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The island's name is derived from theManchu wordSahaliyan (ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ), which was the name of theQing dynasty city ofAigun. The Ainu people of Sakhalin paid tribute to theYuan,Ming, andQing dynasties and accepted official appointments from them. Sometimes the relationship was forced but control from dynasties inChina was loose for the most part.[5][6]
The ownership of the island has been contested during the past millienium, with China, Russia, and Japan all making claims on the territory at different times. Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries it was Russia and Japan, and the disputes sometimes involved military conflicts and divisions of the island between the two powers. In 1875, Japan ceded its claims to Russia in exchange for the northernKuril Islands. In 1897 more than half of the population were Russians and other European and Asian minorities.[7] In 1905, following theRusso-Japanese War, the island was divided, withSouthern Sakhalin going to Japan. After theSiberian intervention, Japan invaded the northern parts of Sakhalin, and ruled the entire island from 1918 to 1925. Russia has held all of the island sinceseizing the Japanese portion in the final days ofWorld War II in 1945, as well as all of the Kurils. Japan no longer claims any of Sakhalin, although it does stillclaim the southern Kuril Islands. Most Ainu on Sakhalin moved to Hokkaido, 43 kilometres (27 mi) to the south across theLa Pérouse Strait, when Japanese civilians were displaced from the island in 1949.[8]
TheManchus called itSahaliyan ula angga hadaᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᡠᠯᠠ ᠠᠩᡤᠠ ᡥᠠᡩᠠ'Island at the Mouth of the Black River'.[9]Sahaliyan, the word that has been borrowed in the form of "Sakhalin", means "black" in Manchu,ula means "river" andsahaliyan ulaᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᡠᠯᠠ'Black River' is the proper Manchu name of theAmur River.[citation needed]
The Qing dynasty called Sakhalin ‘Kuyedao’ (‘the island of Ainu’) and the indigenous people paid tribute to the Chinese empire. However, there was no formalized border around the island. The Qing dynasty was a pre- modern or ‘world empire’ which did not place emphasis on demarcating borders in the manner of the modern ‘national empires’ of the nineteenth and early twentieth century (Yamamuro 2003: 90–97).[10]
— T. Nakayama
The island was also called "Kuye Fiyaka".[11] The word "Kuye" used by the Qing is "most probably related tokuyi, the name given to the Sakhalin Ainu by their Nivkh and Nanai neighbors."[12] When the Ainu migrated onto the mainland, the Chinese described a "strong Kui (or Kuwei, Kuwu, Kuye, Kugi,i.e. Ainu) presence in the area otherwise dominated by the Gilemi or Jilimi (Nivkh and other Amur peoples)."[13] Related names were in widespread use in the region, for example the Kuril Ainu called themselveskoushi.[12]
The origins of the traditional Japanese name,Karafuto (Japanese:樺太), are unclear and multiple competing explanations have been proposed. These include:[14]
A borrowing of Mongoliankarahoton, meaning "distant fortress".
A modification ofJapanese:唐人Karahito, meaning "Chinese person", from the presence of Chinese traders on the island.
A derivation from dialect words meaning "prawns" or "many herring".
An aphetic form ofAinu:カムィ・カㇻ・プッ・ヤ・モシㇼ (kamuy kar put ya mosir) "The island created by God at the estuary".
The Japanese form 樺太 equates toKorean:화태Hwangt'ae, an earlier name for the island now superseded by the transcription 사할린Sahallin.
In theSakhalin Ainu language, it was called Yankemosir (Ainu: ヤンケモシㇼ), meaning “land of the mainland”, or Karahto (Ainu: カラㇷト).[15][16][17] In theHokkaido Ainu language, it was called Karapto (Ainu: カラㇷ゚ト).[18]
The island was also historically referred to as "Tschoka" by European travelers in the late 18th century, such asLapérouse andLangsdorff.[19][20][21] This name is believed to derive from an obsoleteendonym used bySakhalin Ainu, possibly based on the wordcookay (/t͡ɕoː.kay/, "we") inSakhalin Ainu language.[22]
Humans lived on Sakhalin in theNeolithic Stone Age. Flint implements such as those found inSiberia have been found at Dui andKusunai in great numbers, as well as polished stone hatchets similar to European examples, primitive pottery with decorations like those of theOlonets, and stone weights used with fishing nets. A later population familiar with bronze left traces in earthen walls and kitchen-middens onAniva Bay.
