Volcano Islands


The Volcano Islands or Iwo Islands are a group of three Japanese islands south of the Ogasawara Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop an island 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:
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 until 1889, when the two northern islands were settled by Japanese settlers from the Izu Islands. They were annexed by Japan in 1891.
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 administration in 1968.

Ecology

The Volcano Islands have a subtropical climate. The islands are part of the Ogasawara subtropical moist forests ecoregion, and are home to a unique and diverse plants and animals, including many endemic species.