If your path lies on the Kuril Islands, Iturup Island should undoubtedly be part of your trip. After all, this is a very beautiful and original place. No wonder many consider it a real pearl of the Kuril Islands. Today we offer you to find out what Iturup Island is, find out where it is, what climate it is here and what are the features of flora and fauna. We’ll also figure out how to get to this interesting place.
Iturup Island: photos, description
Iturup is the largest island of the Great Kuril ridge archipelago , which is part of the Kuril Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean. Iturup belongs to the Russian Federation, but for a long time, Japan has been claiming it. The authorities of this country consider it as the prefecture of Hokkaido. As for the name of the island, it is believed that it came from the word "etorop", which can be translated from the Ainu language as "jellyfish".
Geography and map of Iturup Island
As already mentioned, this island is located in the Pacific. On the north side, it is washed by the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. Iturup Island on the map of Russia can be found in the southeast of our large country. The map clearly shows how close Iturup is to Japan.
The length of the island from northeast to southwest is 200 kilometers, and its width in different parts varies from seven to twenty seven kilometers. The area of Iturup is 3200 square kilometers. The island consists of mountain ranges and volcanic massifs. There are about twenty volcanoes, nine of which are active (Kudryavy, Little Brother, Chirip, Bogdan Khmelnitsky and others). In addition, such a seemingly small island of Iturup boasts many picturesque waterfalls, including the highest waterfall in Russia - Ilya Muromets (141 meters). In addition, there are lakes, as well as hot and mineral springs.
Flora
Iturup Island is rich not only in volcanoes, waterfalls and geysers, but also in a number of representatives of the plant world. Thus, coniferous forests consisting of small seed spruce and Sakhalin firs cover most of its territory. In the central area of the island you can see the Kuril larch. Broad-leaved species grow in the southern part of Iturup: fine-curled oak, Kalopanaks, and maple. Also on the island are very developed thickets of bamboo - the Kuril saz, which makes the slopes of the mountains and forests practically impassable.
Climate
Iturup Island has a temperate marine climate. Summer here is wet and pretty cool. August is considered the warmest month, when the average daily temperature reaches +14 degrees Celsius. Therefore, going to Iturup, even in summer, be sure to grab warm clothes. As for winter, it is much milder here than on the continent, and is characterized by frequent snowfalls, followed by thaws. The average temperature in the coldest month - February - is -3 degrees Celsius.
Residents of the island and settlements
At Iturup today there are about six and a half thousand people. In the central region of the island on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk is the only city here and the administrative center - Kurilsk. Its population is about 1800 people. The remaining islanders live in the rural settlements of Kitovoy, Raidovo, Rybaki, Goryachy Klyuch and some others.
Minerals
On Iturup Island in 1992, the world's only economically viable rhenium deposit was discovered. It is located on the volcano Kudryavy. According to scientists, annually about twenty tons of rhenium are thrown from the bowels of the volcano to the surface. Interestingly, the global production of this metal per year does not exceed forty tons. One kilogram of rhenium costs about 10 thousand US dollars. This metal is strategically valuable, as it is used by enterprises of the military-industrial complex (primarily in the aerospace field). In addition to rhenium, Iturup’s bowels are rich in bismuth, indium, germanium, gold, silver, and selenium. There is also a large native sulfur deposit.
How to get to Iturup
Air traffic of the island is carried out through the Burevestnik airfield located here, which belongs to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Passenger and cargo sea traffic is carried out using two motor ships: Polaris and Igor Farkhutdinov.
I would like to note that if you decide to visit Iturup Island, then most likely you will have to go by plane. The Canadian Bombardier DHC-8 aircraft fly here. For example, from the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk a ticket will cost you four and a half thousand rubles. Travel time is about an hour. Moreover, keep in mind that the plane does not always depart on schedule. This is due to the variability of weather conditions on Iturup. It even happens that people who want to get to the island, wait for flying weather for two, or even three days.
Arriving at the "Petrel" you are likely to be very surprised. After all, luggage here (without tags) will be unloaded from the plane directly to the ground, where each passenger must pick up their belongings. As for the airfield itself, it is located about 60 kilometers from Kurilsk. And you will travel 50 kilometers along a dirt road, and another 10 along the shore of Kasatka Bay (which can only be done at low tide). This is due to the fact that the airfield was built by the Japanese. It was from here that their fighters were sent to bomb Pearl Harbor. Not far from Kurilsk, a new airport is under construction.