De Vries (1643) mapped Sakhalin's eastern promontories without realising that he had visited an island (map from 1682).
From the Nivkh perspective, their surrender to the Mongols essentially established a military alliance against the Ainu who had invaded their lands.[25] According to theHistory of Yuan, a group of people known as theGuwei (骨嵬;Gǔwéi, the Nivkh name for Ainu) from Sakhalin invaded and fought with the Jilimi (Nivkh people) every year. On 30 November 1264, the Mongols attacked the Ainu.[26] The Ainu resisted the Mongol invasions but by 1308 had been subdued. They paid tribute to the MongolYuan dynasty at posts in Wuliehe, Nanghar, and Boluohe.[27]
The ChineseMing dynasty (1368–1644) placed Sakhalin under its "system for subjugated peoples" (ximin tizhi). From 1409 to 1411 the Ming established an outpost called theNurgan Regional Military Commission near the ruins ofTyr on the Siberian mainland, which continued operating until the mid-1430s. There is some evidence that the Ming eunuch AdmiralYishiha reached Sakhalin in 1413 during one of his expeditions to the lower Amur, and granted Ming titles to a local chieftain.[28]
The Ming recruited headmen from Sakhalin for administrative posts such as commander (指揮使;zhǐhuīshǐ), assistant commander (指揮僉事;zhǐhuī qiānshì), and "official charged with subjugation" (衛鎮撫;wèizhènfǔ). In 1431, one such assistant commander, Alige, broughtmarten pelts as tribute to the Wuliehe post. In 1437, four other assistant commanders (Zhaluha, Sanchiha, Tuolingha, and Alingge) also presented tribute. According to theMing Veritable Records, these posts, like the position of headman, were hereditary and passed down the patrilineal line. During these tributary missions, the headmen would bring their sons, who later inherited their titles. In return for tribute, the Ming awarded them with silk uniforms.[27]
Nivkh women in Sakhalin married Han Chinese Ming officials when the Ming took tribute from Sakhalin and the Amur river region.[29][30]
French map from 1821 showing Sakhalin as part of Qing Empire
The ManchuQing dynasty, which came to power in China in 1644, called Sakhalin "Kuyedao" (Chinese:库页岛;pinyin:Kùyè dǎo;lit. 'island of the Ainu')[31][32][10] or "Kuye Fiyaka" (ᡴᡠᠶᡝ ᡶᡳᠶᠠᡴᠠ).[11] TheManchus called it "Sagaliyan ula angga hada" (Island at the Mouth of the Black River).[9] The Qing first asserted influence over Sakhalin after the 1689Treaty of Nerchinsk, which defined theStanovoy Mountains as the border between the Qing and theRussian Empires. In the following year the Qing sent forces to theAmur estuary and demanded that the residents, including the Sakhalin Ainu, pay tribute. This was followed by several further visits to the island as part of the Qing effort to map the area. To enforce its influence, the Qing sent soldiers and mandarins across Sakhalin, reaching most parts of the island except the southern tip. The Qing imposed a fur-tribute system on the region's inhabitants.[33][34][30]
The Qing dynasty ruled these regions by imposing upon them a fur tribute system, just as had the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Residents who were required to pay tributes had to register according to theirhala (ᡥᠠᠯᠠ, the clan of the father's side) andgashan (ᡤᠠᡧᠠᠨ, village), and a designated chief of each unit was put in charge of district security as well as the annual collection and delivery of fur. By 1750, fifty-sixhala and 2,398 households were registered as fur tribute payers, – those who paid with fur were rewarded mainly with Nishiki silkbrocade, and every year the dynasty supplied the chief of each clan and village with official silk clothes (mangpao,duanpao), which were the gowns of the mandarin. Those who offered especially large fur tributes were granted the right to create a familial relationship with officials of the ManchuEight Banners (at the time equivalent to Chinese aristocrats) by marrying an official's adopted daughter. Further, the tribute payers were allowed to engage in trade with officials and merchants at the tribute location. By these policies, the Qing dynasty brought political stability to the region and established the basis for commerce and economic development.[34]
— Shiro Sasaki
The Qing dynasty established an office inNingguta, situated midway along theMudan River, to handle fur from the lower Amur and Sakhalin. Tribute was supposed to be brought to regional offices, but the lower Amur and Sakhalin were considered too remote, so the Qing sent officials directly to these regions every year to collect tribute and to present awards. By the 1730s, the Qing had appointed senior figures among the indigenous communities as "clan chief" (hala-i-da) or "village chief" (gasan-da ormokun-da). In 1732, 6hala, 18gasban, and 148 households were registered as tribute bearers in Sakhalin. Manchu officials gave tribute missions rice, salt, other necessities, and gifts during the duration of their mission. Tribute missions occurred during the summer months. During the reign of theQianlong Emperor (r. 1735–95), a trade post existed at Delen, upstream of Kiji (Kizi) Lake, according toRinzo Mamiya. There were 500–600 people at the market during Mamiya's stay there.[35][30]
Local native Sakhalin chiefs had their daughters taken as wives by Manchu officials as sanctioned by the Qing dynasty when the Qing exercised jurisdiction in Sakhalin and took tribute from them.[36][30]
Mamiya Rinzō described Sakhalin as an island in his map.
