Shikotan: Difference between revisions

Shikotan
Disputed island;
	NASA picture of Shikotan Island
Other names	Russian: Шикотан; Japanese: 色丹島
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	43°48′N 146°45′E / 43.800°N 146.750°E
Archipelago	Kuril Islands
Total islands	1
Area	225 km2 (87 sq mi)
Highest elevation	412 m (1352 ft)
Highest point	Mount Tomari
Administration
	Russia
Federal subject	Sakhalin Oblast
District	Yuzhno-Kurilsky
Claimed by
	Japan
Prefecture	Hokkaido
Subprefecture	Nemuro
Demographics
Population	2,100

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Revision as of 14:49, 11 January 2023

Shikotan (Russian: Шикотан; Japanese: 色丹, romanized: Shikotan; Ainu: シコタン or シコタヌ, romanized: Sikotan), also known as Shpanberg (after Martin Spangberg), is an island in the Kurils administered by the Russian Federation as part of Yuzhno-Kurilsky District of Sakhalin Oblast. It is claimed by Japan as the nominal Shikotan District (色丹郡, Shikotan-gun), part of Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture.

The island's primary economic activities are fisheries and fishing, with the principal marine products being cod, crab, and kelp. The name Shikotan derives from the Ainu language and means "real town" (Ainu reflexive or embellishing prefix si- + Ainu kotan "inhabited place, settlement, village, town").

Geography

The total land area of Shikotan is 225 km². The island is hilly, averaging 300 metres in elevation. The shores of the island are very indented and covered with oceanic meadows. The highest altitude is 412 m. The island is formed by the volcanic rock and sandstone of the Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic periods. There are two extinct volcanoes on Shikotan: Mount Tomari and Mount Notoro. A number of tiny islets and rocks are scattered around the coast of Shikotan.

Shikotan's vegetation consists mostly of Sakhalin fir, larch, deciduous trees, bamboo underbrush, and juniper brushwood.

There are two villages: Malokurilskoye, formerly Shikotan (色丹); and Krabozavodskoye, formerly Anama (穴澗(あなま))

History

Russia recognised Japanese sovereignty over the island in the 19th century. In 1885, Hanasaki District, to which the island belongs, was split off of Nemuro Province and incorporated into Chishima Province.^{[citation needed]}

In September 1945, during the final days of World War II, the island, which had a population of 1,038 at the time,^{[citation needed]} was invaded by 600 Soviet troops.^[1] It is one of the islands (along with the Habomai Islands) which the Soviet Union agreed in 1956 to transfer to Japan in the event of a peace treaty between the two countries (such a peace treaty has never been concluded).^[2] Between the late-1950s and to the 1960s, the Soviet Union fortified the island with old tanks (mainly IS-2 and IS-3 heavy tanks) repurposed as coastal-defence artillery against a possible seaborne invasion, by digging them into the ground and employing them as fixed gun emplacements.^[3]

An earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused major damage on the island's coastline on October 4, 1994.

In popular culture

The 2014 anime film Giovanni's Island is a fictionalized account of the fate of Japanese civilians living on Shikotan at the time of the 1945 Soviet occupation.

Gallery

Relief Map
Shikotan Island, 1990.
Shikotan, 1980.
Lighthouse, 1980.
Landscape, 1980.
Pre-WW2 Shikotan Shrine. Whale bones were used for a Torii

References

^ "Japan's prime minister plans a steamy tête-à-tête with Russia's president". The Economist. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
^ "Russia PM visits disputed isle off Japan's Hokkaido".
^ "Texts of Soviet–Japanese Statements; Peace Declaration Trade Protocol". The New York Times, page 2, October 20, 1956.
Moscow, October 19. (UP) – Following are the texts of a Soviet–Japanese peace declaration and of a trade protocol between the two countries, signed here today, in unofficial translation from the Russian

...The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty. Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty...

External links

Kuril Island Network - A volunteer group dedicated to raising awareness of the habitat on the Kurils
[1] - Satellite image of Shikotan
[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061008f1.html Ainu speaker and activist explains the meaning of the South Kuril island names

[1] "Japan's prime minister plans a steamy tête-à-tête with Russia's president". The Economist. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2018.

[2] "Russia PM visits disputed isle off Japan's Hokkaido".

[nyt-3] "Texts of Soviet–Japanese Statements; Peace Declaration Trade Protocol". The New York Times, page 2, October 20, 1956.
Moscow, October 19. (UP) – Following are the texts of a Soviet–Japanese peace declaration and of a trade protocol between the two countries, signed here today, in unofficial translation from the Russian

...The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty. Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty...

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@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 == Geography ==
-The total land [[area]] of Shikotan is 225&nbsp;km². The island is hilly, averaging 300 metres in elevation. The shores of the island are very indented and covered with oceanic [[meadow]]s. The highest [[altitude]] is 412 m. The island is formed by the [[volcanic rock]] and [[sandstone]] of the Upper [[Cretaceous]] and [[Cenozoic]] periods. There are two extinct volcanoes on Shikotan: Mount Tomari and Mount Notoro.
+The total land [[area]] of Shikotan is 225&nbsp;km². The island is hilly, averaging 300 metres in elevation. The shores of the island are very indented and covered with oceanic [[meadow]]s. The highest [[altitude]] is 412 m. The island is formed by the [[volcanic rock]] and [[sandstone]] of the Upper [[Cretaceous]] and [[Cenozoic]] periods. There are two extinct volcanoes on Shikotan: Mount Tomari and Mount Notoro. [[Offshore islets of Shikotan|A number of tiny islets and rocks]] are scattered around the coast of Shikotan.
 Shikotan's [[vegetation]] consists mostly of Sakhalin [[fir]], [[larch]], [[deciduous]] trees, [[bamboo]] [[underbrush]], and [[juniper]] brushwood.

v t e Kuril Islands
Islands	Antsiferov Island Atlasov Island Awos Broutona Chirinkotan Chyornye Bratya Ekarma Habomai Islands Iturup Ketoy Kharimkotan Kunashir Island Lowuschki Rocks Makanrushi Matua Onekotan Paramushir Polonsky Island Raikoke Rasshua Shiashkotan Shikotan Shumshu Simushir Ushishir Urup
Volcanoes	Alaid Atsonupuri Baransky Berutarube Bogatyr Ridge Chikurachki Chirinkotan Chirip Chirpoi Demon Ebeko Ekarma Fuss Peak Golets-Torny Group Golovnin Goryashchaya Sopka Grozny Group Ivao Group Karpinsky Group Ketoi Kharimkotan Kolokol Group Kuntomintar Lomonosov Group Lvinaya Past Medvezhya Mendeleyeva Milna (volcano) Nemo Peak Prevo Peak Raikoke Rasshua Rudakov Sarychev Peak Shirinki Sinarka Smirnov Srednii Tao-Rusyr Caldera Tyatya Tri Sestry Uratman Ushishur Vernadskii Ridge Zavaritski Caldera
Other geographical features	Bussol Strait Ilya Muromets Waterfall Kasatka Bay Cape Koritsky Kuril–Kamchatka Trench
Cities and towns	Kurilsk Severo-Kurilsk Yuzhno-Kurilsk
Events	Menashi–Kunashir rebellion Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875) Russo-Japanese War Hawaii Operation Invasion of the Kuril Islands Battle of Shumshu Japanese evacuation of Karafuto and the Kuril Islands Kuril Islands dispute Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A
People	Ainu people William Robert Broughton Vasily Golovnin Takadaya Kahei Matsumae clan Maarten Gerritszoon Vries

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Japan