Current Affairs Question - 28 March 2020

Explanation :

• The Kuril Islands is a volcanic archipelago in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean.
• These form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Ring of Fire.
• The Islands are currently under Russian administration. However, they are also claimed by Japan.
• Four islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute between the two nations.
• These four islands - Kunashir (known in Japanese as Kunashiri), Iturup (Etorofu), Shikotan and the rocky Habomai islets.

Explanation :

• Reunion is an overseas department and region of the French Republic and an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and 175 km southwest of Mauritius.
• Administratively, it is one of the overseas departments of France.
• Like the other four overseas departments, it is also one of the 18 regions of France, with the modified status of overseas region, and an integral part of the republic with the same status as Metropolitan France.
• The official language is French. In addition, the majority of the region's population speaks Reunion Creole.
• The Island is home to one of the world’s most active volcanoes, the Piton de la Fournaise, which is also a World Heritage site.