View source for Sakhalin

{{Short description|Island in the Sea of Okhotsk}}
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{{About|the island|the federal subject|Sakhalin Oblast}}
{{distinguish|Sacalin Island}}
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{{Redirect|Sakhalin Island|other uses|Sakhalin Island (book){{!}}''Sakhalin Island'' (book)|and|Sakhalin Island (film){{!}}''Sakhalin Island'' (film)}}
{{redirect-multi|2|Sakhalien|Saghalien|cities in China sometimes historically referred to this in Manchu|Heihe|and|Heilongjiang}}
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{{Expand Russian|topic=geo|date=March 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox islands
| name               = Sakhalin
| image              = Sakhalin (detail).PNG
| image_caption      = 
| image_map          = Sakhalin (orthographic projection).svg
| map                = Russia
| map_caption        = The island of Sakhalin (in green) on a globe
| native_name        = Сахалин
| native_name_lang   = ru
| native_name_link   = Russian language
| location           = [[Russian Far East]],<ref name="BritannicaSakhalin">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Sakhalin Island &#124; island, Russia |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=July 23, 2024 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sakhalin-Island |language=en}}</ref> [[Northern Pacific Ocean]]
| coordinates        = {{Coord|51|N|143|E|region:RU_type:isle_scale:5000000|display=inline,title}}
| area_km2           = 72492
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="islands.unep.ch">{{cite web |url=http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm |title=Islands by Land Area |date=February 18, 1998 |work=Island Directory |publisher=[[United Nations Environment Programme|United Nations Environment Program]] |access-date=June 16, 2010 |archive-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220003634/http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| rank               = 23rd
| highest_mount      = [[Mount Lopatin (Sakhalin)|Mount Lopatin]]
| elevation_m        = 1609
| country            = Russia<ref name="BritannicaSakhalin" />
| country_admin_divisions_title = [[Federal subjects of Russia|Federal subject]]
| country_admin_divisions = [[Sakhalin Oblast]]
| country_largest_city = [[Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk]]
| country_largest_city_population = 174,203
| population         = 489,638
| population_as_of   = 2019
| density_km2        = 6
| ethnic_groups      = majority [[Russians]], some [[Nivkh people|Nivkh]], [[Orok people|Orok]], [[Ainu in Russia|Ainu]], [[Japanese people in Russia|Japanese]] & [[Sakhalin Koreans]]
| timezone1          = [[UTC+11:00]] ([[MAGT]])
}}
'''Sakhalin''' ({{lang-rus|Сахали́н|p=səxɐˈlʲin}}) is an island in [[Northeast Asia]]. Its north coast lies {{cvt|6.5|km}} off the southeastern coast of [[Khabarovsk Krai]] in [[Russia]], while its southern tip lies {{convert|40|km}} north of the [[Japanese archipelago|Japanese island]] of [[Hokkaido]]. An island of the [[West Pacific]], Sakhalin divides the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] to its east from the [[Sea of Japan]] to its southwest. It is administered as part of [[Sakhalin Oblast]] and is the largest [[List of islands of Russia|island of Russia]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sakhalin-russia/index.html|title=Russia's Far East opens up to visitors|first=Miquel |last=Ros|date=2019-01-02|website=CNN Travel|language=en|access-date=2019-01-06}}</ref> with an area of {{convert|72492|km2}}. The island has a population of roughly 500,000, the majority of whom are [[Russians]]. The [[indigenous peoples]] of the island are the [[Ainu in Russia|Ainu]], [[Oroks]], and [[Nivkh people|Nivkhs]], who are now present in very small numbers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://museum.sakh.com/eng/10.shtml |title=The Sakhalin Regional Museum: The Indigenous Peoples |publisher=Sakh.com |access-date=June 16, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317085144/http://museum.sakh.com/eng/10.shtml |archive-date=March 17, 2009 }}</ref>

The island's name is derived from the [[Manchu language|Manchu]] word ''Sahaliyan'' ({{lang|mnc|ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ}}), which was the name of the [[Qing dynasty]] city of [[Aigun]]. The Ainu people of Sakhalin paid tribute to the [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]], [[Ming dynasty|Ming]], and [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] dynasties and accepted official appointments from them. Sometimes the relationship was forced but control from dynasties in [[China]] was loose for the most part.<ref name="Territory7">{{cite book|last1=Gan|first1=Chunsong|title=A Concise Reader of Chinese Culture|year=2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RR2nDwAAQBAJ&q=tang+dynasty+Sakhalin+&pg=PA24|page=24|publisher=Springer |isbn=9789811388675}}</ref><ref name="Territory8">{{cite book|last1=Westad|first1=Odd|title=Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uL8NoXZtyxMC&q=sakhalin|page=11|publisher=Basic Books |isbn=9780465029365}}</ref>

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 northern [[Kuril Islands]]. In 1897 more than half of the population were Russians and other European and Asian minorities.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи, 1897 г.|volume=LXXVII|year=1904|language=ru|pages=34–37, 56–63}}</ref> In 1905, following the [[Russo-Japanese War]], the island was divided, with [[Southern Sakhalin]] going to Japan. After the [[Siberian intervention]], Japan invaded the northern parts of Sakhalin, and ruled the entire island from 1918 to 1925. Russia has held all of the island since [[Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin|seizing]] the Japanese portion in the final days of [[World War II]] in 1945, as well as all of the Kurils. Japan no longer claims any of Sakhalin, although it does still [[Kuril Islands dispute|claim the southern Kuril Islands]]. Most Ainu on Sakhalin moved to Hokkaido, {{convert|43|km|0}} to the south across the [[La Pérouse Strait]], when Japanese civilians were displaced from the island in 1949.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Shaman's Coat: A Native History of Siberia |last=Reid |first=Anna |year=2003 |publisher=Walker & Company |location=New York |isbn=0-8027-1399-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/shamanscoatnativ00reid/page/148 148–150] |url=https://archive.org/details/shamanscoatnativ00reid/page/148 |url-access=registration }}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{Contains special characters|Manchu}}
Sakhalin has several names including {{Transliteration|ja|Karafuto}} ({{langx|ja|樺太}} {{IPA|ja|ka̠ɾa̠ɸɯ̟to̞||audio=Ja-karafuto.ogg}}), {{Transliteration|zh|Kuye}} ({{lang-zh|c=|p=Kùyèdǎo|s=库页岛|t=庫頁島}}), {{Transliteration|mnc|Sahaliyan}} ({{lang-mnc|{{MongolUnicode|ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ}}}}), {{Transliteration|oaa|Bugata nā}} ({{langx|oaa|Бугата на̄|italic=no}}),  {{Transliteration|niv|Yh-mif}} ([[Nivkh languages|Nivkh]]: {{lang|niv|Ых-миф}}).

The [[Manchus]] called it {{Transliteration|mnc|Sahaliyan ula angga hada}} {{MongolUnicode|{{lang|mnc|ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ<br />ᡠᠯᠠ ᠠᠩᡤᠠ<br />ᡥᠠᡩᠠ}}}} {{gloss|Island at the Mouth of the Black River}}.{{sfn|Narangoa|2014|p=295}} {{Transliteration|mnc|Sahaliyan}}, the word that has been borrowed in the form of "Sakhalin", means "black" in Manchu, {{Transliteration|mnc|ula}} means "river" and {{Transliteration|mnc|sahaliyan ula}} {{MongolUnicode|ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ<br />ᡠᠯᠠ|mnc}} {{gloss|Black River}} is the proper Manchu name of the [[Amur River]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

{{blockquote|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).{{sfn|Nakayama|2015|p=20}}|T. Nakayama}}

The island was also called "Kuye Fiyaka".{{sfn|Schlesinger|2017|p=135}} The word "Kuye" used by the Qing is "most probably related to ''kuyi'', the name given to the Sakhalin Ainu by their Nivkh and Nanai neighbors."{{sfn|Hudson|1999|p=226}} 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)."{{sfn|Zgusta|2015|p=64}} Related names were in widespread use in the region, for example the Kuril Ainu called themselves {{lang|ain|koushi}}.{{sfn|Hudson|1999|p=226}}

The origins of the traditional Japanese name, {{Transliteration|ja|Karafuto}} ({{langx|ja|樺太}}), are unclear and multiple competing explanations have been proposed. These include:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yosha Bunko |url=http://wetherall.sakura.ne.jp/yoshabunko/empires/Subnations_Karafuto.html#karafutoetymology |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=wetherall.sakura.ne.jp}}</ref>

* A borrowing of Mongolian ''karahoton'', meaning "distant fortress".
* A modification of {{Langx|ja|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 of {{Langx|ain|カムイ・カラ・プト・ヤ・モシリ}} (''kamuy kar put ya mosir'') "The island created by God at the estuary".

