Habomai Islands

The Habomai Islands are a small cluster of islets in the southern Kuril chain, located off the eastern tip of Hokkaido and administered by Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast. They are part of the wider Kuril Islands dispute and are claimed by Japan as part of Hokkaido prefecture.

The islets are low, rocky and largely uninhabited today; they supported seasonal fishing and small settlements under Japanese administration before 1945. After World War II Soviet forces occupied the islands and the civilian population was relocated, and the group has remained under Russian administration since.

Because of their political status and small size there is little infrastructure and public access is limited; the islands are important in discussions between Russia and Japan over territorial settlement.

Geographically the Habomai lie close to Hokkaido’s Nemuro Peninsula in the northern Pacific/Sea of Okhotsk region, forming the easternmost shoals of the Kuril chain.

• Sovereignty dispute: The Habomai are a group of very small, mostly uninhabited islets close to Hokkaido and are administered by Russia's Sakhalin Oblast while being claimed by Japan, making them part of the post-war territorial dispute over the southern Kurils.
• Access and population: There are no permanent civilian settlements today and access is generally restricted; the islets are visited mainly for fishing or official purposes rather than tourism.