map of Kunashir and the adjacent islands
Location of Kunashir Island
Kunashir Island Show map of Japan Kunashir Island Show map of Russia
Other names	Kazakh: Kün Ashyr; Japanese: 国後島
Geography
Location	Sea of Okhotsk
Coordinates	44°07′N 145°51′E / 44.117°N 145.850°E / 44.117; 145.850
Archipelago	Kuril Islands
Area	1,490 km2 (580 sq mi)
Length	123 km (76.4 mi)
Width	4 km (2.5 mi) to 30 km (19 mi)
Highest elevation	1,819 m (5968 ft)
Highest point	Chacha
Administration
Russia
Federal subject	Sakhalin Oblast
District	Yuzhno-Kurilsky
Claimed by
Japan
Prefecture	Hokkaido
Subprefecture	Nemuro
Demographics
Population	approx. 7000 (2007)

Kunashir Island (Russian: Кунаши́р, romanized: Kunashír; Japanese: 国後島, romanized: Kunashiri-tō; Ainu: クナシㇼ, romanized: Kuna=sir), possibly meaning Black Island or Grass Island in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Archipelago. The island has been under Russian administration since the end of World War II, when Soviet forces took possession of the Kurils. It is claimed by Japan (see Kuril Islands dispute).