The Japanese form 樺太 equates to {{Langx|ko|화태}} ''Hwangt'ae'', an earlier name for the island now superseded by the transcription 사할린 ''Sahallin''.

The island was also historically referred to as "Tschoka" by European travelers in the late 18th century, such as [[Lapérouse]] and [[Georg von Langsdorff|Langsdorff]].<ref>{{Cite web|author=Tessa Morris-Suzuki|title=The telescope and the tinderbox: Rediscovering La Pérouse in the North Pacific|website=East Asian History|url=https://www.eastasianhistory.org/39/Morris-Suzuki/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241102090503/https://www.eastasianhistory.org/39/Morris-Suzuki/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 2, 2024|access-date=2024-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Eine Reise um die Welt|author=Langsdorff|year=|url=https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/langsdor/reise/chap17.html|chapter=Von Japan nach Kamtschatka}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | title = Zeitschrift für Ethnologie| first1 = Adolf | last1 = Bastian | first2 = Robert | last2 = Hartmann | date = 1899 | chapter = Anmerkung 2. Krafto. | page = 36 }}</ref> This name is believed to derive from an obsolete [[endonym]] used by [[Sakhalin Ainu]], possibly based on the word  ''{{lang|ain|cookay}}'' ({{IPA|/t͡ɕoː.kay/}}, "we") in [[Sakhalin Ainu language]].<ref>{{Cite tweet|author=Itsuji Tangiku|user=itangiku|number=1628010543155142656|title=1787年にフランスのラ・ペルーズ探検隊が海路から樺太に到達し樺太アイヌ語を聞いていますが、そのときには樺太を指す語として「Cokaチョカ」という語が記録されています。これはおそらく現在の樺太アイヌ語のcookayチョーカイ「私たち」にあたる語でしょう。「我々の島」と答えたのでしょう。|access-date=2024-11-02}}</ref>

==History==
===Early history===
<!--Linked from [[Template:Timeline of Mongol invasions and conquests]]-->
[[File:Historical expanse of Ainu.png|thumb|right|Historical extent of the [[Ainu people]]]]
Humans lived on Sakhalin in the [[Neolithic]] Stone Age. Flint implements such as those found in [[Siberia]] have been found at Dui and [[Kusunai]] in great numbers, as well as polished stone hatchets similar to European examples, primitive pottery with decorations like those of the [[Olonets]], and stone weights used with fishing nets. A later population familiar with bronze left traces in earthen walls and kitchen-[[midden]]s on [[Aniva Bay]].
[[File:CEM-36-NE-corner.jpg|thumb|left|[[Maarten Gerritsz Vries|De Vries]] (1643) mapped Sakhalin's eastern promontories without realising that he had visited an island (map from 1682).]]

[[Indigenous peoples of Siberia|Indigenous people]] of Sakhalin include the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] in the southern half, the [[Oroks]] in the central region, and the [[Nivkhs]] in the north.<ref>{{cite book |title= Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life |last=Gall |first=Timothy L. |year= 1998 |publisher=Gale Research Inc |location=Detroit, Michigan |isbn=0-7876-0552-2 |url= https://archive.org/details/worldmarkencyclo00timo_0|url-access=registration }}</ref>{{page needed |date=December 2020}}

====Yuan and Ming tributaries====
{{main|Mongol invasions of Sakhalin}}
After the [[Mongols]] [[Mongol conquest of Jin China|conquered the Jin dynasty (1234)]], they suffered raids by the [[Nivkh people|Nivkh]] and [[Udege people]]s. In response, the Mongols established an administration post at Nurgan (present-day [[Tyr, Russia]]) at the junction of the [[Amur]] and [[Amgun River|Amgun]] rivers in 1263, and forced the submission of the two peoples.{{sfnm|Nakamura|2010|1p=415|Stephan|1971|2p=21}}

From the Nivkh perspective, their surrender to the Mongols essentially established a military alliance against the Ainu who had invaded their lands.{{sfn|Zgusta|2015|p= 96}} According to the ''[[History of Yuan]]'', a group of people known as the ''Guwei'' ({{lang-zh|labels=no|t=骨嵬|p=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.{{sfn|Nakamura|2010|p= 415}} The Ainu resisted the Mongol invasions but by 1308 had been subdued. They paid tribute to the Mongol [[Yuan dynasty]] at posts in Wuliehe, Nanghar, and Boluohe.{{sfn|Walker|2006|p=133}}

The Chinese [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) placed Sakhalin under its "system for subjugated peoples" (''ximin tizhi''). From 1409 to 1411 the Ming established an outpost called the [[Nurgan Regional Military Commission]] near the ruins of [[Tyr, Russia|Tyr]] on the Siberian mainland, which continued operating until the mid-1430s. There is some evidence that the Ming eunuch Admiral [[Yishiha]] reached Sakhalin in 1413 during one of his expeditions to the lower Amur, and granted Ming titles to a local chieftain.<ref name=tsai>{{cite book |title= Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle |last= Tsai |first= Shih-Shan Henry |year= 2002 |orig-year= 2001 |publisher= University of Washington Press |location=Seattle, Wash |isbn= 0-295-98124-5 |pages=158–161 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aU5hBMxNgWQC&pg=PA159 |access-date=June 16, 2010}} Link is to partial text.</ref>

The Ming recruited headmen from Sakhalin for administrative posts such as commander ({{lang-zh|labels=no|p=zhǐhuīshǐ|c=指揮使}}), assistant commander ({{lang-zh|labels=no|p=zhǐhuī qiānshì|t=指揮僉事}}), and "official charged with subjugation" ({{lang-zh|labels=no|p=wèizhènfǔ|t=衛鎮撫}}). In 1431, one such assistant commander, Alige, brought [[marten]] pelts as tribute to the Wuliehe post. In 1437, four other assistant commanders (Zhaluha, Sanchiha, Tuolingha, and Alingge) also presented tribute. According to the ''[[Ming 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.{{sfn|Walker|2006|p=133}}

[[Nivkh people|Nivkh]] women in Sakhalin married Han Chinese Ming officials when the Ming took tribute from Sakhalin and the Amur river region.<ref>([https://books.google.com/books?id=FmW8MwEACAAJ&q=%E2%80%98Natives+of+the+Lower+Reaches+of+the+Amur+River%E2%80%99 Sei Wada], ‘[https://books.google.com/books?id=mWipQwAACAAJ&q=%E2%80%98Natives+of+the+Lower+Reaches+of+the+Amur+River%E2%80%99 The Natives of the Lower reaches of the Amur as Represented in Chinese Records]’, Memoirs of the Research Department of Toyo Bunko, no. 10, 1938, pp. 40‒102) (Shina no kisai ni arawaretaru Kokuryuko karyuiki no dojin 支那の記載に現はれたる黒龍江下流域の土人( The natives on the lower reaches of the Amur river as represented in Chinese records), Tõagaku 5, vol . 1, Sept. 1939.) Wada, ‘Natives of the Lower Reaches of the Amur River’, p. 82.</ref><ref name="apjjf.org"/>

==== Qing tributary ====
[[File:Carte Generale de l'Empire Chinois et du Japon.png|thumb|right|French map from 1821 showing Sakhalin as part of Qing Empire]]

