Paramushir

Paramushir
Ainu: パラムシㇼ
Russian: Парамушир
Japanese: 幌筵島
Map of Paramushir Island
Paramushir is located in Sakhalin Oblast
Paramushir
Paramushir
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates50°20′N 155°45′E / 50.333°N 155.750°E / 50.333; 155.750
ArchipelagoKuril Island
Area2,053 km2 (793 sq mi)
Length100 km (60 mi)
Width20 km (12 mi)
Highest elevation1,816 m (5958 ft)
Highest pointChikurachki
Administration
Russia
OblastSakhalin Oblast
DistrictSevero-Kurilsky
Largest settlementSevero-Kurilsk (pop. 2592)
Map

Paramushir (Russian: Парамушир, romanizedParamushir, Japanese: 幌筵島, romanizedParamushiru-tō, Ainu: パラムシㇼ, romanized: Para=mu=sir) is a volcanic island in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It is separated from Shumshu by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast 2.5 km (1.6 mi), from Antsiferov by the Luzhin Strait (15 km (9.3 mi)) to the southwest, from Atlasov in the northwest by 20 km (12 mi), and from Onekotan in the south by the 40 km (25 mi) wide Fourth Kuril Strait. Its northern tip is 39 km (24 mi) from Cape Lopatka at the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its name is derived from the Ainu language, from “broad island” or “populous island”. Severo-Kurilsk, the administrative center of the Severo-Kurilsky district, is the only permanently populated settlement on Paramushir island.