In 1635,Matsumae Kinhiro, the second daimyō ofMatsumae Domain in Hokkaidō, sent Satō Kamoemon and Kakizaki Kuroudo on an expedition to Sakhalin. One of the Matsumae explorers, Kodō Shōzaemon, stayed on the island in the winter of 1636 and sailed along the east coast to Taraika (nowPoronaysk) in the spring of 1637.[37]
In an early colonization attempt, a Japanese settlement was established atŌtomari on Sakhalin's southern end in 1679.[38] Cartographers of theMatsumae clan drew a map of the island and called it "Kita-Ezo" (Northern Ezo,Ezo being the old Japanese name for the islands north ofHonshu).
In the 1780s, the influence of the JapaneseTokugawa Shogunate on the Ainu of southern Sakhalin increased significantly. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Japanese economic zone extended midway up the east coast, to Taraika. With the exception of the Nayoro Ainu located on the west coast in close proximity to China, most Ainu stopped paying tribute to the Qing dynasty. The Matsumae clan was nominally in charge of Sakhalin, but they neither protected nor governed the Ainu there. Instead they extorted the Ainu for Chinese silk, which they sold inHonshu as Matsumae's special product. To obtain Chinese silk, the Ainu fell into debt, owing much fur to the Santan (Ulch people), who lived near the Qing office. The Ainu also sold the silk uniforms (mangpao,bufu, andchaofu) given to them by the Qing, which made up the majority of what the Japanese knew asnishiki andjittoku. As dynastic uniforms, the silk was of considerably higher quality than that traded atNagasaki, and enhanced Matsumae prestige as exotic items.[33] Eventually the Tokugawa government, realizing that they could not depend on the Matsumae, took control of Sakhalin in 1807.[39]
Mogami's interest in the Sakhalin trade intensified when he learned that Yaenkoroaino, the above-mentioned elder from Nayoro, possessed a memorandum written in Manchurian, which stated that the Ainu elder was an official of the Qing state. Later surveys on Sakhalin by shogunal officials such as Takahashi Jidayú and Nakamura Koichiró only confirmed earlier observations: Sakhalin and Sóya Ainu traded foreign goods at trading posts, and because of the pressure to meet quotas, they fell into debt. These goods, the officials confirmed, originated at Qing posts, where continental traders acquired them during tributary ceremonies. The information contained in these types of reports turned out to be a serious blow to the future of Matsumae's trade monopoly in Ezo.[40]
— Brett L. Walker
Japan proclaimed sovereignty over Sakhalin in 1807; in 1809,Mamiya Rinzō claimed that it was an island.[41]
Display of Sakhalin on maps varied throughout the 18th century. This map from a 1773 atlas, based on theearlier work byd'Anville, who in his turn made use of the information collected byJesuits in 1709, asserts the existence of Sakhalin – but only assigns to it the northern half of the island and its northeastern coast (withCape Patience, discovered byde Vries in 1643). Cape Aniva, also discovered by de Vries, andCape Crillon (Black Cape) are, however, thought to form part of the mainland.La Perouse charted most of the southwestern coast of Sakhalin (or "Tchoka", as he heard natives call it) in 1787.