The Manchu [[Qing dynasty]], which came to power in China in 1644, called Sakhalin "Kuyedao" ({{Lang-zh|s=库页岛|p=Kùyè dǎo|l=island of the Ainu}}){{sfn|Smith|2017|p=83}}{{sfn|Kim|2019|p=81}}{{sfn|Nakayama|2015|p= 20}} or "Kuye Fiyaka" ([[Manchu language|{{MongolUnicode|ᡴᡠᠶᡝ<br />ᡶᡳᠶᠠᡴᠠ}}]]).{{sfn|Schlesinger|2017|p=135}} The [[Manchus]] called it "Sagaliyan ula angga hada" (Island at the Mouth of the Black River).{{sfn|Narangoa|2014|p=295}} The Qing first asserted influence over Sakhalin after the 1689 [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]], which defined the [[Stanovoy Mountains]] as the border between the Qing and the [[Russian Empire]]s. In the following year the Qing sent forces to the [[Amur]] 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.{{sfn|Walker|2006|pp= 134–135}}{{sfn|Sasaki|1999|pp= 87–89}}<ref name="apjjf.org"/>

{{blockquote|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 their ''hala'' ({{MongolUnicode|ᡥᠠᠯᠠ}}, the clan of the father's side) and ''gashan'' ({{MongolUnicode|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-six ''hala'' and 2,398 households were registered as fur tribute payers, – those who paid with fur were rewarded mainly with Nishiki silk [[brocade]], 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 Manchu [[Eight 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.{{sfn|Sasaki|1999|pp= 87–89}}|Shiro Sasaki}}

The Qing dynasty established an office in [[Ningguta]], situated midway along the [[Mudan 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'' or ''mokun-da''). In 1732, 6 ''hala'', 18 ''gasban'', 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 the [[Qianlong Emperor]] (r. 1735–95), a trade post existed at Delen, upstream of Kiji (Kizi) Lake, according to [[Rinzo Mamiya]]. There were 500–600 people at the market during Mamiya's stay there.{{sfn|Sasaki|1999|p=87}}<ref name="apjjf.org"/>

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.<ref>(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.</ref><ref name="apjjf.org">{{cite journal |last1=Morris-Suzuki |first1= Tessa |date=November 15, 2020 |title=Indigenous Diplomacy: Sakhalin Ainu (Enchiw) in the Shaping of Modern East Asia (Part 1: Traders and Travellers) |url=https://apjjf.org/2020/22/Morris-Suzuki.html |journal= Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal|volume=18 |issue=22 |pages= |doi= |access-date=}}</ref>

==== Japanese exploration and colonization ====
[[File:Map of Karafuto and the Amur estuary by Mamiya Rinzo (1810)／間宮林蔵『黒竜江中州并天度』（文化7年）.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mamiya Rinzō]] described Sakhalin as an island in his map.]]

In 1635, [[Matsumae Kinhiro]], the second daimyō of [[Matsumae 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 (now [[Poronaysk]]) in the spring of 1637.<ref>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. {{ISBN|4480856684}}）</ref>

In an early colonization attempt, a Japanese settlement was established at [[Korsakov (town)|Ōtomari]] on Sakhalin's southern end in 1679.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.karafuto.com/timetab.html |title=Time Table of Sakhalin Island |access-date=August 16, 2015 |archive-date=October 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003010214/http://www.karafuto.com/timetab.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Cartographers of the [[Matsumae clan]] drew a map of the island and called it "Kita-Ezo" (Northern Ezo, [[Ezo]] being the old Japanese name for the islands north of [[Honshu]]).

In the 1780s, the influence of the Japanese [[Tokugawa 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 in [[Honshu]] 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'', and ''chaofu'') given to them by the Qing, which made up the majority of what the Japanese knew as ''nishiki'' and ''jittoku''. As dynastic uniforms, the silk was of considerably higher quality than that traded at [[Nagasaki]], and enhanced Matsumae prestige as exotic items.{{sfn|Walker|2006|pp= 134–135}} Eventually the Tokugawa government, realizing that they could not depend on the Matsumae, took control of Sakhalin in 1807.{{sfn|Sasaki|1999|p=88}}

{{blockquote|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.{{sfn|Walker|2006|pp=149–150}}|Brett L. Walker}}

Japan proclaimed sovereignty over Sakhalin in 1807; in 1809, [[Mamiya Rinzō]] claimed that it was an island.<ref>{{cite book|last= Lower|first= Arthur|title= Ocean of Destiny: A concise History of the North Pacific, 1500–1978|year= 1978|publisher= UBC|page= 75|isbn= 9780774843522|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gIAOU9ltj48C&q=sakhalin}}</ref>

==== European exploration ====
[[File:Kitchen-21-Russia-Sahalin-2820.jpg|thumb|right|Display of Sakhalin on maps varied throughout the 18th century. This map from a 1773 atlas, based on the [[:commons:File:CEM-44-La-Chine-la-Tartarie-Chinoise-et-le-Thibet-1734-Amur-2572.jpg|earlier work]] by [[Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville|d'Anville]], who in his turn made use of the information collected by [[Jesuit missions in China|Jesuits]] in 1709, asserts the existence of Sakhalin{{snd}}but only assigns to it the northern half of the island and its northeastern coast (with [[Cape Patience]], discovered by [[Maarten Gerritsz Vries|de Vries]] in 1643). Cape Aniva, also discovered by de Vries, and [[Cape Crillon]] (''Black Cape'') are, however, thought to form part of the mainland.]]
[[File:La-Perouse-Chart-of-Discoveries.jpg|thumb|left|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 was [[Martin Gerritz de Vries]], who mapped [[Cape Patience]] and Cape Aniva on the island's east coast in 1643. The [[Netherlands|Dutch]] 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, [[Jesuit missions in China|Jesuits]] [[Jean-Baptiste Régis]], Pierre Jartoux, and [[Xavier Ehrenbert Fridelli]] joined a Chinese team visiting the lower [[Amur River|Amur]] (known to them under its [[Manchu language|Manchu]] name, Sahaliyan Ula, "the Black River"), in 1709,<ref>{{cite book |title= Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique, et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise, enrichie des cartes générales et particulieres de ces pays, de la carte générale et des cartes particulieres du Thibet, & de la Corée; & ornée d'un grand nombre de figures & de vignettes gravées en tailledouce |volume= 1 |last= Du Halde |first= Jean-Baptiste |author-link= Jean-Baptiste Du Halde |year= 1736 |publisher=H. Scheurleer |location=La Haye |isbn=<!--[none]--> |page= xxxviii |url= https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog01duha#page/n41/mode/2up |access-date= June 16, 2010}}</ref> and learned of the existence of the nearby offshore island from the [[Nanai people|Nanai]] natives of the lower Amur.<ref>{{cite book |title= Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique, et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise, enrichie des cartes générales et particulieres de ces pays, de la carte générale et des cartes particulieres du Thibet, & de la Corée; & ornée d'un grand nombre de figures & de vignettes gravées en tailledouce |volume=4 |last=Du Halde |first= Jean-Baptiste |author-link=Jean-Baptiste Du Halde |year= 1736 |publisher=H. Scheurleer |location=La Haye |isbn=<!--[none]--> |pages= 14–16 |url= https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog04duha#page/n23/mode/2up |access-date=June 16, 2010}} The people whose name the Jesuits recorded as ''Ke tcheng ta tse'' ("[[Hezhen]] Tatars") lived, according to the Jesuits, on the Amur below the mouth of the [[Dondon River]], and were related to the ''Yupi ta tse'' ("Fishskin Tatars") living on the Ussuri and the Amur upstream from the mouth of the Dondon. The two groups might thus be ancestral of the [[Ulch people|Ulch]] and [[Nani people|Nanai]] people known to latter ethnologists; or, the "Ke tcheng" might in fact be Nivkhs.</ref>

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|date=August 2022}}

Only with the 1787 expedition of [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse|Jean-François de La Pérouse]] did the island began to resemble something of its true shape on European maps. Though unable to pass through its [[Nevelskoy Strait|northern "bottleneck"]] due to contrary winds, La Perouse charted most of the [[Strait of Tartary]], and islanders he encountered near today's [[Nevelskoy 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.<ref>{{Cite book|first= Jean François de Galaup, comte de|last=La Pérouse
|title= Voyage de Lapérouse, rédigé d'après ses manuscrits, suivi d'un appendice renfermant tout ce que l'on a découvert depuis le naufrage, et enrichi de notes par m. de Lesseps |year= 1831 |editor-first= Jean Baptiste |editor-last=de Lesseps |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jLSxhmCvbVsC&pg=PA258 |pages= 259–266}}</ref>

