Sakhalin Oblast on the map of Russia

Flag of Sakhalin Oblast

Sakhalin Oblast (Russian: Сахали́нская о́бласть, Sakhalinskaya Oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It comprises the island of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands. Image File history File links RussiaSakhalin2007-01. ... Image File history File links RussiaSakhalin2007-01. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sakhalin_Oblast. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sakhalin_Oblast. ... Russia is a federation which consists of 88 subjects (Russian: ; English transliteration: subyekty, sing. ... Oblast (Czech: oblast, Slovak: oblasÅ¥, Russian and Ukrainian: , Belarusian: , Bulgarian: о́бласт) refers to a subnational entity in some countries. ... Location of Sakhalin in the Western Pacific Sakhalin, GOST transliteration Sahalin, (Russian: , Korean: Traditional Chinese: 庫頁島; Simplified Chinese: 库页岛; pinyin: kùyèdÇŽo Japanese: 樺太 romaji: karafuto), also Saghalien, is a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45° 50 and 54° 24 N. It is part of the Russian... Location of Kuril Islands in the Western Pacific. ...

The oblast has an area of 87,100 km² and a population of 546,695 (2002 Census). Its administrative center and largest city is Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with a population of around 170,000. Russian Census of 2002 (Russian: ) was the first census of Russian Federation carried out on October 9, 2002. ... Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Ю́жно-Сахали́нск) is a city in Sakhalin, Russia, administrative center of the Sakhalin Oblast. ...

Besides people from other parts of the former Soviet Union, Sakhalin is home to Nivkhs and Ainu, with the latter having lost their language in Sakhalin recently. The Nivkhs (also Nivkh or Gilyak; ethnonym: Nivxi; language, нивхгу - Nivxgu) are an indigenous people inhabiting the region of the region of the Amur River estuary and on nearby Sakhalin Island. ... The Ainu IPA: /?ajnu/) are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaidō and north of Honshū in Northern Japan, the Kuril Islands, much of Sakhalin, and the southernmost third of the Kamchatka peninsula. ... Language shift is the process whereby an entire speech community of a language shifts to speaking another language. ...

Some territories of Sakhalin Oblast (four islands, the southern ones of Kuril archipelago) are claimed by Japan.

Demographics

Population: 546,695 (2002 Census) Russian Census of 2002 (Russian: ) was the first census of Russian Federation carried out on October 9, 2002. ...

Ethnic groups:
As per the 2002 census, ethnic Russians at 460,778 (84.3%) constitute by far the largest group of the population, followed by Koreans at 29,592 (5.41%), Ukrainians at 21,831 (4%) and a host of smaller groups (all in all, 127 distinct ethnic groups are listed for the oblast).

History

The indigenous people of Sakhalin are the Xianbei and Xiazhe tribes, who had a way of life based on fishing. The Chinese in the Ming dynasty knew the island as Kuyi (Chinese: 苦夷; pinyin: Kǔyí), and later as Kuye (Chinese: 庫頁; pinyin: Kùyè). According to the Book of Shengmu (Chinese: 聖武記; pinyin: Shèngwǔjì), the Ming sent 400 troops to Sakhalin in 1616, but later withdrew as it was considered there was no threat to Chinese control of the island. A Ming boundary stone still exists on the island. Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ... The Xianbei (Simplified Chinese: 鲜卑; Traditional Chinese: 鮮卑; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsien-pei) were a significant nomadic people residing in modern Manchuria and eastern Mongolia, or Xianbei Shan, a historic term for Greater Khingan, before migrating into areas of the modern Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Hebei, Inner Mongolia... The Ming Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin_method be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin_method be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin_method be merged into this article or section. ...

The Qing Empire also claimed sovereignty over the island and Sakhalin was under formal Chinese rule from the Jin Dynasty onwards. However, as the Chinese governments did not have a military presence on the island, people from both Japan and Russia attempted to colonise the island. The Japanese settlement of Ootomari was established in 1679. Cartographers of the Matsumae clan created a map of the island and called it "Kita-Ezo" (Northern Ezo, Ezo is the old name of Hokkaidō). The 1686 Nerchinsk Treaty reaffirmed Sakhalin as Chinese territory. Nevertheless Russia started occupying the island, with an army made up of convicts, from the 18th century onwards. The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daicing gurun; Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China expanded into China proper and the surrounding territories of... Jin may refer to: Jin Dynasty (265-420) Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) (Jinn) Jin, a state in China during the Spring and Autumn Period Later Jin Dynasty, founded in 1616 by Nurhaci Jin, a ruler of the Xia dynasty The Jin state of late Bronze Age Korea Jin, Chinese American... This article is about a political topic. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Matsumae. ... Hokkaidō   (北海道, literal meaning: North Sea Route, Ainu: Mosir), formerly known as Ezo and Yesso, is the second largest island and largest prefecture of Japan. ... Nerchinsk Treaty was the first treaty between Russia and China. ...

