Kunashir(Kounachir)

Kounachir, one of the main islands of the Kuril Archipelago, situated 14 kilometres from Japan, was occupied by the Soviet army in 1945. A year later, after a short period of cohabitation, 17,000 Japanese and Ainus who were living in the Kurils and in Sakhalin were deported to the island of Hokkaido. Since that time Japan has demanded the return of the Kuril Islands. A peace treaty between the two countries has not be signed to date.