=== 19th century ===
==== Russo-Japanese rivalry ====
[[File:Karafuto in the Edo period (Sakhalin).jpg|thumb|left|1823 Japanese map of Karafuto and the mouth of the Amur]]
[[File:Anton Chekhov museum Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky file 3.jpg|thumb|right|Anton Chekhov museum in [[Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky (town)|Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky]], Russia. It is the house where he stayed in Sakhalin during 1890.]]
[[File:V.M. Doroshevich-Sakhalin. Part I. Settlers Way of Life. Near Cathedral at Holiday.png|thumb|right|upright=1.2|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 the [[Kuril Islands]] chain) in 1845, in the face of competing claims from Russia. In 1849, however, the Russian navigator [[Gennady 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Началось исследование Южного Сахалина под руководством лейтенанта Николая Васильевича Рудановского |trans-title=Study of South Sakhalin Started under Lieutenant Nikolay Vasilievich Rudanovsky |language=Russian |date=October 18, 1853 |url=https://www.prlib.ru/history/1172668 |publisher=President Library of Russia |quote=“I made my trips around Sakhalin Island in autumn and winter ...”: reports of Lieutenant N. V. Rudanovskiy. 1853–1854 |access-date=October 31, 2021 }}</ref>

In 1855, Russia and Japan signed the [[Treaty 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 the [[Second Opium War]], Russia forced China to sign the [[Treaty of Aigun]] (1858) and the [[Convention of Peking]] (1860), under which China lost to Russia all claims to territories north of [[Heilongjiang]] ([[Amur River|Amur]]) and east of [[Ussuri]].

In 1857, the Russians established a penal colony, or ''[[katorga]]'', on Sakhalin.<ref>
{{cite book
 | editor1-last = Burkhardt
 | editor1-first = Frederick
 | editor1-link = Frederick Burkhardt
 | editor2-last = Secord
 | editor2-first = James A.
 | editor2-link = James A. Secord
 | title = The Correspondence of Charles Darwin
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXOgCgAAQBAJ
 | volume = 23
 | location = Cambridge
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | date = 2015
 | page = 211
 | isbn = 9781316473184
 | access-date = 3 October 2020
 | quote = The Russians had established a penal colony in northern Sakhalin in 1857 [...].
}}</ref> The island remained under shared sovereignty until the signing of the 1875 [[Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)|Treaty of Saint Petersburg]], in which Japan surrendered its claims in Sakhalin to Russia. In 1890, the author [[Anton Chekhov]] visited the penal colony on Sakhalin. He spent three months there interviewing thousands of convicts and settlers for a census and published his memoir ''[[Sakhalin Island (book)|Sakhalin Island]]'' ({{langx|ru|Остров Сахалин}}) of his [[:ru:Остров Сахалин (книга)|journey]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Chekhov's trip to Sakhalin puts lockdown in perspective |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/07/02/chekhovs-trip-to-sakhalin-puts-lockdown-in-perspective |access-date=2024-03-28 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

==== Division along 50th parallel ====
{{See also|Japanese invasion of Sakhalin|Sakhalin Oblast|Karafuto Prefecture}}
[[File:Karafuto map.png|thumb|upright|right|Sakhalin Island with Karafuto Prefecture highlighted]]
Japanese forces invaded and occupied Sakhalin in the closing stages of the [[Russo-Japanese War]]. In accordance with the [[Treaty of Portsmouth]] of 1905, the southern part of the island below the [[50th parallel north]] reverted to Japan, while Russia retained the northern three-fifths.

South Sakhalin was administered by Japan as [[Karafuto Prefecture]] ({{nihongo|Karafuto-chō|樺太庁}}), with the capital at [[Toyohara]] (today's [[Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk]]). A large number of migrants were brought in from Korea.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The northern, Russian, half of the island formed [[Sakhalin Oblast]], with the capital at [[Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky (town)|Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} In response to the [[Perry Expedition|United States opening of Japan]] by [[Matthew C. Perry|Commodore Matthew C. Perry]] in 1853 and, later, the subsequent signing of the [[Convention of Kanagawa]] on March 31, 1854, [[Tsar Nicholas I]], who was personally involved in the "Sakhalin issue", in April 1853 ordered the [[:ru:Российско-американская компания|Russian-American Company]] (RAC) to immediately occupy the Sakhalin Island and begin colonization by constructing two redoubts armed with cannons on the western and southern coasts of the island.{{sfn|Гринёв|1999|page=322}} On September 20, 1853, the RAC ship "[[:ru:Император Николай I (транспортное судно)|Emperor Nikolai I]]" ({{langx|ru|РАК «Император Николай I»}}) under the command of skipper [[:ru:Клинковстрём, Мартин Фёдорович|Martin Fyodorovich Klinkowström]] ({{langx|ru|под командой шкипера Клинковстрём}}) and under the general guidance of Captain Nevelskoy arrived at Tomari-Aniva on [[Aniva Bay]], not far from the main Japanese settlement on the island, and put ashore men and materials to form a military outpost.{{sfn|Гринёв|1999|page=322}}

At the oldest stettlement on Sakhlin Island, Sakhalin Oblast had a [[Katorga|Czarist era penal colony]] named Due ({{langx|ru|Дуэ}}) on [[:ru:Дуэ (Сахалинская область)|Cape Douai]] which had the 1853 established Makaryevka ({{langx|ru|«Макарьевка»}}) coal mine, which was supported by both the [[:ru:Муравьёвский пост|Muravyovsky post]] ({{langx|ru|Муравьёвский пост}}), now known as [[Korsakov (town)|Korsakov]] ({{langx|ru|город Корсаков}}), at Aniva Bay ({{langx|ru|Анива}}), which was named after [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky]] who had sponsored [[:ru:Амурская экспедиция (1849—1855)|the expedition]] commanded by [[Gennady Nevelskoy]] that explored the coast of Sakhalin Island from 1849 to 1853, and the [[:ru:Российско-американская компания|Russian-American Company]], and hosted its first prisoner beginning in 1876. On April 18, 1869, [[Alexander II of Russia|Tsar Alexander II]] approved the "Regulations of the Committee on the Arrangement of Hard Labor" ({{langx|ru|«Положение Комитета об устройстве каторжных работ»}}) which formed the legal basis for Sakhalin Island to be a penal colony.<ref>{{cite news |last=Guroff |first=Nick |url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/05/russia_island_o.html |title=Russia: Island on the Edge. A rough, new energy frontier |work=[[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]], [[PBS|Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)]] |date=17 May 2007 |access-date=10 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250210204724/https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/05/russia_island_o.html |archive-date=10 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Миссионерский отдел Южно-Сахалинской и Курильской епархии (Missionary Department of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Kuril Diocese) |author-link=:ru:Южно-Сахалинская и Курильская епархия |url=http://www.srcc.msu.ru/bib_roc_2012/jmp/11/08-11/10.html |title=На Сахалине завершил работу VI летний молодежный православный лагерь: Летний молодежный православный лагерь на берегу Татарского пролива проводится с 2005 года по инициативе активистов молодежной общественной организации «Братство Александра Невского». Место для его проведения было выбрано не случайно: именно на мысе Дуэ, рядом с первым на Сахалине военным постом, в 1861 году вышел на берег известный просветитель и миссионер святитель Иннокентий (Вениаминов) |trans-title=The VI Orthodox Youth Summer Camp has completed its work on Sakhalin: The Orthodox Summer Youth Camp on the shores of the Tatar Strait has been held since 2005 on the initiative of activists of the youth public organization "Brotherhood of Alexander Nevsky". The place for its holding was not chosen by chance: it was on Cape Douai, next to the first military post on Sakhalin, that the famous enlightener and missionary St. Innocent (Veniaminov) came ashore in 1861 |language=ru |work=[[:ru:Южно-Сахалинская и Курильская епархия|Diocese of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Kuril Islands]] (www.srcc.msu.ru) |date=8 November 2012 |access-date=10 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102074521/http://www.srcc.msu.ru/bib_roc_2012/jmp/11/08-11/10.html |archive-date=2 January 2018}}</ref>

In 1920, during the [[Siberian Intervention]], Japan again [[:ru:Японская оккупация Северного Сахалина|occupied the northern part of the island]], returning it to the Soviet Union in 1925 after the [[Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention|Treaty of Beijing]] was signed on January 20, 1925. However, Japan formed the state owned firm [[:ja:北樺太石油|North Sakhalin Oil]] ({{nihongo|Kita-Sakhalin Oil Co., Ltd.|北樺太石油}}) which extracted oil from the [[:ja:オハ油田|OKHA Oil Field]] ({{nihongo|Oha Oil Field|オハ油田}}) near [[Okha, Russia|Okha]] on North Sakhalin from 1926 to 1944.

