Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)

Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)
Treaty for the Exchange of Sakhalin for the Kurile Islands
Signed25 April (7 May) 1875
LocationSaint Petersburg, Russia
Signatories
Parties
LanguageFrench
Border changes in the Kurils

The Treaty of Saint Petersburg (Japanese: 樺太・千島交換条約, romanizedKarafuto-Chishima Kōkan Jōyaku; Russian: Петербургский договор) between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire was signed on 7 May 1875, and its ratifications exchanged at Tokyo on 22 August 1875. The treaty itself went into effect in 1877.[1]

Its terms stipulated that Japan cedes to Russia the part of Sakhalin island it then owned in exchange for the group of the Kuril Islands owned by Russia (between Iturup island and the Kamchatka Peninsula).[2][3][4] Consequently, Sakhalin island as a whole became Russian territory, and the entire Kuril archipelago Japanese territory.[5]

The authentic text of the treaty is written in French. Differences with its Japanese translation contributed to the controversy on what constitutes the Kuril islands, claims to which Japan renounced in 1951 by the Treaty of San Francisco. The Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875) is part of an ongoing, and long-standing, territorial dispute between Russia and Japan over the jurisdiction of the Kuril Islands.

  1. ^ "Красносельских И.М. Административное право как способ влияния на профилактику преступлений". Административное и муниципальное право. 2 (2): 143–148. February 2016. doi:10.7256/1999-2807.2016.2.17637. ISSN 1999-2807.
  2. ^ G. Patrick March (1996). Eastern Destiny: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific. Praeger/Greenwood. ISBN 0-275-95566-4.
  3. ^ Tim Chapman (2001). Imperial Russia, 1801–1905. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0-415-23109-4.
  4. ^ Thierry Mormanne (1992). "Le problème des Kouriles: pour un retour à Saint-Pétersbourg", in: Cipango, N° 1, Paris, pp. 58–89. ISSN 1164-5857.
  5. ^ Biriukov, Pavel (December 2014). "Development of the Kuril Islands by the Russian Empire". Bylye Gody. 34: 524–528 – via http://ejournal52.com. {{cite journal}}: External link in |via= (help)