KURILES, a chain of small islands belonging to Japan, stretching in a north-easterly direction from Nemuro bay, on the extreme east of the island of Yezo, to Chishima-kaikyo (Kuriles strait), which separates them from the southernmost point of Kamchatka. They extend from 45' to 56' N. and from 145° 25' to i56° 32' E. Their coasts measure 1,496 m.; their area is 6,159 sq.m. ; their total number is 32, and the names of the eight principal islands counting from the south, are Kuna shiri, Shikotan, Etorofu (generally called Etorop, and known formerly to Europe as Staten island), Urup, Simusir, Onnekotan, Paramoshiri (Paramusir) and Shumshiri. From Noshapzaki (Notsu-no-sake or Notsu cape), the most easterly point of Ne muro province, to Tomari, the most westerly point in Kuna shiri, the distance is 7J m., and the Kuriles strait separating Shumshiri from Kamchatka is about the same width. The name "Kurile" is derived from the Russian kurit (to smoke), in allu sion to the active volcanic character of the group. The islands lie entangled in a vast net of sea-weed; are the resort of innu merable birds, and used to be largely frequented by seals and sea otters, which, however, have been almost completely driven away by unregulated hunting.
Near the south-eastern coast of Kunashiri stands a mountain called Rausunobori (3,005 ft. high), round whose base sulphur bubbles up in large quantities, and hot springs as well as a hot stream are found. On the west coast of the same island is a boil ing lake, called Ponto, which deposits on its bed and round its shores black sand, consisting almost entirely of pure sulphur. This island has several lofty peaks ; Ponnobori-yama near the east coast, and Chachanobori and Rurindake in the north. Chach anobori (about 7,382 ft.) is described by Chamberlain and Mason as "a cone within a cone, the inner and higher of the two being— so the natives say—surrounded by a lake." The island has ex tensive forests of conifers with an undergrowth of ferns and flowering plants, and bears are numerous. The chief port of Kunashiri is Tomari on the south coast. The island of Shikotan is remarkable for the growth of a species of bamboo (called Shikotan-chiku), having dark brown spots on the cane. Etorofu has a coast-line broken by deep bays, of which the principal are Naibo-wan, Rubetsu-wan and Bettobuwan on the northern shore and Shitokap-wan on the southern. It is covered almost com pletely with dense forest, and has a number of streams abounding with salmon. Shana, the chief port, is in Rubetsu bay. This
island, the principal of the group, is divided into four provinces for administrative purposes, namely, Etorofu, Furubetsu, Shana and Shibetoro. Its mountains are Atosha-nobori (4,035 ft.) in Etorofu; Chiripnupari (5,009 ft.) in Shana ; and Mokoro-nobori (3,93o ft.) and Atuiyadake (3,932 ft.) in Shibetoro. Among the other islands three only call for notice on account of their alti tudes, namely, Ketoi-jima, Rashua-jima and Matua-jima, which rise to heights of 3,944, 3,304 and 5,240 ft. respectively.
Not much is known about the aborigines. By some authorities Ainu colonists are supposed to have been the first settlers, and to have arrived there via Yezo; by others, the earliest corners are believed to have been a hyperborean tribe travelling south wards by way of Kamchatka. The present population aggregates about 4,400, or 0.7 per sq.m., of whom about 600 are Ainu (q.v.). History.—The Kurile islands were discovered in 1634 by the Dutch navigator Martin de Vries. The three southern islands, Kunashiri, Etorofu, and Shikotan, are believed to have belonged to Japan from a remote date, but at the beginning of the i8th century the Russians, having conquered Kamchatka, found their way to the northern part of the Kuriles in pursuit of fur-bearing animals, with which the islands then abounded. Gradually these encroachments were pushed farther south, simultaneously with aggressions imperilling the Japanese settlements in the southern half of Sakhalin. Japan's occupation was far from effective in either region, and in 1875 she was not unwilling to conclude a convention by which she agreed to withdraw altogether from Sakhalin provided that Russia withdrew from the Kuriles.
See Capt. H. J. Snow, Notes on the Kurile Islands (London, 1896). KURISCHES HAFF, a lagoon, on the coast of the Baltic, stretching from Labiau to Memel, a distance of 6o m., having an area of nearly 68o sq.m. It is shallow and only close to Memel attains a depth of 23 ft. It is thus unnavigable except for small coasting and fishing boats, and sea-going vessels proceed through the Memeler Tief (Memel Deep), which connects the Baltic with Memel and has a depth of 19 ft. and a breadth of Boo to 1,900 ft. The Kurisches Haff is separated from the Baltic by a long spit (Kurische Nehrung), 72 m. long and i to 2 m. wide. The latter is fringed throughout its whole length by a chain of dunes, which rise in places to a height of nearly 200 ft. and threaten, unless checked, to be pressed farther inland and silt up the whole Haff.