Habomai

The unifying Japanese name for the group of islands is derived from the previous administrative-territorial division of Japan ^[4] : until April 1, 1959, the Habomai County formally existed.

In the last ^{[ specify ] the} years in Russian society there is a discussion about the appropriateness of using the name "Habomai" in Russian . Thus, in a resolution of the Sakhalin Regional Duma of February 18, 1999, it was noted that the name Khabomai was used in a number of Russian-Japanese agreements of 1998, which led to the widespread use of this name in the Russian media . The decision drew attention to the letter of the Interdepartmental Commission on Geographical Names of the Russian Federation (MVK N 2257 of October 1, 1997), as well as the requirements of Art. 8, 11 of the Federal Law "On the names of geographical objects" N 152-ФЗ dated December 18, 1997. Based on these documents, the Sakhalin Regional Duma

1. demanded that the use of this kind of Japanese geographical names in Russian official documents and the media be considered unacceptable;
2. suggested amending the 1998 Russian-Japanese treaties ^[10] .

Responding to this kind of criticism, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov explained that the name “Khabomai” was used “... in the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan of October 19, 1956, which was ratified by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and is a valid international treaty . Since international treaties take precedence over domestic law, the name “Khabomai” was subsequently used repeatedly in official Russian-Japanese documents ” ^[11] .

In the summer of 2006, Sakh.com reported on a situation where the use of the name “Khabomai” on a website was recognized as an administrative offense for which a fine of 30 minimum wages (3,000 rubles) was charged from the site’s leader ^[12] .

The islands are stretched in a line parallel to the Greater Kuril ridge , 48 km south of the latter. The straits between the islands are shallow, filled with reefs and underwater cliffs. Strong tidal currents and persistent thick fogs make the straits extremely dangerous for swimming.

Most of the islands are low. Desert, rocky, meadow landscapes; there are no forests; there are shrubbery and swamps. This group of islands is characterized by a humid marine climate with cool summers and mild winters. Judging by observations of the breeding period of some rodents , which lasts until November, the climate of Khabomaev is even milder than in Kunashir ^[13] .

There are no civilians on the islands - only Russian border guards ^[14] .

The Habomai archipelago, along with the islands of Kunashir , Iturup and Shikotan , is the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan ^{[15] [16] [17]} .

• Polonsky Island ( 多 楽 島 taraku something: doc. "Island of Great Fun")
  • Rock gull
• Shattered Islands
  • Cliff of kira
  • Rock Cave ( Kanakuso ) - on the rock rookery of Steller Sea Lion .
  • Fox Islands ( Todo )
    • Rock Sail ( Hokoki )
  • Cones Islands ( Kabuto )
    • Rock Candle ( Rosoku )
• Green Island ( 志 発 島 sibotsu something:, before the "island of Aspirations")
• Dyomin Islands ( 春 苅 島 harukari something:, referred to as "Spring Harvest Island")
• Yuri Island ( Japanese 勇 留 島 Yu: ri:)
• Anuchin Island ( Japanese 秋 勇 留 島 Akiyu: rio:, doc. “Autumn Yuri Island”)
  • Rock Amazing ( Hanare )
• Tanfiliev Island ( Japanese 水晶 島 Suisyo: -jima , apt . “Crystal Island”)
• Bank Dangerous
  • Watchdog Island ( 萌 茂 尻 島 hoemosiri )
  • Reef Island ( オ ド ケ 島 odoke-shima )
  • Signal Island ( 貝殻 島 kaigara jima )