The first European known to visit Sakhalin wasMartin Gerritz de Vries, who mappedCape Patience and Cape Aniva on the island's east coast in 1643. TheDutch captain, however, was unaware that it was an island, and 17th-century maps usually showed these points (and often Hokkaido as well) as part of the mainland. As part of a nationwide Sino-French cartographic program,JesuitsJean-Baptiste Régis, Pierre Jartoux, andXavier Ehrenbert Fridelli joined a Chinese team visiting the lowerAmur (known to them under itsManchu name, Sahaliyan Ula, "the Black River") in 1709,[42] and learned of the existence of the nearby offshore island from theNanai natives of the lower Amur.[43]
The Jesuits did not have a chance to visit the island, and the geographical information provided by the Nanai people and Manchus who had been to the island was insufficient to allow them to identify it as the land visited by de Vries in 1643. As a result, many 17th-century maps showed a rather strangely shaped Sakhalin, which included only the northern half of the island (with Cape Patience), while Cape Aniva, discovered by de Vries, and the "Black Cape" (Cape Crillon) were thought to form part of the mainland.[citation needed]
Only with the 1787 expedition ofJean-François de La Pérouse did the island began to resemble something of its true shape on European maps. Though unable to pass through itsnorthern "bottleneck" due to contrary winds, La Perouse charted most of theStrait of Tartary, and islanders he encountered near today'sNevelskoy Strait told him that the island was called "Tchoka" (or at least that is how he recorded the name in French), and "Tchoka" appears on some maps thereafter.[44]
1823 Japanese map of Karafuto and the mouth of the AmurAnton Chekhov museum inAlexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, Russia. It is the house where he stayed in Sakhalin during 1890.Settler's way of life. Near church at holiday. 1903
On the basis of its belief that it was an extension of Hokkaido, both geographically and culturally, Japan again proclaimed sovereignty over the whole island (as well as theKuril Islands chain) in 1845, in the face of competing claims from Russia. In 1849, however, the Russian navigatorGennady Nevelskoy recorded the existence and navigability of the strait later given his name, and Russian settlers began establishing coal mines, administration facilities, schools, and churches on the island. In 1853–54,Nikolay Rudanovsky surveyed and mapped the island.[45]
In 1855, Russia and Japan signed theTreaty of Shimoda, which declared that nationals of both countries could inhabit the island: Russians in the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clearly defined boundary between. Russia also agreed to dismantle its military base at Ootomari. Following theSecond Opium War, Russia forced China to sign theTreaty of Aigun (1858) and theConvention of Peking (1860), under which China lost to Russia all claims to territories north ofHeilongjiang (Amur) and east ofUssuri.
In 1857, the Russians established a penal colony, orkatorga, on Sakhalin.[46] The island remained under shared sovereignty until the signing of the 1875Treaty of Saint Petersburg, in which Japan surrendered its claims in Sakhalin to Russia. In 1890, the authorAnton Chekhov visited the penal colony on Sakhalin. He spent three months there interviewing thousands of convicts and settlers for a census and published his memoirSakhalin Island (Russian:Остров Сахалин) of hisjourney.[47]
Sakhalin Island with Karafuto Prefecture highlighted
Japanese forces invaded and occupied Sakhalin in the closing stages of theRusso-Japanese War. In accordance with theTreaty of Portsmouth of 1905, the southern part of the island below the50th parallel north reverted to Japan, while Russia retained the northern three-fifths.
At the oldest stettlement on Sakhlin Island, Sakhalin Oblast had aCzarist era penal colony named Due (Russian:Дуэ) onCape Douai which had the 1853 established Makaryevka (Russian:«Макарьевка») coal mine, which was supported by both theMuravyovsky post (Russian:Муравьёвский пост), now known asKorsakov (Russian:город Корсаков), at Aniva Bay (Russian:Анива), which was named afterNikolay Muravyov-Amursky who had sponsoredthe expedition commanded byGennady Nevelskoy that explored the coast of Sakhalin Island from 1849 to 1853, and theRussian-American Company, and hosted its first prisoner beginning in 1876. On April 18, 1869,Tsar Alexander II approved the "Regulations of the Committee on the Arrangement of Hard Labor" (Russian:«Положение Комитета об устройстве каторжных работ») which formed the legal basis for Sakhalin Island to be a penal colony.[49][50]
On June 7, 1855, the shipJefferson (396 tons), ofNew London, was wrecked onCape Levenshtern, on the northeastern side of the island, during a fog. All hands were saved as well as 300 barrels ofwhale oil.[53][54][55]
