The Kuril Islands are a chain of volcanic islands between the Kamchatka peninsula (USSR) and the Hokkaido guard (Japan); separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. They are part of the Sakhalin Region (Russian Federation). The length is about 1200 km. The area is about 15.6 thousand km2. They consist of two parallel groups of islands - the Great Kurile and the Lesser Kuriles (Shikotan, Habomai, etc.)