Japan Swaps Islands: Sakhalin for Kurils Treaty
Japan and Russia signed the Treaty of Saint Petersburg on May 7, 1875, trading territorial claims in an exchange designed to prevent conflict in the northern Pacific. Japan ceded all claims to Sakhalin Island, which Russia had been colonizing from the north, in exchange for all eighteen islands in the Kuril chain, which Russia had been occupying from the north as well. The treaty appeared to settle the boundary neatly, but it created the foundation for a territorial dispute that persists to this day. The Soviet Union seized the southern Kurils during the closing days of World War II in 1945, and Japan has demanded their return ever since. The unresolved dispute has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty.
August 22, 1875
151 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Russia
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Japan
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Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)
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Sakhalin
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Kuril Islands
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Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)
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Sakhalin
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Kuril Islands
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Japan
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Russia
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Jour du drapeau (Russie)
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1991 Soviet coup attempt
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1991
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19 août
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شبه جزيرة كوريا
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