==== Whaling ====
Between 1848 and 1902, [[United States|American]] [[whaler|whaleship]]s hunted [[whale]]s off Sakhalin.<ref>''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).</ref> They cruised for [[bowhead whale|bowhead]] and [[gray whale]]s to the north and [[North Pacific right whale|right whale]]s to the east and south.<ref>''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.</ref>

On June 7, 1855, the ship ''Jefferson'' (396 tons), of [[New London, Connecticut|New London]], was wrecked on [[Cape Levenshtern]], on the northeastern side of the island, during a fog. All hands were saved as well as 300 barrels of [[whale oil]].<ref>''William Wirt'', of New Bedford, June 13, 1855, Nicholson Whaling Collection.</ref><ref>''The Friend'' (Vol. IV, No. 9, September 29, 1855, pp. 68, 72, Honolulu)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Starbuck |first=Alexander |title=History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the year 1876 |year=1878 |publisher=Castle |isbn=1-55521-537-8 }}</ref>

=== Second World War ===
{{See also|Invasion of South Sakhalin|Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union}}

In August 1945, after repudiating the [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact]], the Soviet Union invaded southern Sakhalin, an action planned secretly at the [[Yalta Conference]]. The Soviet attack started on August 11, 1945, a few days before the surrender of Japan. The Soviet 56th Rifle Corps, part of the [[16th Army (Soviet Union)|16th Army]], consisting of the [[79th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|79th Rifle Division]], the 2nd Rifle Brigade, the 5th Rifle Brigade and the 214 Armored Brigade,<ref>[http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/45-08-08/army_16.html 16th Army, 2nd Far Eastern Front, Soviet Far East Command, 09.08,45<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> attacked the Japanese [[88th Infantry Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|88th 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 of [[Toyohara]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Of the approximately 400,000 people – mostly Japanese and Korean – who lived on South Sakhalin in 1944, about 100,000 were [[Evacuation of Karafuto and Kuriles|evacuated to Japan]] during the last days of the war. The remaining 300,000 stayed behind, some for several more years.<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the Peoples of Siberia: Russia's North Asian Colony 1581–1990 |last= Forsyth |first= James |year= 1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn= 0-521-47771-9 |page= 354 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzhq85nPrdsC |orig-year=1992}}</ref>

While the vast majority of Sakhalin Japanese and Koreans were gradually repatriated between 1946 and 1950, tens of thousands of [[Sakhalin Koreans]] (and a number of their Japanese spouses) remained in the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Citizenship Law of the USSR |last= Ginsburgs |first= George |year= 1983 |publisher= Martinis Nijhoff Publishers |location=The Hague |series=Law in Eastern Europe No. 25 |isbn=90-247-2863-0 |pages=320–325 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHUYRM2527sC }}</ref><ref>Sandford, Daniel, "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14278362 Sakhalin memories: Japanese stranded by war in the USSR]", ''[[BBC]]'', 3 August 2011.</ref>

No final peace treaty has been signed and the status of four neighboring islands remains [[Kuril Islands dispute|disputed]]. Japan renounced its claims of sovereignty over southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the [[Treaty of San Francisco]] (1951), but maintains that the four offshore islands of [[Hokkaido]] currently administered by Russia were not subject to this renunciation.<ref>
[http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/territory/index.html Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: Foreign Policy > Others > Japanese Territory > Northern Territories]</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0429/Japan-and-Russia-want-to-finally-end-World-War-II-agree-it-is-abnormal-not-to Japan and Russia want to finally end World War II, agree it is 'abnormal' not to],   CSMonitor.com. April 29, 2013.</ref>

===Recent history===
{{Main|Sakhalin Oblast}}
[[File:Downtown Yuzhno.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Central part of [[Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk]], 2009]]
On 1 September 1983, [[Korean Air Lines Flight 007|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 smaller [[Moneron 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]].<ref name="obituary">{{cite web |last=Krebs |first=Albin |date=September 2, 1983 |title=REP. L.P. MCDONALD OF GEORGIA AMONG THE AMERICANS LOST ON JET |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/02/obituaries/rep-lp-mcdonald-of-georgia-among-the-americans-lost-on-jet.html |access-date=March 13, 2021 |newspaper=New York Times}}</ref>

On 27 May 1995, the 7.0 {{M|w}} [[1995 Neftegorsk earthquake|Neftegorsk earthquake]] shook the former Russian settlement of [[Neftegorsk, Sakhalin Oblast|Neftegorsk]] with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of IX (''Violent''). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Efron |first=Sonni |date=1995-05-29 |title=7.5 Quake Kills 300 on Russia's Sakhalin Island |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-29-mn-7275-story.html |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The settlement was not rebuilt.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2016 |title=Разрушительное землетрясение 5 февраля 2016 г. на Тайване. Анализ сейсмологических данных |journal=Сейсмические Приборы |volume=52 |issue=4 |doi=10.21455/si2016.4-1 |issn=0131-6230 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Geography==
Sakhalin is separated from the mainland by the narrow and shallow [[Strait of Tartary]], which often freezes in winter in its narrower part, and from [[Hokkaido]], Japan, by the Soya Strait or [[La Pérouse Strait]]. Sakhalin is the largest island in Russia, being {{convert|948|km|mi|abbr=on}} long, and {{convert|25|to|170|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} wide, with an area of {{convert|72492|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|0}}.<ref name="islands.unep.ch"/> It lies at similar latitudes to England, Wales and Ireland.

Its [[orography]] and geological structure are imperfectly known. One theory is that Sakhalin arose from the [[Sakhalin Island Arc]].<ref name="FarEast">{{cite book|last=Ivanov|first=Andrey |title=The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia |editor=Shahgedanova, Maria |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |date=March 27, 2003|series=Oxford Regional Environments|volume=3|pages=428–429 |chapter=18 The Far East |isbn=978-0-19-823384-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CFiT3qbN5UC&pg=PA428 |access-date=July 16, 2008}}</ref> Nearly two-thirds of Sakhalin is mountainous. Two parallel ranges of mountains traverse it from north to south, reaching {{convert|600|–|1500|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The Western Sakhalin Mountains peak in Mount Ichara, {{convert|1481|m|ft|abbr=on|0}}, while the Eastern Sakhalin Mountains's highest peak, Mount Lopatin {{convert|1609|m|ft|abbr=on|0}}, 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.<ref name="autogenerated1974">Ivlev, A. M. Soils of Sakhalin. New Delhi: Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, 1974. Pages 9–28.</ref>

Crystalline rocks crop out at several capes; [[Cretaceous]] [[limestone]]s, containing an abundant and specific fauna of gigantic [[ammonite]]s, occur at Dui on the west coast; and [[Tertiary (period)|Tertiary]] [[conglomerate (geology)|conglomerates]], [[sandstone]]s, [[marl]]s, and [[clay]]s, 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. The [[Pliocene]] deposits contain a mollusc fauna more Arctic than that which exists at the present time, indicating that the connection between the Pacific and [[Arctic Ocean]]s was probably broader than it is now.

