Kunashir Island
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Kunashir Island (Кунашир (Kunashir) in Russian, 国後島:Kunashiri in Japanese, Black Island in Ainu language) is the southernmost island in the Kuril chain in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast. It is one of the islands in the Kuril chain which are claimed by Japan (see Kuril Islands dispute).
It lies between the straits of Kunashir, Catherine, Izmena and South Kuril. Kunashir is visible from the nearby Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Kunashir is formed by four volcanoes which were separate islands but have since joined together by low-lying areas with lakes and hot springs. All these volcanoes are still active: Tyatya (1819 m), Smirnov, Mendeleev and Golovnin).
The island is formed with the volcanic and crystalline rocks. The climate is of monsoon type. The vegetation mostly consists of spruce, pine, fir, and mixed deciduous forests with lianas and Kuril bamboo underbrush. The mountains are covered with birch and Siberian Dwarf Pine scrub, herbaceous flowers or bare rocks.
Primary economic activity is fishery and fishing industry. The island has a port next to the village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, district seat of the South Kurile district and the island's main settlement.
