Coordinates: 44°6′N 146°42′E / 44.1°N 146.7°E / 44.1; 146.7

The Kuril Islands dispute (Russian: Спор о принадлежности Курильских островов), also known as the Northern Territories dispute (Japanese: 北方領土問題, Hoppō Ryōdo Mondai^?), is a dispute between Japan and Russia over sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands. The disputed islands, which were occupied by Soviet forces during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation at the end of World War II, are under Russian administration as South Kuril District of the Sakhalin Oblast (Сахалинская область, Sakhalinskaya oblast), but are claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the Northern Territories (北方領土, Hoppō Ryōdo^?) or Southern Chishima (南千島, Minami Chishima^?), being part of the Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaidō Prefecture.

The San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan from 1951 states that Japan must give up all claims to the Kuril islands, but it also does not recognize the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. Furthermore, Japan currently claims that at least some of the disputed islands are not a part of the Kuril Islands, and thus are not covered by the treaty. Russia maintains that the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands was recognized following agreements at the end of the Second World War. However, Japan has disputed this claim. The disputed islands are:

The Kuril Islands ( /ˈkʊərɪl/, /ˈkjʊərɪl/, or /kjʊˈriːl/; Russian: Кури́льские острова́, Kuril'skie ostrova, pronounced [kʊˈrʲilʲskʲəjə əstrɐˈva], Japanese: Chishima rettō (千島列島^?)), in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater Kuril Ridge and Lesser Kuril Ridge. The total land area is about 15,600 square kilometres (6,000 sq mi) and total population about 19,000.

All of the islands are under Russian jurisdiction, but Japan claims the two southernmost large islands as part of its territory, as well as Shikotan and the Habomai islets, which has led to the ongoing Kuril Islands dispute.

The name Kuril originates from the autonym of the aboriginal Ainu, the islands' original inhabitants: "kur", meaning man. It may also be related to names for other islands that have traditionally been inhabited by the Ainu people, such as Kuyi or Kuye for Sakhalin and Kai for Hokkaidō. In Japanese, the Kuril Islands are known as the Chishima Islands (Kanji: 千島列島 Chishima Rettō pronounced [tɕiɕima ɽetːoː], literally, Thousand Islands Archipelago), also known as the Kuriru Islands (Kanji: クリル列島 Kuriru Rettō [kɯɽiɽɯ ɽetːoː], literally, Kuril Archipelago). Another version, it is translation from Russian word "kurit" (rus. "курит") - "to smoke" due to continual fumes and steam from volcanoes above the islands.