From Japanese, this area is translated as "the land of the god of the mouth", the Manchu language calls it "Sakhalyan-ulla". Initially, Sakhalin was identified on maps in the form of a peninsula, but subsequent expeditions provided a lot of evidence in favor of the opinion that Sakhalin is still an island.
The harsh lands of Sakhalin are located east of the Asian coast. The island is the largest in the Russian Federation and is a neighbor of the Kuril Islands. A traveler who has visited these places remains deeply impressed for a long time. Natural monuments are the main treasure of the island.
Description and location of the island
Cold waters of the Sea of Okhotsk wash the territory of Sakhalin, warm waters are taken from the Japanese and Pacific oceans. The Kunashirsky, Izmena, Laperuza and Sovetsky Straits are the only border with the state of Japan. The distance from Sakhalin to the mainland is completely occupied by water.
The area of Sakhalin is 87 thousand square kilometers. This figure includes the islands of Tyuleny, Ush, Moneron, the Kuril ridge with the Kuril archipelago.
From the extreme southern point of the island to the northern one, there are 950 km. The entire area of Sakhalin is similar to scaly fish (from the ISS flight altitude), where scales are many rivers and lakes scattered across the island.
The Tatar Strait separates Sakhalin and the mainland. There are two capes in the strait, the width between which is about seven kilometers. For the most part, the coast is flat with numerous river mouths that flow into the seas.
History
The historical background of the island begins with the era of the Early Paleolithic, it is about three hundred thousand years ago.
Today, more than 10 thousand kilometers share Sakhalin Square with the Russian capital. The plane flies seven time zones before being at the airport of the largest city - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
Russian travelers in the 17th century often became pioneers, discovering new lands of their vast country. In the 50s of the 19th century, an expedition led by Nevelsky finally proved the Japanese theory that Sakhalin is an island formation. At the same time, the island was inhabited by peasants, and became the border point of Russia and Japan, so military posts were placed throughout the territory. The next 30 years turned this place into a colony where the exiles were sent.
Great impact on the study of Sakhalin land was made by the treaties between Russia and Japan. For ninety years, the Russian-Japanese border has been modified four times. Due to armed intervention by the Japanese in 1920, the entire area of Sakhalin was occupied. The troops were withdrawn only in 1925, and seven years later the island became part of the Far East, as the Sakhalin region.
Nomad from one country to another, the Kuril Islands after World War II finally returned to the Soviet Union. The modern border of the region was formed in 1947.
The capital of Sakhalin is considered the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which was formed by immigrants in the late 19th century.
Tourism on Sakhalin
The geography of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands is a storehouse of the Far East. The development of island attractions is still ongoing. According to the authorities, the development of tourism should bring the regional economy to a qualitatively new level of development. About 60 travel agencies work on the island, and most of the tourists come from neighboring Japan. They are attracted by the diversity of not only natural, but also historical monuments. The island’s authorities also monitor the Japanese heritage left over from the occupation.
In recent years, ecotourism has begun to actively develop on Sakhalin. But taking into account the fact that the Japanese are more focused on comfortable conditions of stay, travel agencies are limited to field trips, and hotels are improving their services more and more. Almost all hotels have a menu with oriental dishes (including Japanese).
A program of hikes to Chekhov peak is being implemented. Territories are being improved more and more, including the construction of a tourist complex in the village of Goryachie Klyuchi and the Aquamarine camp site. A project is being prepared for the construction of complexes near thermal mineral springs.
Among the attractions you can highlight: the incredible beauty of Bird Lake; partially destroyed Devil's bridge; the largest waterfall on the island of Kunashir - Bird; active Kuril volcanoes - Golovnina, Tyatya; Lighthouse on Cape Aniva; the white cliffs of the Sea of Okhotsk; the picturesque lake Tunaicha; the treasury of the nature of the Kuril Islands - Iturup Island; northern hot springs of the island; formation on the rocks about. Kunashir - Cape Stolbchaty; the southern point of the island is Cape Crillon; the most beautiful waterfall on Russian territory is Ilya Muromets.
Sakhalin population
Sakhalin Oblast has about 500 thousand people. Sakhalin is multinational, the population consists of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Koreans, Mordovians, Tatars, as well as indigenous people.
The indigenous population of Sakhalin includes several nationalities: Nivkh, Tonchi, Evenki, Ainu, Nanai, Uilta. These are the inhabitants of these lands who lived on them before the establishment of modern borders. Indigenous peoples, unfortunately, are very small. However, they are still engaged in the development of their national economy and lead a national life.
Flora
There is no diversity among the flora and fauna of Sakhalin. Compared with the Japanese islands, the territory of the Sakhalin Oblast is rather poor in the number of representatives of the plant and animal world.
F. Schmidt began to study the island's flora in the middle of the 19th century. At present, there are about 1,500 species of plants on Sakhalin that have vessels for conducting water, dissolved mineral salts and other organic elements (vascular).
About seventy percent of Sakhalin is occupied by forests, despite the ecological problem of deforestation and annual fires, the north of the island is still occupied by conifers. This territory is considered coniferous taiga. New trees grow very slowly due to lack of sunlight. In order for the young tree to receive a good dose of the sun, he has to wait until one of the old representatives of the forest falls and brings a gap into the dark taiga veil.