The archipelago has a rather mild oceanic climate with a long cold spring; cool in summer; warm, clear and dry in the fall and rather mild in the winter. The sum of active temperatures (> + 10 ° С) here reaches an average of 1,563 ° С per year. As a result, the rodent breeding season continues until November ^[13] , and the climate is quite suitable for the acclimatization of rabbits . Winters are snowy, but fogs and strong winds do not allow the formation of a stable snow cover in winter, which is favorable for cattle breeding. The average January temperature in the archipelago is 5.2 ° C. Even in the coldest months (January and February), temperatures rarely drop below −6 ° C. The record minimum is -18 ° C. The sea around the island does not freeze, but in severe winters from February to April it can be filled with floating ice from the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. In the summer there is a lot of rain. The average August temperature is + 16.1 ° C, which, given the high humidity , this figure is quite comfortable for humans. The maximum recorded temperature over the observation history was +28 ° С. The islands are characterized by sufficient moisture: the average annual rainfall here is 1000-1020 mm, which is significantly less than on the even more moistened Shikotan - 1240 mm / year.

The islands are covered with grassy vegetation (sedge-grass-motley meadows). There are no forests, although modern archaeological excavations have revealed that previously on the large islands of the archipelago, Glen spruce was widespread, and there were also small areas of birch forests ^[18] . Recent studies have shown that meadow communities on the island have spread since the Middle Holocene ^[19] .

In the archipelago in the entire history of ornithological observations, 140 species of birds have been recorded, including about 40 species of nesting birds. The remaining species are rare or vagrant ^[20] . In the 21st century, after many years of absence, sea ​​otters returned to the archipelago: in 2001 , 33 individuals were recorded here (mainly on the islands of Demin) ^[21] . The straits between the islands are shallow (2-8 m), rich in biological resources ( cod , kelp , etc.).

The Tanfiliev Island , on which the border post of the Russian Federation is located, is well researched by geologists and oceanologists, who, analyzing its sections, attempted to restore the chronological geology of the Lesser Ridge, as well as neighboring Kunashir and Hokkaido . The islands are entirely composed of Upper Cretaceous formations ^[22] . On one of the beaches of the island, washed out by the sea, the remains of a petrified Cretaceous tree over 60 million years old have come to the surface, although there are currently no forests on the island. In the middle Pleistocene, about 170-180 thousand years ago, the climate of the islands was warmer and oysters flourished here. 125 thousand years ago, during the last interglacial period, the ocean flooded Habomai . Located below sea level, they turned into shallow banks. Then the sea smoothed them, and the islands became almost flat. About 35 thousand years ago in Hokkaido there was a severe eruption of the Kuttiyaro volcano, which covered with ash 1.5 m thick all the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, including the southern part of Fr. Shikotan ^[23] . Traces of ash from other volcanoes of Iturup and Kunashir were also found ^[24] . A layer of gray-blue clay was formed from this ash, over which lies a peat layer, which reaches a thickness of 2 m in the central part of the local Tanfilev swamp. Traces of tsunamigenic sands were found in old layers of peat. During the last large ice age (18–20 thousand years ago.), The ocean level decreased by 100–130 m. At this time, Khabomai and Kunashir merged with the islands of Hokkaido and Sakhalin into a single land bridge covered by boreal and subboreal vegetation from sparse larch forests and the tundra. In the XVII-XVIII centuries, the climate of the islands was colder than the modern one, and the ocean level was lower. In this “small ice age”, a layer of young peat was actively formed on the large islands of the ridge.

The indigenous inhabitants of the archipelago - the Ainu - were mainly deported or assimilated by the Japanese after the establishment of the Japanese administration (1855). In the Japanese period (1855-1945), the archipelago, including the small islands, was densely populated by the families of Japanese fishermen, who also raised cattle here. In the Soviet period, these lands were mainly declared reserved and / or border. In the 21st century, there is no permanent civilian population, but Russian border guards with families live year-round on Tanfiliev Island , as well as in the rotation regime, up to several dozen seasonal workers ^{[25] [26] of} the Zorkaya fishing base, which produces maquaria using the labor of hired workers from the CIS countries, regularly arrive ^[27] . It is dried and sent for export to Japan. In Soviet times, she was sent to Shikotan and canned.

• Topographic map of the Habomai Archipelago
• Small Kuril ridge