The island is named after Vladimir Atlasov, a 17th-century Russian explorer who incorporated the nearby Kamchatka Peninsula into Russia.

It is essentially the cone of the submarine volcano Vulkan Alaid protruding above the Sea of Okhotsk to a height of 2,285 metres (7,497 feet).

[1] Its near perfect shape gave rise to many legends about the volcano among the peoples of the region, such as the Itelmens and Kuril Ainu.

Geographically, this story is not without evidence, as after the last Ice Age most of the icecaps melted, raising the world's water level, and possibly submerging a land bridge to the volcano.

[citation needed] Administratively this island belongs to the Severo-Kurilsky District, in the Sakhalin Oblast of the Russian Federation.