Kuril Islands

American  

[koor-il ahy-luhnz, koo-reel] / ˈkʊər ɪl ˈaɪ lənz, kʊˈril /

plural noun

1. a chain of more than 55 small volcanic islands off the northeast coast of Asia, extending from northern Japan to the southern tip of Kamchatka: under Russian administration since Soviet invasion 1945, but subject to dispute, as with Japan’s ongoing claim to the four southernmost islands.

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Kuril Islands British  

/ kʊˈriːl /

plural noun

1. Japanese name: Chishima.  a chain of 56 volcanic islands off the NE coast of Asia, extending for 1200 km (750 miles) from the S tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula to NE Hokkaido. Area: 14 990 sq km (6020 sq miles)

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Etymology

Origin of Kuril Islands

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Russian Kuríl'skiye Ostrová, from Ainu kur “man”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Kuril Islands

Breeding occurs in regions spanning from Año Nuevo Island in Central California to the Kuril Islands north of Japan, with the greatest concentration of breeding grounds in the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

“Morton launched his last two torpedoes,” Mr. Clavin writes of a 1943 encounter off the Kuril Islands, somewhere between Russia and Japan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

"Troop exercises are taking place near the Kuril Islands, which seriously complicates the situation in the Asia-Pacific region."

From Reuters ● Sep. 3, 2023

After the Soviet takeover of the Kuril Islands, Matua was home to a Soviet military base that was closed amid funding shortages in the wake of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 2, 2021

We'd strike the Aleutian or the Kuril Islands before we got near there.

From The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries by Rolt-Wheeler, Francis