Shikotan

2025-08-25T21:58:44Z

94.51.145.133:

{{Short description|Disputed island in the Kurils}}
{{distinguish|Shakotan, Hokkaido|Shpanberg Island}}
{{Infobox islands
| disputed = yes
| name = Shikotan
| other_names = {{langx|ja|色丹島}} {{langx|ru|Шикотан}}
| image_name = ShikotanSTS112-E-5660k.PNG
| image_size = 300px
| image_caption = [[NASA]] picture of Shikotan Island
| image_map = [[File:Demis - Shikotan.png|300px]]
| location = [[Pacific Ocean]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|43|48|N|146|45|E|type:isle|display=inline}}
| archipelago = [[Kuril Islands]]
| total_islands = 1
| area_km2 = 225
| elevation_m = 412
| highest_mount = Mount Shakotan
| country = {{RUS}}
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = [[Federal subjects of Russia|Federal subject]]
| country_admin_divisions_1 = [[Sakhalin Oblast]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = [[Raion|District]]
| country_admin_divisions_2 = [[Yuzhno-Kurilsky District|Yuzhno-Kurilsky]]
| country1 = {{JAP}}
| country1_admin_divisions_title_1 = [[Prefectures of Japan|Prefecture]]
| country1_admin_divisions_1 = [[Hokkaido]]
| country1_admin_divisions_title_2 = [[Subprefectures of Hokkaido|Subprefecture]]
| country1_admin_divisions_2 = [[Nemuro Subprefecture|Nemuro]]
| population = 3,800
}}

'''Shikotan''', also known as '''Shpanberg''' or '''Spanberg''', is an island in the [[Kuril Islands|Kurils]] administered by the [[Russian Federation]] as part of [[Yuzhno-Kurilsky District]] of [[Sakhalin Oblast]]. It is [[Kuril Islands dispute|claimed]] by [[Japan]] as the titular {{Nihongo|'''Shikotan District'''|色丹郡|Shikotan-gun}}, organized as part of [[Nemuro Subprefecture]] of [[Hokkaido|Hokkaido Prefecture]]. The island's primary economic activities are [[fishery|fisheries]] and [[fishing]], with the principal marine products being [[cod]], [[crab]], and [[kelp]].

{{anchor|Etymology|Name}}

==Names==
The English name ''{{linktext|Shikotan}}'' transcribes both the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] name {{lang|ja|{{linktext|色丹|lang=ja}}}} and the [[Russian language|Russian]] name {{lang|ru|{{linktext|Шикотан|lang=ru}}}}. The Japanese name derives from the [[Ainu language|Ainu]] ''Sikotan'' ({{lang|ain-Kana|シ{{linktext|コタン|lang=ain-Kana}}}} or {{lang|ain-Kana|シコタヌ}}). The name combines the Ainu [[Reflexive pronoun|reflexive]] or embellishing prefix ''si-'' and the word ''kotan'' ("[[human settlement|settlement]], [[village]]"), used [[metonym]]ically in Ainu for each of the islands of the Kurils.

The alternative Russian name ''Shpanberg'' ({{lang|ru|{{linktext|Шпанберг|lang=ru}}}}), sometimes [[anglicization of names|anglicized]] as ''Spanberg'', honors [[Martin Spanberg]], one of [[Vitus Bering]]'s lieutenants who led three voyages in 1738, 1739, and 1742 that first initiated [[Russian Empire|Russian]] [[Russian-Japanese relations|diplomatic relations]] with [[Tokugawa Japan|Japan]] and helped accelerate [[Kuril Islands dispute|Russian control of the Kurils]].

== Geography ==
The total land [[area]] of Shikotan is {{convert|225|km2|sqmi|sp=us}}. The island is hilly, averaging {{convert|300|m|0}} in elevation. The highest elevation is {{convert|412|m|0}}. The shores of the island are very indented and covered with oceanic [[meadow]]s. The island is formed by the [[volcanic rock]] and [[sandstone]] of the Upper [[Cretaceous]] and [[Cenozoic]] periods. There are two extinct volcanoes on Shikotan: Mount Tomari and Mount Notoro. [[Offshore islets of Shikotan|A number of tiny islets and rocks]] are scattered around the coast of Shikotan. Two larger islands lie off the south coast: Griega island; and Aivazovskogo island which lies in a bay near the western end of the southern coast.

Shikotan's [[vegetation]] consists mostly of Sakhalin [[fir]], [[larch]], [[deciduous]] trees, [[bamboo]] [[underbrush]], and [[juniper]] brushwood.

