Group of three small volcanic islands, western Pacific Ocean, southern of Bonin Islands , Japan.
After they were visited by Japanese fishermen and sulfur miners in 1887, the three islands of Kita Iwo, Iwo Jima (the largest), and Minami Iwo were claimed by Japan in 1891. After World War II, Japan retained residual sovereignty over the islands, but the U.S. administered them from 1951 until their return to Japan in 1968.