Explanation :

• The Kuril Islands is a volcanic archipelago in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean.
• These form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Ring of Fire.
• The Islands are currently under Russian administration. However, they are also claimed by Japan.
• Four islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute between the two nations.
• These four islands - Kunashir (known in Japanese as Kunashiri), Iturup (Etorofu), Shikotan and the rocky Habomai islets.