Volcano Islands


The Volcano Islands, also known as Iwo Islands are a group of three Japanese islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. They lie southwest of the Ogasawara Islands and are administered as part of the Ogasawara, Tokyo Metropolis. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc that stretches south to the Marianas. They have an area of, and a population of 380. The island of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands lies about southeast of Miyazaki.

Geography

The Volcano Islands are:
Farther north but in the same volcanic arc is:
  • Nishinoshima,,
There is a Japan Self-Defense Forces air base on Iwo Jima with a staff of 380. It is located in the village of Minami. Other than that, the islands are uninhabited.
The first recorded sighting by Europeans was in October 1543 by Spanish navigator Bernardo de la Torre on board of carrack San Juan de Letrán when trying to return from Sarangani to New Spain. Iwo Jima was charted as Sufre, the old Spanish term for sulphur.
The islands were uninhabited in 1889 when Japanese settlers settled the two northern islands from the Izu Islands. They were annexed by Japan in 1891. However, archeological evidence has revealed that islands of the greater Bonin archipelago were prehistorically inhabited by an unknown Micronesian people.
The population was about 1,100 in 1939, distributed among five settlements: Higashi, Minami, Nishi, Kita, and Motoyama on Iwo Jima; and two settlements on Kita Iwo Jima: Ishino-mura and Nishi-mura. The municipal administration office was located in Higashi until 1940 when the municipality was integrated into the administration of Ogasawara, Tokyo.
Iwo Jima was the site of the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II, and the island group came under the United States administration. The Volcano Islands were returned to Japanese rule in 1968.

Ecology

The Volcano Islands have a subtropical climate. They are part of the Ogasawara subtropical moist forests ecoregion and are home to unique and diverse plants and animals, including many endemic species. They have been recognised as forming an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because they support populations of red-tailed tropicbirds, Japanese wood pigeons and Matsudaira's storm petrels.