The Kuril island archipelago lies between the Pacific Ocean and which other sea?
Kuril Islands Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; or ; Japanese: or ), in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many minor rocks. It consists of Greater Kuril Chain and Lesser Kuril Chain. The total land area is and the total population is 19,434. All the islands are currently under Russian jurisdiction. Japan claims the two southernmost large islands (Iturup and Kunashir) as part of its territory, as well as Shikotan and
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench Kuril–Kamchatka Trench The Kuril–Kamchatka Trench or Kuril Trench (, "Kurilo-Kamchatskii Zhyolob") is an oceanic trench in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It lies off the southeast coast of Kamchatka and parallels the Kuril Island chain to meet the Japan Trench east of Hokkaido. It extends from a triple junction with the Ulakhan Fault and the Aleutian Trench near the Commander Islands, Russia, in the northeast, to the intersection with the Japan Trench in the southwest. The trench formed as a result of the subduction zone, which formed in the late Cretaceous, that created the Kuril island arc as well as the