Of course, there are light coniferous forests, but their representatives are mainly larch trees, which are not widespread on the island. Why is this happening? The special soil, under which clay layers are located, is to blame for everything. They do not allow water to pass through and therefore prevent trees from developing and growing well. And a very small part of the forest is occupied by deciduous forests.
Sakhalin forests are rich in rosemary, which forms serious thickets and bogs. Of the berries, blueberries and cranberries are common here, and cloudberries grow in swamps. Perennial grasses and shrubs are represented in large numbers.
Fauna
The climate of Sakhalin allows you to live on the island of forty-four species of mammals. Bears, reindeers, otters, wolverines, raccoon dogs and a large number of rodents, about 370 different types of birds, of which 10 are predators, are widespread.
During the period of exploration of the island, a large amount of flora and fauna was destroyed by humans, therefore, a rather long list of endangered animals and plants of Sakhalin is included in the Red Book.
Industry
Sakhalin industry is developing quite rapidly, it includes oil and gas, coal, fishing and energy industries. Of course, the advantage for many years remains the extraction of oil and gas. Thanks to the development of Sakhalin scientists, Russia was included in the list of leading countries for the export of liquefied natural gas. Sakhalin supplies gas to Japan, Thailand, Korea, Mexico and China.
The development of shelf deposits made it possible in monetary terms to improve the condition of roads, residential premises and so on. To constantly grow the region’s economy, work is underway to attract continuous investment in existing projects.
Climate of Sakhalin
The climatic conditions of the island are moderate monsoons, due to the direct proximity to the water. Winter here is quite snowy and long, and summer is cold. For example, January weather has strong north winds and frosts. Quite often you can get into the snowstorm. Avalanches are also frequent here, sometimes the winter wind reaches an incredible speed of hurricane force. In winter, the temperature drops to -40 degrees, and adjusted for the wind, it is even lower.
Summer on Sakhalin is short - from mid-June to early September with temperatures from 10 to 19 degrees above zero. It is rainy enough, the Pacific Ocean brings high humidity.
In the southwest, the warm current of the Sea of Japan flows, and the Okhotsk Sea is washed by the eastern coast with a cold current. By the way, it is the Sea of Okhotsk that dooms Sakhalin to cold spring weather. It usually doesn’t snow until May. But there were record-high temperature maxima of +35 degrees. In general, every season here comes with a three-week delay. Therefore, in August the warmest days, and in February the coldest.
Summertime brings floods to the island. In the 80s, Sakhalin suffered from a powerful typhoon. He left homeless more than four thousand people. And in 1970, the typhoon poured in a few hours more than the monthly rainfall. A typhoon fifteen years ago brought mudflows and landslides. Typically, these weather conditions come from the Pacific.
Geography and geology
The geographic topography of Sakhalin Island is determined by mountains of medium and low altitude, as well as flat areas. West Sakhalin and East Sakhalin mountain systems are located in the south and in the center of the island. The north is represented by a hilly plain. The coast is distinguished by four peninsular points and two large bays.
The relief of the island consists of eleven regions: the Schmidt Peninsula is a land with a steep rocky coast and mountainous terrain; the plain of northern Sakhalin is a territorial site with hills and many river networks; this is where the main oil and gas deposits are located; mountains of the western part of Sakhalin; Tym-Poronayskaya lowland - located in the center of the island, its main part is swampy; Susunai lowland - located in the south and most populated by people; the ridge of the same name - Susunai, which includes the famous peaks of Chekhov and Pushkin; mountains of eastern Sakhalin with the highest point - Mount Lopatin; Peninsula of Patience with its lowland; Korsakov plateau; Muravyovskaya lowland, consisting of numerous lakes, popular among local residents; Tonino-Anivsky ridge, famous for the Kruzenshtern mountain and its sediments of the Jurassic period.
Minerals
The first place among the natural resources of Sakhalin Island is occupied by biological ones; moreover, this niche leads the region to the first place in the Russian Federation. The island is rich in hydrocarbon reserves and coal deposits. In addition, a large amount of wood, gold, mercury, platinum, chromium, germanium and talc is mined on Sakhalin.
How to get to the mainland?
The distance from Sakhalin to mainland Russia can be overcome in several ways: by plane (for example, from the nearest city of Khabarovsk), a ferry from Vanino, and for extreme sports in winter you can overcome the water part on foot on frozen ice.
The Nevelsky Strait is considered the narrowest place between the mainland and the island, its width is about seven kilometers.
However, the island has an interesting history of the frozen construction of the railway, which began under Stalin. Moreover, the trains had to pass through special tunnels through the already mentioned Cape Nevelsky and Cape Lazarev. The construction of the railway was carried out by convicts of the Gulag prisons. Work was progressing rapidly, but the death of the leader completely stopped the project. Many prisoners were amnestied.
Surprisingly, not a single bridge has been built over the past years. Therefore, modern developments begin precisely with the intentions of building bridge crossings. Moreover, Russia intends to connect Sakhalin with the Japanese island of Hokkaido, for more fruitful cooperation between the regions.