Main rivers: The [[Tym (Sakhalin)|Tym]], {{convert|330|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} long and navigable by rafts and light boats for {{convert|80|km|mi|abbr=on|0}}, flows north and northeast with numerous rapids and shallows, and enters the [[Sea of Okhotsk]].<ref name="Tym">[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article113138.html Тымь] – an article in the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]''. (In Russian, retrieved 21 June 2020.)</ref> The [[Poronay]] flows south-southeast to the [[Gulf of Patience]] or Shichiro Bay, on the southeastern coast. Three other small streams enter the wide semicircular [[Aniva Bay]] or Higashifushimi Bay at the southern extremity of the island.

The northernmost point of Sakhalin is [[Cape Elizabeth (Sakhalin)|Cape Elizabeth]] on the [[Schmidt Peninsula (Sakhalin)|Schmidt Peninsula]], while [[Cape Crillon]] is the southernmost point of the island. The [[Khalpili Islands]] are off [[Cape Khalpili]].

Sakhalin has two smaller islands associated with it, [[Moneron Island]] and [[Ush Island]]. Moneron, the only land mass in the Tatar strait, {{convert|7.2|km|mi|abbr=on|1}} long and {{convert|5.6|km|mi|abbr=on|1}} wide, is about {{convert|24|nmi|km}} west from the nearest coast of Sakhalin and {{convert|41|nmi|km|abbr=on}} from the port city of Nevelsk. Ush Island is an island off of the northern coast of Sakhalin.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="145px">
File:Sakhalin and her surroundings English ver.png|Sakhalin and its surroundings
File:Кекуры Мыса Великан 3.jpg|Velikan Cape, Sakhalin
File:Хребет Жданко и бухта Тихая.jpg|Zhdanko Mountain Ridge
</gallery>

==Demographics==
[[File:V.M. Doroshevich-Sakhalin. Part II. Nivkh Children.png|thumb|[[Nivkh people|Nivkh]] children in Sakhalin {{circa|1903}}]]
According to the 1897 census, Sakhalin had a population of 28,113, of which 56.2% were Russians, 8.4% [[Ukrainians]], 7.0% [[Nivkh people|Nivkh]], 5.8% [[Polish people|Poles]], 5.4% [[Tatars]], 5.1% [[Ainu people|Ainu]], 2.82% [[Oroks]], 0.95% [[Germans]], 0.81% [[Japanese people|Japanese]], with the non-indigenous people living mainly from agriculture, or being convicts or exiles.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи, 1897 г.|volume=LXXVII|year=1904|language=ru|pages=34–37, 56–63}}</ref> The majority of Nivkh, Ainu and Japanese lived from fishing or hunting, whereas the Oroks lived mainly by livestock ([[Reindeer herding|reindeer]]) breeding.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи, 1897 г.|volume=LXXVII|pages=64–65}}</ref> The Ainu, Japanese and [[Koreans]] lived almost exclusively in the southern part of the island.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи, 1897 г.|volume=LXXVII|pages=36–37}}</ref> Since 1925, many Poles fled Soviet Russian persecution in the north to the then Japanese south.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Winiarz|first=Adam|year=1994|title=Książka polska w koloniach polskich na Dalekim Wschodzie (1897–1949)|magazine=Czasopismo Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich|language=pl|publisher=[[Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich]]|volume=5|page=66}}</ref>

The 400,000 [[Japanese diaspora|Japanese]] inhabitants of Sakhalin (including the Japanized indigenous [[Ainu people|Ainu]]) who had not already been [[Evacuation of Karafuto and Kuriles|evacuated]] 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.<ref>Carson, Cameron, "[https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3563&context=honors_theses Karafuto 1945: An examination of the Japanese under Soviet rule and their subsequent expulsion]" (2015). Honors Theses. Western Michigan University.</ref>

In 2010, the island's population was recorded at 497,973, 83% of whom were ethnic [[Russians]], followed by about 30,000 [[Sakhalin Koreans|Koreans]] (5.5%). Smaller minorities were the [[Ainu people|Ainu]], [[Ukrainians]], [[Tatars]], [[Sakhas]] and [[Evenks]]. The native inhabitants currently consist of some 2,000 [[Nivkh people|Nivkhs]] and 750 [[Orok people|Oroks]]. 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 as [[Sakhalin Koreans]], who were forcibly brought by the Japanese during [[World 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]] and [[Korsakov (town)|Korsakov]] (population about 40,000 each). In 2008 there were 6,416 births and 7,572 deaths.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vostokmedia.com/n36536.html |script-title=ru:Сахалин становится островом близнецов? |trans-title=Sakhalin is an island of twins? |date=February 13, 2009 |language=ru |publisher=Восток Медиа [Vostok Media] |access-date=June 16, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717093922/http://www.vostokmedia.com/n36536.html |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==Climate==
{{climate chart
| Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
| −18 | −8 | 48
| −19 | −7 | 44
| −13 | −2 | 42
| −4 | 5 | 57
| 1 | 12 | 69
| 7 | 16 | 54
| 11 | 19 | 87
| 12 | 21 | 105
| 7 | 18 | 107
| 0 | 11 | 98
| −7 | 2 | 81
| −17 | −7 | 63
| float = left
| clear = none
| source = Weather Underground }}

The Sea of Okhotsk ensures that Sakhalin has a cold and humid climate, ranging from [[humid continental climate|humid continental]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Dfb'') in the south to [[subarctic climate|subarctic]] (''Dfc'') in the centre and north. The maritime influence makes summers much cooler than in similar-latitude inland cities such as [[Harbin]] or [[Irkutsk]], 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.<ref>[http://sakhmeteo.ru/en/ Sakhalin Hydrometeorological Service, accessed 19 April 2011]</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2014}}

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 {{convert|500|mm|in}} on the northwest coast to over {{convert|1200|mm|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.<ref name="autogenerated1974"/>

==Flora and fauna==
[[File:Sakhalin-gray-whale-small.jpg|thumb|Western Gray whale near Sakhalin]]
[[File:Sakhalin butterfly.jpg|thumb|''[[Anaphalis margaritacea]]'' with [[Aglais io|peacock butterfly]]]]

The whole of the island is covered with dense [[forest]]s, mostly [[conifer]]ous. The [[Picea jezoensis|Yezo]] (or Yeddo) spruce (''Picea jezoensis''), the [[Abies sachalinensis|Sakhalin fir]] (''Abies sachalinensis''), the [[Dahurian larch]] (''Larix gmelinii''), and ''[[Picea glehnii]]'' are the chief trees; on the upper parts of the mountains are the [[Siberian dwarf pine]] (''Pinus pumila'') and the Kurile bamboo (''Sasa kurilensis''). [[Birch]]es, both Siberian silver birch (''[[Betula platyphylla]]'') and [[Erman's birch]] (''B. ermanii''), [[Populus|poplar]], [[elm]] (''[[Ulmus laciniata]]''), [[Prunus padus|bird cherry]] (''Prunus padus''), [[Taxus cuspidata|Japanese yew]] (''Taxus cuspidata''), and several [[willow]]s are mixed with the conifers; while farther south the [[maple]], [[rowan]] and [[oak]], as also the Japanese ''[[Kalopanax septemlobus]]'', the [[Amur cork tree]] (''Phellodendron amurense''), the [[spindle (shrub)|spindle]] (''[[Euonymus macropterus]]'') and the vine (''[[Vitis thunbergii]]'') make their appearance. The underwoods abound in berry-bearing plants (e.g. [[cloudberry]], [[cranberry]], [[crowberry]], [[red whortleberry]]), red-berried elder (''[[Sambucus racemosa]]''), wild [[Rubus idaeus|raspberry]], and [[Spiraea]].

