Sakhalin

Sakhalin

Sakhalin (Russia)
Geography
Location	Russian Far East, Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	45°50' 54°24' N
Total islands	1
Area rank	23rd
Highest elevation	1,609 m (5279 ft)
Highest point	Lopatin
Administration
Russia
Largest settlement	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk,Toyohara (pop. 174,203)
Demographics
Population	673,100 (2005)
Pop. density	8.62/km2 (22.33/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Russians, Koreans, Nivkhs, Oroks, Evenks and Yakuts.

Sakhalin (Russian: Сахали́н, IPA: [səxʌˈlʲin]; Japanese: Karafuto (樺太) or Saharin (サハリン); Chinese: 庫頁/库页 Kùyè or 薩哈林/萨哈林 Sàhālín), also known as Saghalien, is a large, long Russian island in the North Pacific, placed between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is part of Russia territory and is its largest island, administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Sakhalin Ainu, Oroks, and Nivkhs. Most Ainu relocated to Hokkaidō when Japanese were gone from the island in 1949.

The 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War resulted a Japanese victory when the Imperial Russian Navy and the Imperial Russian Army got defeated by the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1905 when the Empire Of Japan led by Emperor Meiji declared war on Tsar Nicholas II in 1904 when Trans-Siberian railway was to built more Railway Tracks in Manchuria in the Qing Dynasty and Korea . Japan took the southern part of Sakhalin and renamed it to South Sakhalin and control it from 1905-1945 .

In August 1945 during the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War 2 in Asia the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin invaded South Sakhalin after he invaded Manchukuo this war would be known as the Soviet-Japanese War Of 1945 .

Sakhalin is the subject of a whole book by Anton Chekhov (1895), reprinted in many Russian editions of his collected works. It has been translated into English. Of other old books, there is an interesting one by an Englishman, Charles H. Hawes, To the Uttermost East. (N.Y.: Scribner;s, 1904). Now, however, the island is experiencing an oil boom.

Other websites

• An old map of Sakhalin and 2 other islands from 1854