In August 1945, after repudiating theSoviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the Soviet Union invaded southern Sakhalin, an action planned secretly at theYalta Conference. The Soviet attack started on August 11, 1945, a few days before the surrender of Japan. The Soviet 56th Rifle Corps, part of the16th Army, consisting of the79th Rifle Division, the 2nd Rifle Brigade, the 5th Rifle Brigade and the 214 Armored Brigade,[56] attacked the Japanese88th Infantry Division. Although the Soviet Red Army outnumbered the Japanese by three to one, they advanced only slowly due to strong Japanese resistance. It was not until the 113th Rifle Brigade and the 365th Independent Naval Infantry Rifle Battalion from Sovetskaya Gavan landed on Tōro, a seashore village of western Karafuto, on August 16 that the Soviets broke the Japanese defense line. Japanese resistance grew weaker after this landing. Actual fighting continued until August 21. From August 22 to August 23, most remaining Japanese units agreed to a ceasefire. The Soviets completed the conquest of Karafuto on August 25, 1945, by occupying the capital ofToyohara.[citation needed]
Of the approximately 400,000 people – mostly Japanese and Korean – who lived on South Sakhalin in 1944, about 100,000 wereevacuated to Japan during the last days of the war. The remaining 300,000 stayed behind, some for several more years.[57]
While the vast majority of Sakhalin Japanese and Koreans were gradually repatriated between 1946 and 1950, tens of thousands ofSakhalin Koreans (and a number of their Japanese spouses) remained in the Soviet Union.[58][59]
No final peace treaty has been signed and the status of four neighboring islands remainsdisputed. Japan renounced its claims of sovereignty over southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in theTreaty of San Francisco (1951), but maintains that the four offshore islands ofHokkaido currently administered by Russia were not subject to this renunciation.[60] Japan granted mutual exchange visas for Japanese and Ainu families divided by the change in status. Recently, economic and political cooperation has gradually improved between the two nations despite disagreements.[61]
On 1 September 1983,Korean Air Flight 007, a South Korean civilian airliner, flew over Sakhalin and was shot down by the Soviet Union, just west of Sakhalin Island, near the smallerMoneron Island. The Soviet Union claimed it was a spy plane; however, commanders on the ground realized it was a commercial aircraft. All 269 passengers and crew died, including a U.S. Congressman,Larry McDonald.[62]
On 27 May 1995, the 7.0 MwNeftegorsk earthquake shook the former Russian settlement ofNeftegorsk with a maximumMercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured.[63] The settlement was not rebuilt.[64]
Sakhalin is separated from the mainland by the narrow and shallowStrait of Tartary, which often freezes in winter in its narrower part, and fromHokkaido, Japan, by the Soya Strait orLa Pérouse Strait. Sakhalin is the largest island in Russia, being 948 km (589 mi) long, and 25 to 170 km (16 to 106 mi) wide, with an area of 72,492 km2 (27,989 sq mi).[2] It lies at similar latitudes to England, Wales and Ireland.
Itsorography and geological structure are imperfectly known. One theory is that Sakhalin arose from theSakhalin Island Arc.[65] Nearly two-thirds of Sakhalin is mountainous. Two parallel ranges of mountains traverse it from north to south, reaching 600–1,500 m (2,000–4,900 ft). The Western Sakhalin Mountains peak in Mount Ichara, 1,481 m (4,859 ft), while the Eastern Sakhalin Mountains's highest peak, Mount Lopatin 1,609 m (5,279 ft), is also the island's highest mountain. Tym-Poronaiskaya Valley separates the two ranges. Susuanaisky and Tonino-Anivsky ranges traverse the island in the south, while the swampy Northern-Sakhalin plain occupies most of its north.[66]
Crystalline rocks crop out at several capes;Cretaceouslimestones, containing an abundant and specific fauna of giganticammonites, occur at Dui on the west coast; andTertiaryconglomerates,sandstones,marls, andclays, folded by subsequent upheavals, are found in many parts of the island. The clays, which contain layers of good coal and abundant fossilized vegetation, show that during the Miocene period, Sakhalin formed part of a continent which comprised north Asia, Alaska, and Japan, and enjoyed a comparatively warm climate. ThePliocene deposits contain a mollusc fauna more Arctic than that which exists at the present time, indicating that the connection between the Pacific andArctic Oceans was probably broader than it is now.
Sakhalin is in a tectonically active and earthquake-prone area. It lies on the western edge of theOkhotsk plate (sometimes considered part of theNorth American plate), where it contacts theAmur plate (part of theEurasian plate, the main part of which lies to the northwest of Sakhalin).
