Administratively the Yam Islands belong to the Magadan Oblast of the Russian Federation.

The Yam island group lies about 250 km east of Magadan, only 10 km from the shores of the Pyagin Peninsula (Poluostrov P'yagina).

Between 1852 and 1874, American whaleships cruised around the islands for bowhead whales.

[4] Steller sea lions occur on the islands,[5] while in the spring and summer millions of seabirds nest on the islands, including roughly six million least auklet (possibly the largest colony in the world), over 900,000 northern fulmar, and tens of thousands of parakeet auklet; crested auklet also nest on the islands.

[6] These islands are part of the Magandskiy Zapovednik or protected bioregion of the Magadan area.