The Great Kuril Ridge is a volcanic island chain (excluding Shumshu Island) in the Sakhalin Region in the Pacific Ocean. The eastern border of our vast country with unique and unrivaled islands that have their own flora and fauna.

The biodiversity of animals, mammals, birds and plants attracts the attention of scientists of various sciences. And the opportunity to capture the animal world in its natural habitat, as well as enjoy incredible volcanoes and untouched nature — amateurs and professionals of photography.

Atlasov Island, also known as Alaid, is the highest island in Russia. Its height is 2,285 m.

Onekotan is famous for its unique two-tiered volcano within a volcano — Krenitsyn. This is an alluring point of attraction for many people of various professions, including photographers.

Paramushir Island — the number of bears exceeds the number of people living here, and it is on Paramushir that the highest wind speed on the archipelago is recorded. This is more than 230 km/h.

On Antsiferov Island, also known as Shirinki, there is one of the largest rookeries of Steller sea lions.

Simushir Island is not deprived of unique nature due to the large amount of precipitation on the island, fogs and various combinations of seasonal winds. On the island, thanks to the efforts of Soviet scientists and workers, as a result of explosive dredging work, a strait was artificially created deep into the island from the side of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

Matua and Toporkovy are uninhabited islands with a rich legacy of Japanese military and civilian infrastructure. Matua is famous for the active volcano Peak Sarychev, which you can climb, and Toporkovy Island, among the many moats from World War II, is home to an incredible number of puffins. The beautiful birds with red beaks resemble miniature flying penguins.

A variety of wild, unique and pristine nature. Billions of stars in the sky without light pollution. Active volcanoes. Whales, sea lions, foxes, bears and puffins. All this is the islands of the Kuril Archipelago!