Main rivers: TheTym, 330 km (205 mi) long and navigable by rafts and light boats for 80 km (50 mi), flows north and northeast with numerous rapids and shallows, and enters theSea of Okhotsk.[67] ThePoronay flows south-southeast to theGulf of Patience or Shichiro Bay, on the southeastern coast. Three other small streams enter the wide semicircularAniva Bay or Higashifushimi Bay at the southern extremity of the island.
Sakhalin has two smaller islands associated with it,Moneron Island andUsh Island. Moneron, the only land mass in the Tatar strait, 7.2 km (4.5 mi) long and 5.6 km (3.5 mi) wide, is about 24 nautical miles (44 km) west from the nearest coast of Sakhalin and 41 nmi (76 km) from the port city of Nevelsk. Ush Island is an island off of the northern coast of Sakhalin.
According to the 1897 census, Sakhalin had a population of 28,113, of which 56.2% were Russians, 8.4%Ukrainians, 7.0%Nivkh, 5.8%Poles, 5.4%Tatars, 5.1%Ainu, 2.82%Oroks, 0.95%Germans, 0.81%Japanese, with the non-indigenous people living mainly from agriculture, or being convicts or exiles.[68] The majority of Nivkh, Ainu and Japanese lived from fishing or hunting, whereas the Oroks lived mainly by livestock (reindeer) breeding.[69] The Ainu, Japanese andKoreans lived almost exclusively in the southern part of the island.[70] Since 1925, many Poles fled Soviet Russian persecution in the north to the then Japanese south.[71]
The 400,000Japanese inhabitants of Sakhalin (including the Japanized indigenousAinu) who had not already beenevacuated during the war were deported following the invasion of the southern portion of the island by the Soviet Union in 1945 at the end of World War II.[72]
In 2010, the island's population was recorded at 497,973, 83% of whom were ethnicRussians, followed by about 30,000Koreans (5.5%). Smaller minorities were theAinu,Ukrainians,Tatars,Sakhas andEvenks. The native inhabitants currently consist of some 2,000Nivkhs and 750Oroks. The Nivkhs in the north support themselves by fishing and hunting.
The administrative center of the oblast,Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a city of about 175,000, has a large Korean minority, typically referred to asSakhalin Koreans, who were forcibly brought by the Japanese duringWorld War II to work in the coal mines. Most of the population lives in the southern half of the island, centered mainly around Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and two ports,Kholmsk andKorsakov (population about 40,000 each). In 2008 there were 6,416 births and 7,572 deaths.[73]
The Sea of Okhotsk ensures that Sakhalin has a cold and humid climate, ranging fromhumid continental (KöppenDfb) in the south tosubarctic (Dfc) in the centre and north. The maritime influence makes summers much cooler than in similar-latitude inland cities such asHarbin orIrkutsk, but makes the winters much snowier and a few degrees warmer than in interior East Asian cities at the same latitude. Summers are foggy with little sunshine.[74][failed verification]
Precipitation is heavy, owing to the strong onshore winds in summer and the high frequency of North Pacific storms affecting the island in the autumn. It ranges from around 500 millimetres (20 in) on the northwest coast to over 1,200 millimetres (47 in) in southern mountainous regions. In contrast to interior east Asia with its pronounced summer maximum, onshore winds ensure Sakhalin has year-round precipitation with a peak in the autumn.[66]
Brown bear,Eurasian river otter,red fox,eurasian lynx,leopard cat andsable are fairly numerous (as arereindeer in the north); rarely seen, but still present, is the elusiveSakhalin musk deer, a subspecies of Siberian musk deer. Smaller mammals includehare,squirrels, and variousrodents (includingrats andmice) nearly everywhere. Thebird population is made-up of mostly the common eastern Siberian forms, but there are someendemic or near-endemic breeding species, notably theendangeredNordmann's greenshank (Tringa guttifer) and theSakhalin leaf warbler (Phylloscopus borealoides). The rivers swarm withfish, especially species ofsalmon (Oncorhynchus). Numerouscetaceans visit the sea coast, including theendangered Western Pacificgray whale,[75] for which the waters off of Sakhalin are their only known feeding ground, thus being a vitally important region for their population's longevity. Other cetaceans known to occur in this area are theNorth Pacific right whale, thebowhead whale, and thebeluga whale, the latter two generally preferring icy waters and colder conditions to the north. All are potential prey species for the highly socialkiller whale, or orca. The once-commonJapanese sea lion and Japanesesea otter, both hunted to extinction, formerly ranged from Japan's coastline to Sakhalin, Korea, Kamchatka, and theYellow Sea; however, over-harvesting depleted their numbers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today,ringed seals and the giantSteller sea lion can be spotted around Sakhalin Island.
