Iturup is the largest of the Kuril Islands and has been under Soviet — then Russian — administration since 1945, though Japan has never formally renounced its claim. The island dispute remains one of the few unresolved territorial questions left from World War II, and no peace treaty between Russia and Japan has ever been signed. This coin belongs to a Russian Federation commemorative series explicitly asserting sovereignty over the disputed Kurils, issued the same year diplomatic tensions over the islands were again publicly aired.
Iturup is the largest of the Kuril Islands and has been under Soviet — then Russian — administration since 1945, though Japan has never formally renounced its claim. The island dispute remains one of the few unresolved territorial questions left from World War II, and no peace treaty between Russia and Japan has ever been signed. This coin belongs to a Russian Federation commemorative series explicitly asserting sovereignty over the disputed Kurils, issued the same year diplomatic tensions over the islands were again publicly aired.