Why in news?

• As per Japan, the disputed islands are illegally occupied by Russia.
• Japan has called these islands – the Northern Territories – while Russia calls them the southern Kurils.
• Japan claims the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai islands in Kuril Island chain.
• Location: Chain of volcanic island archipelago stretches north across the Pacific Ocean from the Japan’s Hokkaido to the southernmost tip of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
• It separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean.
• Other features
• Vegetation: Ranges from tundra on the northern islands to dense forest on the larger southern islands
• Kuril Islands form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Pacific Ring of Fire.