Transport, especially by sea, is an important segment of the economy. Nearly all the cargo arriving for Sakhalin (and theKuril Islands) is delivered by cargo boats, or by ferries, in railway wagons, through theVanino-Kholmsk train ferry from the mainland port ofVanino to Kholmsk. The ports of Korsakov and Kholmsk are the largest and handle all kinds of goods, whilecoal andtimber shipments often go through other ports. In 1999, a ferry service was opened between the ports of Korsakov andWakkanai, Japan, and operated through the autumn of 2015, when service was suspended.
For the 2016 summer season, this route will be served by a highspeed catamaran ferry from Singapore named Penguin 33. The ferry is owned by Penguin International Limited[76] and operated by Sakhalin Shipping Company.[77]
Sakhalin's main shipping company is Sakhalin Shipping Company, headquartered in Kholmsk on the island's west coast.
The process of converting the railways from the Japanese1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge to the Russian1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) gauge began in 2004[78][79] andwas completed in 2019.[80]The original JapaneseD51 steam locomotives were used by the Soviet Railways until 1979.
Besides the main network run by the Russian Railways, until December 2006 the local oil company (Sakhalinmorneftegaz) operated a corporate narrow-gauge750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) line extending for 228 kilometers (142 mi) from Nogliki further north toOkha (Узкоколейная железная дорога Оха – Ноглики). During the last years of its service, it gradually deteriorated; the service was terminated in December 2006, and the line was dismantled in 2007–2008.[81]
The idea of building afixed link between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland was first put forward in the 1930s. In the 1940s, an abortive attempt was made to link the island via a 10-kilometre-long (6 mi) underseatunnel.[82] The project was abandoned under PremierNikita Khrushchev. In 2000, the Russian government revived the idea, adding a suggestion that a 40-km (25 mile) long bridge could be constructed between Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, providing Japan with a direct connection to theEurasian railway network. It was claimed that construction work could begin as early as 2001. The idea was received skeptically by the Japanese government and appears to have been shelved, probably permanently, after the cost was estimated at as much as $50 billion.
In November 2008, Russian presidentDmitry Medvedev announced government support for the construction of theSakhalin Tunnel, along with the required regauging of the island's railways to Russian standard gauge, at an estimated cost of 300–330 billionroubles.[83]
In July 2013, Russian Far East development ministerViktor Ishayev proposed arailway bridge to link Sakhalin with the Russian mainland. He also again suggesteda bridge between Sakhalin and Hokkaidō, which could potentially create a continuous rail corridor between Europe and Japan.[84] In 2018, presidentVladimir Putin ordered a feasibility study for a mainland bridge project.[citation needed]
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequenteconomic liberalization, Sakhalin has experienced an oilboom with extensive petroleum-exploration and mining by most large oilmultinational corporations. The oil and natural- gas reserves contain an estimated 14billionbarrels (2.2 km3) of oil and 2,700 km3 (96trillion cubic feet) of gas and are being developed under production-sharing agreement contracts involving international oil- companies likeExxonMobil andShell.
In 1996, two large consortia,Sakhalin-I andSakhalin-II, signed contracts to explore for oil and gas off the northeast coast of the island. The two consortia's pre-project estimate of costs were a combinedUS$21 billion on the two projects; costs had almost doubled to $37 billion as of September 2006, triggering Russian governmental opposition. The cost will include an estimated US$1 billion to upgrade the island's infrastructure: roads, bridges,waste management sites, airports, railways, communications systems, and ports. In addition, Sakhalin-III-through-VI are in various early stages of development.
The Sakhalin I project, managed byExxon Neftegas, completed a production-sharing agreement (PSA) between the Sakhalin I consortium, the Russian Federation, and the Sakhalin government. Russia is in the process of building a 220 km (140 mi) pipeline across theTatar Strait from Sakhalin Island toDe-Kastri terminal on the Russian mainland. From De-Kastri, the resource will be loaded onto tankers for transport to East Asian markets, namely Japan, South Korea and China.