[[Brown bear]], [[Eurasian river otter]], [[red fox]], [[eurasian lynx]], [[leopard cat]] and [[sable]] are fairly numerous (as are [[reindeer]] in the north); rarely seen, but still present, is the elusive [[Siberian musk deer|Sakhalin musk deer]], a subspecies of Siberian musk deer. Smaller mammals include [[hare]], [[squirrel]]s, and various [[Rodentia|rodents]] (including [[rat]]s and [[mice]]) nearly everywhere. The [[bird]] population is made-up of mostly the common eastern Siberian forms, but there are some [[endemic (ecology)|endemic]] or near-endemic breeding species, notably the [[Conservation status|endangered]] [[Nordmann's greenshank]] (''Tringa guttifer'') and the [[Sakhalin leaf warbler]] (''Phylloscopus borealoides''). The rivers swarm with [[fish]], especially species of [[salmon]] (''Oncorhynchus''). Numerous [[cetacean]]s visit the sea coast, including the [[endangered]] Western Pacific [[gray whale]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reeves |first=B. L. |last2=Brownell |first2=Robert |last3=Taylor |first3=B. L. |last4=Cooke |first4=Justin |date=January 2018 |title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/8099/50345475 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=www.iucnredlist.org}}</ref> 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 the [[North Pacific right whale]], the [[bowhead whale]], and the [[beluga whale]], the latter two generally preferring icy waters and colder conditions to the north. All are potential prey species for the highly social [[killer whale]], or orca. The once-common [[Japanese sea lion]] and Japanese [[sea otter]], both hunted to extinction, formerly ranged from Japan's coastline to Sakhalin, Korea, Kamchatka, and the [[Yellow Sea]]; however, over-harvesting depleted their numbers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today, [[ringed seal]]s and the giant [[Steller sea lion]] can be spotted around Sakhalin Island.

==Transport==
===Sea===
{{Main|Sakhalin Shipping Company}}

Transport, especially by sea, is an important segment of the economy. Nearly all the cargo arriving for Sakhalin (and the [[Kuril Islands]]) is delivered by cargo boats, or by ferries, in railway wagons, through the [[Vanino-Kholmsk train ferry]] from the mainland port of [[Vanino, Khabarovsk Krai|Vanino]] to Kholmsk. The ports of Korsakov and Kholmsk are the largest and handle all kinds of goods, while [[coal]] and [[timber]] shipments often go through other ports. In 1999, a ferry service was opened between the ports of Korsakov and [[Wakkanai]], 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<ref>[http://www.penguin.com.sg Penguin International Limited]</ref> and operated by Sakhalin Shipping Company.<ref>[http://www.sasco.ru/en-main-page-op-i1 Sakhalin Shipping Company] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729052931/http://www.sasco.ru/en-main-page-op-i1 |date=July 29, 2016 }}</ref>

Sakhalin's main shipping company is Sakhalin Shipping Company, headquartered in Kholmsk on the island's west coast.

===Rail===
About 30% of all inland transport volume is carried by the island's railways, most of which are organized as the [[Sakhalin Railway]] ([[:ru:Сахалинская железная дорога|Сахалинская железная дорога]]), which is one of the 17 territorial divisions of the [[Russian Railways]].

The [[Sakhalin Railway]] network extends from [[Nogliki]] in the north to [[Korsakov (town)|Korsakov]] in the south. Sakhalin's railway has a connection with the rest of Russia via a [[Vanino-Kholmsk train ferry|train ferry]] operating between [[Vanino, Khabarovsk Krai|Vanino]] and [[Kholmsk]].

The process of converting the railways from the Japanese {{RailGauge|1067mm}} gauge to the Russian {{RailGauge|1520mm}} gauge began in 2004<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eng.rzd.ru/isvp/public/rzdeng?STRUCTURE_ID=193 |title=Sakhalin Railways |year=2007 |publisher=[[Russian Railways|JSC Russian Railways]] |access-date=June 17, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004160841/http://eng.rzd.ru/isvp/public/rzdeng?STRUCTURE_ID=193 |archive-date=October 4, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Steam and the Railways of Sakhalin Island |last=Dickinson |first=Rob |publisher=International Steam Page |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080217154833/http://www.steam.dial.pipex.com/trains/russia02.htm |archive-date=February 17, 2008 |access-date=June 16, 2010|url=http://www.steam.dial.pipex.com/trains/russia02.htm}}</ref> and
was completed in 2019.<ref>[https://www.transsiberianexpress.net/blog/the-gauge-change-on-sakhalin-island-railway-line Gauge conversion]</ref>
The original Japanese [[D51 steam locomotive]]s 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-gauge {{RailGauge|750mm}} line extending for {{convert|228|km|mi|sp=us}} from Nogliki further north to [[Okha, Russia|Okha]] ([[:ru:Узкоколейная железная дорога Оха — Ноглики|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://infojd.ru/19/ohanog_2006.html |script-title=ru:Узкоколейная железная дорога Оха – Ноглики |trans-title=Okha-Nogliki narrow-gauge railway |first=Serguei (Болашенко, С.) |last=Bolashenko |date=July 6, 2006 |work=САЙТ О ЖЕЛЕЗНОЙ ДОРОГЕ |language=ru |access-date=June 17, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140811220542/http://infojd.ru/19/ohanog_2006.html |archive-date=August 11, 2014 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Sakhalin Train.jpg|A passenger train in [[Nogliki]]
File:Japanese SL D51-22.jpg|A Japanese [[D51 steam locomotive]] outside the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Railway Station
</gallery>

===Air===
Sakhalin is connected by regular flights to [[Moscow]], [[Khabarovsk]], [[Vladivostok]] and other cities of Russia. [[Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport]] has regularly scheduled international flights to [[Hakodate]], Japan, and [[Seoul]] and [[Busan]], South Korea. There are also charter flights to the Japanese cities of [[Tokyo]], [[Niigata, Niigata|Niigata]], and [[Sapporo]] and to the Chinese cities of [[Shanghai]], [[Dalian]] and [[Harbin]]. The island was formerly served by [[Alaska Airlines]] from [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]], [[Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky|Petropavlovsk]], and [[Magadan]].

===Fixed links===
The idea of building a [[bridge|fixed 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 {{convert|10|km|mi|adj=mid|-long|0}} undersea [[Sakhalin Tunnel|tunnel]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Railway a Gauge of Sakhalin's Future |last=[[The Moscow Times]] |work=The RZD-Partner |date=July 7, 2008 |url=http://www.rzd-partner.com/press/2008/07/07/327041.html |access-date=June 17, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120909005413/http://www.rzd-partner.com/press/2008/07/07/327041.html |archive-date=September 9, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The project was abandoned under Premier [[Nikita 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 the [[Eurasia]]n 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 president [[Dmitry Medvedev]] announced government support for the construction of the [[Sakhalin Tunnel]], along with the required regauging of the island's railways to Russian standard gauge, at an estimated cost of 300–330 billion [[rouble]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://primamedia.ru/news/show/?id=85418 |script-title=ru:Президент России хочет остров Сахалин соединить с материком |trans-title=President of Russia wants to join Sakhalin Island to the mainland |date=November 19, 2008 |publisher=PrimaMedia |language=ru |access-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref>

In July 2013, Russian Far East development minister [[Viktor Ishayev]] proposed a [[railway]] bridge to link Sakhalin with the Russian mainland. He also again suggested [[Sakhalin–Hokkaido Tunnel|a bridge between Sakhalin and Hokkaidō]], which could potentially create a continuous rail corridor between Europe and Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/minister-proposes-7km-bridge-to-sakhalin-island/483353.html|publisher=The Moscow Times|title=Minister Proposes 7km Bridge to Sakhalin Island|work=RIA Novosti|date=July 19, 2013|access-date=March 29, 2014}}</ref> In 2018, president [[Vladimir Putin]] ordered a feasibility study for a mainland bridge project.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

==Economy==
{{More citations needed|section|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Sakhalin-II LNG production plant opening.jpg|thumb|At the ceremony marking the opening of a [[liquefied natural gas]] production plant built as part of the Sakhalin-2 project]]
The economy of Sakhalin relies primarily on [[Petroleum|oil]] and [[Natural gas|gas]] exports, [[coal mining]], [[forestry]], and [[Fishing industry|fishing]]. Limited quantities of [[rye]], [[wheat]], [[oat]]s, [[barley]] and [[vegetable]]s grow there, although the [[growing season]] averages less than 100 days.<ref name="autogenerated1974"/>

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent [[economic liberalization]], Sakhalin has experienced an oil [[wikt:boom|boom]] with extensive petroleum-exploration and mining by most large oil [[multinational corporations]]. The oil and natural- gas reserves contain an estimated 14 [[1000000000 (number)|billion]] [[Barrel (unit)|barrels]] (2.2&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup>) of oil and 2,700&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup> (96 [[1000000000000 (number)|trillion]] cubic feet) of gas and are being developed under production-sharing agreement contracts involving international oil- companies like [[ExxonMobil]] and [[Shell plc|Shell]].

