The Shumagin Islands (55N00, 160W00) are the most northeastern group of scattered islands and rocks, located some south of the west end of the Alaska Peninsula. They are located between 54°30'N and 55°30'N as between 159°00'W and 161°00'W. The group consists of 12 main islands and round 150 small islets and rocks. The principle island is Unga Island (55°16'N, 160°39'W) with an area of 121 km² and inhabited by 8.000 people, lifing in Unga City, the principal and single town on the Islands. All other islands are uninhabited but visited time-by-time by hunters and fishers. A small other settlement is Sandy Point on Popof Island (55°19'N, 160°25'W). Sandy Point, located on the most north wester extremity of the island is a foundation of the Russian Governeur Barranow in 1793, and one of the oldest settlements in Alaska.
Today it is an important military observation base, with an airodrom and a DEW-System station. Korovin Island (55°28'N, 160°15'W), also a military base, is the most northern island, 5 kilometers south of the Alaska Peninsula. The old Russion village, located in its centre is abandoned today. Only farther towards north is the small conical island Karpa (55°31'N, 160°01'W). The both most southern islands Cheranuba (54°46'N, 159°30'W) in the fare south-south east and the nighbored Bird Island (54°48'N, 159°41'W), are in the use of the oceonographic institute of the University of San Francisco. The westernmost island Simeonof (54°52'N, 159°13'W) is flat, and has several small lakes on it. The settlement on it is abandoned, like the old settlement on Big Koniuij Island (55°07'N, 159°30'W).
The islands are all of volcanic origin, but today no active volcanism is present. On Little Koniuij Island (55°00'N, 159°21'W), located on the eastern outliers of the group are a group of sulfur-lakes. All islands are gentile hilly between 200 and 600 meters. The highest point ist Mt.Betton on Unga Island and is 704 meters in elevation and was a volcano. The islands are located in an area of heavy earthquakes, the last big with an magnitude of 7.7 on the open Richter scale was in 1987. Most of the islands are a nature reserve.
The Shumagin Islands were first discovered systematicly by the both Baltic Germans under the government of the Zar of Russia Tschirikov and Bastell in 1725. Both were navigators of the German-Russian Bering Expedition. Later on in 1790 the Russian Barranow, later on the president of the Russian Alaska Merchant Company, found on the partly inhabited islands (natvie inhabitans) some poofs for an earlier discovery by Spains sailers. Today it seams that the Spain Alvarez de Castellozzo, comming from Spain Mexico, arived the islandgroup in 1578, but did not named them. In 1793 Barronow founded on Unga Island a merchant post, and some years later some Russian monks went on it and founded a monastery, till today active.