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Kuril Islands

[ koor-il ahy-luhnz, koo-reel ]

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.


Kuril Islands

/ kʊˈriːl /

plural noun

  1. 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) Japanese nameChishima
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of Kuril Islands1

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

And then the Aleutian and Kuril Islands make a sort of breakwater to head off big bergs.

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Kurile IslandsKuril Trench