| Kurils Nature Reserve | |
|---|---|
| Russian: Курильский заповедник (Also: Kurilsky) | |
 Boiling Lake in the Golovnin caldera on Kunashir Island | |
  Location of Reserve | |
| Location | Sakhalin Oblast |
| Nearest city | Yuzhno-Kurilsk |
| Coordinates | 45°5′0″N 145°59′0″E / 45.08333°N 145.98333°E |
| Area | 65,364 hectares (161,518 acres; 252 sq mi) |
| Established | 1984 |
| Governing body | Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia) |
| Website | http://www.kurilskiy.ru/ |
Kurils Nature Reserve (Russian: Курильский заповедник) (also Kurilsky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict ecological reserve) covering the north and south portions of Kunashir Island, the largest and most southernmost of the Kuril Islands, which stretch between Hokkaido Island in Japan to the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russia Far East. It also covers two smaller islands nearby to the southeast. The area is one of the largest wintering sites for coastal seabirds. The reserve sits on a tectonically unstable location, and is one of two Russian national reserves (with Kronotsky Nature Reserve) that protects territory of active volcanoes. The reserve is situated in the Yuzhno-Kurilsky District of Sakhalin Oblast. The reserve was created in 1984, and covers an area of 65,364 ha (252.37 sq mi).[1][2]
- ^ "Kurils Zapovednik (Official Site)" (in Russian). Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia). Retrieved January 21, 2016.
- ^ "Kurils Zapovednik" (in Russian). Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia). Retrieved January 21, 2016.