A second consortium, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd (Sakhalin Energy), is managing the Sakhalin II project. It has completed the first production-sharing agreement (PSA) with the Russian Federation. Sakhalin Energy will build two 800-km pipelines running from the northeast of the island to Prigorodnoye (Prigorodnoe) in Aniva Bay at the southern end. The consortium will also build, at Prigorodnoye, the firstliquefied natural gas (LNG) plant to be built in Russia. The oil and gas are also bound for East Asian markets.
Sakhalin II has come under fire from environmental groups, namely Sakhalin Environment Watch, for dumping dredging material in Aniva Bay. These groups were also worried about the offshore pipelines interfering with the migration of whales off the island. The consortium has (as of January 2006[update]) rerouted the pipeline to avoid the whale migration. After a doubling in the projected cost, the Russian government threatened to halt the project for environmental reasons.[85] There have been suggestions[by whom?] that the Russian government is using the environmental issues as a pretext for obtaining a greater share of revenues from the project and/or forcing involvement by the state-controlledGazprom. The cost overruns (at least partly due to Shell's response to environmental concerns), are reducing the share of profits flowing to the Russian treasury.[86][87][88][89]
In 2000, the oil-and-gas industry accounted for 57.5% of Sakhalin's industrial output. By 2006 it is expected[by whom?] to account for 80% of the island's industrial output. Sakhalin's economy is growing rapidly thanks to its oil-and-gas industry.
As of 18 April 2007[update], Gazprom had taken a 50% plus one share interest in Sakhalin II by purchasing 50% of Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi's shares.
In June 2021, it was announced that Russia aims to make Sakhalin Island carbon neutral by 2025.[90] A target they reached, according toThe Moscow Times, in August of that year.[91]
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^(Shiro Sasaki, ‘A History of the Far East Indigenous Peoples’ Transborder Activities Between the Russian and Chinese Empires’, Senri Ethnological Studies, vol. 92, 2016, pp. 161‒193.) Sasaki, ‘A History of the Far East Indigenous Peoples’ Transborder Activities’, p. 173.
^秋月俊幸『日露関係とサハリン島：幕末明治初年の領土問題』筑摩書房、1994年、34頁（Akizuki Toshiyuki,Nich-Ro kankei to Saharintō : Bakumatsu Meiji shonen no ryōdo mondai (Japanese–Russian Relations and Sakhalin Island: Territorial Dispute in the Bakumatsu and First Meiji Years), (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo Publishers Ltd), p. 34.ISBN4480856684）
^Mary and Susan, of Stonington, Aug. 10–31, 1848, Nicholson Whaling Collection;Charles W. Morgan, of New Bedford, Aug. 30–Sep. 5, 1902, G. W. Blunt White Library (GBWL).
^Eliza Adams, of Fairhaven, Aug. 4–6, 1848, Old Dartmouth Historical Society;Erie, of Fairhaven, July 26 – Aug. 29, 1852, NWC;Sea Breeze, of New Bedford, July 8–10, 1874, GBWL.
^William Wirt, of New Bedford, June 13, 1855, Nicholson Whaling Collection.
^The Friend (Vol. IV, No. 9, September 29, 1855, pp. 68, 72, Honolulu)
^Starbuck, Alexander (1878).History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the year 1876. Castle.ISBN1-55521-537-8.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Ivanov, Andrey (March 27, 2003)."18 The Far East". In Shahgedanova, Maria (ed.).The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia. Oxford Regional Environments. Vol. 3. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 428–429.ISBN978-0-19-823384-8. RetrievedJuly 16, 2008.
^abcIvlev, A. M. Soils of Sakhalin. New Delhi: Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, 1974. Pages 9–28.
^Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи, 1897 г. (in Russian). Vol. LXXVII. 1904. pp. 34–37,56–63.
^Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи, 1897 г. Vol. LXXVII. pp. 64–65.
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^Winiarz, Adam (1994). "Książka polska w koloniach polskich na Dalekim Wschodzie (1897–1949)".Czasopismo Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich (in Polish). Vol. 5.Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. p. 66.
^Reeves, B. L.; Brownell, Robert; Taylor, B. L.; Cooke, Justin (January 2018)."IUCN Red List of Threatened Species".www.iucnredlist.org. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2025.
^Bolashenko, Serguei (Болашенко, С.) (July 6, 2006).Узкоколейная железная дорога Оха – Ноглики [Okha-Nogliki narrow-gauge railway].САЙТ О ЖЕЛЕЗНОЙ ДОРОГЕ (in Russian). Archived fromthe original on August 11, 2014. RetrievedJune 17, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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