In 1996, two large consortia, [[Sakhalin-I]] and [[Sakhalin-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 combined [[United States dollar|US$]]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 by [[Exxon 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 {{convert|220|km|abbr=on}} pipeline across the [[Tatar Strait]] from Sakhalin Island to [[De-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 first [[liquefied 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 | 2006 | January | lc = on}}) 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.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Russia_Threatens_To_Halt_Sakhalin_2_Project_Unless_Shell_Cleans_Up_999.html |title= Russia Threatens To Halt Sakhalin-2 Project Unless Shell Cleans Up |date= September 26, 2006 |agency= [[Agence France-Presse]] |publisher= Terra Daily |access-date= June 17, 2010}}</ref> There have been suggestions{{by whom|date=February 2021}} 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-controlled [[Gazprom]]. 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.<ref>{{cite news |title= Russia Halts Pipeline, Citing River Damage |last= Kramer |first= Andrew E. |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |date= September 19, 2006 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/business/worldbusiness/19shell.html |page= C.11 |access-date= June 17, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Cynical in Sakhalin |newspaper= [[Financial Times]] |location= London |date= September 26, 2006 |url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4d84c734-481c-11db-a42e-0000779e2340.html |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210211251/https://www.ft.com/content/4d84c734-481c-11db-a42e-0000779e2340 |archive-date= December 10, 2022 |url-access= subscription |url-status= live |access-date= October 2, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= A deal is a deal |newspaper= [[The Times]] |location= London |date= September 22, 2006 |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article646878.ece |archive-url= https://archive.today/20070209163300/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article646878.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= February 9, 2007 |access-date= June 17, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title= CEO delivers message at Sakhalin's first major energy conference |url= http://www.sakhalinenergy.com/en/default.asp?p=channel&c=1&n=130 |publisher= [[Sakhalin Energy]] |date= September 27, 2006 |access-date= June 17, 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071101062629/http://www.sakhalinenergy.com/en/default.asp?p=channel&c=1&n=130 |archive-date= November 1, 2007 }} Citations for the date: {{cite press release |title= Sakhalin II: Laying the Base for Future Arctic Developments in Russia |url= http://www.sakhalin-2.ru/en/media.asp?p=media_page&itmID=185 |publisher= Sakhalin Energy |date= September 27, 2006 |access-date= June 17, 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111214120631/http://www.sakhalin-2.ru/en/media.asp?p=media_page&itmID=185 |archive-date= December 14, 2011 |df= mdy-all }} {{cite web|url= http://qa.sakhalin-2.com/en/media.asp?p=home&yr=2006|title= Media Archives 2006|publisher= Sakhalin Energy|access-date= June 17, 2010|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110715225759/http://qa.sakhalin-2.com/en/media.asp?p=home&yr=2006|archive-date= July 15, 2011|df= mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2000, the oil-and-gas industry accounted for 57.5% of Sakhalin's industrial output. By 2006 it is expected{{by whom|date=February 2021}} 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|2007|April|18}}, 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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-02|title=Russia aims to make Sakhalin island carbon neutral by 2025|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/russia-aims-make-sakhalin-island-carbon-neutral-by-2025-2021-06-02/|access-date=2021-06-03|website=Reuters}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=July 2025|reason=It is now 2025. Was it achieved?}}

==International partnerships==
* [[Gig Harbor]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], United States
* [[Jeju Province]], South Korea

==Claimed by==
* [[Russian Empire]] 18th Century to 1875
* [[Tokugawa Shogunate]], [[Empire of Japan]] 1840–1875
* [[Qing dynasty]], 1636–1872

==See also==
{{Portal|Russia|Islands}}
* [[List of islands of Russia]]
* [[Ryugase Group]] – a geological formation on the island
* [[Winter storms of 2009–10 in East Asia]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== Works cited ==
* {{cite book|author=Гринёв А.В. |chapter=Участие РАК в освоении Приамурья и Сахалина |date=1999 |editor=под общ. ред. академика [[Болховитинов, Николай Николаевич|Н. Н. Болховитинова]] |isbn=5-7133-0987-8 |location=М. |pages=320–324 |publisher=Международные отношения |ref=Гринёв |title=История Русской Америки (1732-1867) |url=https://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/russ_america/pdf/26/text.pdf |volume=3}}<!-- auto-translated from Russian by Module:CS1 translator -->
* {{cite book |last=Гринёв |first=А.В. (Grinev or Grinyov, A.V.) |url=https://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/russ_america/pdf/26/text.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210225906/https://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/russ_america/pdf/26/text.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2025 |title=Участие РАК в освоении Приамурья и Сахалина // История Русской Америки (1732-1867) / под общ. ред. академика Н. Н. Болховитинова |trans-title=Participation of the Russian America Company (RAC) in the development of the Amur Region and Sakhalin // History of Russian America (1732-1867) / under the general editorship of Academician N. N. Bolkhovitinov |language=ru |publisher=[[:ru:Международные отношения (издательство)|М.: Международные отношения]] (Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya Publ.) |year=1999 |location=Moscow |volume=3 |pages=320–324 |isbn=5-7133-0987-8}} 
* {{cite book |last1=Hudson |first1=Mark J. | author-link=Mark J. Hudson| title=Ruins of identity: ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands |date=1999 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=9780824864194}}
*{{citation|last=Kim|first=Loretta E.|year=2019|title=Ethnic Chrysalis|publisher=Harvard University Asia Center}}
* {{cite book |last= Nakamura | first = Kazuyuki |editor1-last=Kikuchi |editor1-first=Toshihiko |title=Hokutō Ajia no rekishi to bunka |trans-title= A history and cultures of Northeast Asia | script-title= ja:北東アジアの歴史と文化 | publisher=Hokkaido University Press | chapter = Kita kara no mōko shūrai wo meguru shōmondai |script-chapter= ja:「北からの蒙古襲来」をめぐる諸問題 | trans-chapter = Several questions around "the Mongol attack from the north"| isbn=9784832967342 |language=ja |date= 2010}}
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==Further reading==
* [[Anton Chekhov]], ''A Journey to Sakhalin'' (1895), including:
** ''Saghalien [or Sakhalin] Island'' (1891–1895)
** ''Across Siberia''
* C. H. Hawes, ''In the Uttermost East'' (London, 1903). (quoted in EB1911, see below)
* Ajay Kamalakaran, ''Sakhalin Unplugged'' (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 2006)
* Ajay Kamalakaran, ''Globetrotting for Love and Other Stories from Sakhalin Island'' (Times Group Books, 2017)
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Sakhalin | volume= 24 |last1= Kropotkin |first1= Peter Alexeivitch |author1-link= Peter Kropotkin| last2= Bealby |first2= John Thomas| page = 54 |short= 1}}
* John J. Stephan, ''Sakhalin: A History''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sakhalin}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080910114322/http://www.blackbourn.co.uk/databases/hydrocarbon-province-maps/sakhalin.pdf Map of the Sakhalin Hydrocarbon Region] – at Blackbourn Geoconsulting
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120424004355/http://transglobalhighway.com/ TransGlobal Highway] – Proposed Sakhalin–Hokkaidō Friendship Tunnel
* [http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/russia02.htm Steam and the Railways of Sakhalin]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130605182744/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3/ Maps of Ezo, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands] from 1854

{{Sea of Okhotsk Islands}}
{{World's largest islands}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Chinese historical placenames in Outer Manchuria}}

[[Category:Sakhalin| ]]
[[Category:Ainu geography]]
[[Category:Geography of Northeast Asia]]
[[Category:Islands of Sakhalin Oblast]]
[[Category:Islands of the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Islands of the Russian Far East]]
[[Category:Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk]]
[[Category:Pacific Coast of Russia]]
[[Category:Physiographic provinces]]
[[Category:Former Japanese colonies]]