Shumshu

Schumschu (Russian Остров Шумшу; jap占 守岛, Shumushu -tō ) is the easternmost island of the Kuril Islands. Administratively it belongs to the Russian Sakhalin Oblast.

Geography

Schumschu is located only 2 kilometers north-east of Severo- Kurilsk on the island Paramushir - separated by a narrow sound, the Second Kurilenstraße - as well as 11 km southwest of Cape Lopatka, the southern tip of the Asian Kamchatka Peninsula, from which it is separated by the Kurilenstraße. The island is about 30 km long, up to 20 km wide and has an area of 388 km ². Schumschu reached 189 m above the sea only a low in comparison to other islands of the Kuril height. The landscape is characterized by marshes with numerous small lakes.

History

Schumschu was originally inhabited by the people of Ainu, dealers was because of its proximity to the mainland, however, already in the 18th century by Russian hunters and ( fur ) visited. 1855, the island was by the Treaty of Shimoda to Russian territory, in 1875 it was replaced by the Treaty of Saint Petersburg again to Japanese territory. Because of its direct proximity to Russia, the island was heavily fortified, including the Air Force Base Kataoka was built, which was later renamed Baikowo. On 18 August 1945, three days after the Gyokuon - Hoso, Schumschu was the first of the Kuril Islands attacked by the Soviet Union and taken after heavy fighting on August 21. Since 1946 it belongs to the Soviet or Russian territory since 1991. Japan was in 1951 in the Treaty of San Francisco all claims to the island. Base and Baikowo village on the west coast are now abandoned.