There are two [[village]]s: [[Malokurilskoye]], formerly {{Nihongo||色丹|Shikotan}}; and [[Krabozavodskoye]], formerly {{Nihongo||{{Ruby|穴澗|あなま}}|Anama}}

== History ==
Russia recognised Japanese sovereignty over the island in the 19th century under [[Shimoda Treaty]]. In 1885, Hanasaki District, to which the island belongs, was split off of [[Nemuro Province]] and incorporated into [[Chishima Province]].{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

On 1 September 1945, during the final days of [[World War II]], the island, which had a population of 1,038 at the time,{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} was invaded by 600 Soviet troops during the Soviet [[invasion of the Kuril Islands]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21711337-chances-breakthrough-two-countries-territorial-dispute-are-slim-japans-prime| title=Japan's prime minister plans a steamy tête-à-tête with Russia's president| date=10 September 2016| access-date=8 April 2018| publisher=The Economist}}</ref> It is one of the islands (along with the [[Habomai]] Islands) which the [[Soviet Union]] agreed [[Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956|in 1956]] to transfer to Japan in the event of a peace treaty between the two countries, but such a peace treaty has never been concluded.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/07/b886bdbd633c-russia-pm-visits-disputed-isle-off-japans-hokkaido.html |title=Russia PM visits disputed isle off Japan's Hokkaido |work=english.kyodonews.net |date=27 July 2021 |access-date=19 March 2023}}</ref> During the late 1950s and the 1960s, the Soviet Union fortified the island against a possible [[Amphibious warfare|seaborne invasion]] by repurposing old tanks (mainly [[IS tank family|IS-2 and IS-3]] [[heavy tank]]s) as [[coastal artillery]], digging them into the ground to serve as fixed gun emplacements.<ref name=nyt>[https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/20/archives/texts-of-sovietjapanese-statements-peace-declaration-trade-protocol.html "Texts of Soviet–Japanese Statements; Peace Declaration Trade Protocol"]. ''[[The New York Times]]'', page 2, October 20, 1956.
<blockquote>Moscow, October 19. (UP) – Following are the texts of a Soviet–Japanese peace declaration and of a trade protocol between the two countries, signed here today, in unofficial translation from the Russian</blockquote>
<blockquote>...The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty. Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty...</blockquote></ref>

On 6 November 1958, [[1958 Kuril Islands earthquake|a magnitude 8.3 to 8.4 earthquake]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]] off [[Iturup]] in the Kuril Islands generated a [[tsunami]] with a height of up to {{convert|5|m|ft|1}} at Shikotan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Catalog of Tsunamis in Japan and Its Neighboring Countries |url=https://tsunami-dl.jp/document/111 |website=Tsunami Digital Library |access-date=30 July 2023}}</ref> [[1994 Kuril Islands earthquake|A magnitude 8.3 earthquake]] in the Pacific Ocean just off Shikotan and subsequent tsunami on 4 October 1994 caused major damage on the island's coastline. The tsunami had a [[Wave run-up|run-up]] height of as much as {{convert|10|m|ft|0}} on Shikotan.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/official19521104165830_30/region-info | title=M 9.0 – 89 km ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia | work=[[United States Geological Survey]] Earthquake Hazards Program | date= | accessdate=25 November 2024}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
The 2014 anime film ''[[Giovanni's Island]]'' is a fictionalized account of the fate of Japanese civilians living on Shikotan at the time of the 1945 Soviet occupation.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Shikotan Relief Map, SRTM-1.jpg|Relief Map
File:Остров Шикотан.jpg|Shikotan Island, 1990.
File:Шикотан3.jpg|Shikotan, 1980.
File:Шикотан4.jpg|Lighthouse, 1980.
File:Шикотан5.jpg|Landscape, 1980.
File:Shikotan_Shrine.JPG|Pre-[[World War II]] Shikotan Shrine with a ''[[torii]]'' made of [[whale]] bones.
</gallery>

[[File:Sea Ice Surrounds Shikotan.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sea ice]] surrounds Shikotan.]]
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
* [[Kuril Islands dispute]]
* [[Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Shikotan}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050409181730/http://www.kurilnature.org/ Kuril Island Network – A volunteer group dedicated to raising awareness of the habitat on the Kurils]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101223015139/http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/kuril/shikotan.php Satellite image of Shikotan]}}
* [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061008f1.html Ainu speaker and activist explains the meaning of the South Kuril island names]
{{Kuril Islands}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Shikotan| ]]
[[Category:Disputed islands]]
[[Category:Japan–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Southern Kuriles]]
[[Category:Nemuro Subprefecture]]

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Shikotan