Sakhalin became known to Europeans from the travels of Ivan Moskvitin and Martin Gerritz de Vries in the 17th century, and still better from those of Jean-François de La Pérouse (1787) and Ivan Krusenstern (1805). Both, however, regarded it as a peninsula, and were unaware of the existence of the Mamiya Strait or Strait of Tartary, which was discovered in 1809 by Mamiya Rinzo. Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin (Russian: Иван Юрьевич Москвитин) (? - ?) was a Russian explorer, a Tomsk Cossack. ... Lapérouse by François Rude (1784-1855), in 1828 Lapérouse Jean François Galaup, count (comte) de La Pérouse (August 23, 1741 - 1788) was a French naval officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania. ... Adam Johann Ritter von Krusenstern was an Estonian Baltic German who became a Russian admiral and explorer. ... Strait of Tartary (Gulf of Tartary, Gulf of Tatary, Tatar Strait, Tartar Strait, Strait of Tartar, also Mamiya Strait and Strait of Nevelskoi) strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia (South-East Russia), connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with the... Strait of Tartary (Gulf of Tartary, Gulf of Tatary, Tatar Strait, Tartar Strait, Strait of Tartar, also Chinese: 韃靼海峽 , Japanese: , Mamiya Strait and Strait of Nevelskoi) is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia (South-East Russia), connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on... Mamiya Rinzo (間宮林蔵 Mamiya Rinzō, c. ...

Japan unilaterally proclaimed sovereignty over the whole island in 1845. However, the Russian navigator Gennady Nevelskoy in 1849 definitively recorded the existence and navigability of this strait and — in defiance of Qing claim — Russian settlers established coal mines, administration facilities, schools, prisons, churches on the island. The Xiazhes were killed or forced to move to the Asian mainland. Gennadi Nevelskoi (November 23 (O.S.) = December 5 (N.S.), 1813, Drakino, Soligalichsky District, Kostroma Oblast – April 17 (O.S.) = April 29 (N.S.), 1876, St. ... A family of Russian settlers in the Caucasus region, ca. ...

In 1855, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimoda, which declared that both nationals could inhabit the island: Russians in the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clear boundary between. Russia also agreed to dismantle its military base at Ootomari. Following the Opium War, Russia forced the Qing to sign the Treaty of Aigun and Convention of Peking, under which China lost all territories north of Heilongjiang (Amur) and east of Ussuri, including Sakhalin, to Russia. A Czarist penal colony was established in 1857, but the southern part of the island was held by the Japanese until the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, when they ceded it to Russia in exchange for the Kuril islands. After the Russo-Japanese War, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Portsmouth of 1905, which resulted in the southern part of the island below 50° N reverting to Japan; the Russians retained the other three-fifths of the area. South Sakhalin was administrated by Japan as Karafuto-chō (樺太庁), with the capital Toyohara, today Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The Treaty of Shimoda was signed between the Russian Admiral Efimii Vasilevich Putiatin and Toshiakira Kawaji of Japan in the city of Shimoda, Japan, on February 7th, 1855. ... There were two Opium Wars between Britain and China. ... The Treaty of Aigun was the Russian-Chinese treaty that established the modern borders of the Russian Far East. ... The Convention of Peking (October 18, 1860), also known as the First Convention of Peking, was a treaty between the Qing Government of China and the British Empire, and between China and France, and China and Russia. ... Heilongjiang (Simplified Chinese: 黑龙江省; Traditional Chinese: 黑龍江省; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Postal System Pinyin: Heilungkiang) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. ... The Amur River (Russian: Амур; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: , or Black Dragon River; Mayan; Mongolian: Хара-Мурэн, Khara-Muren or Black River; Manchu: Sahaliyan Ula, literal meaning Black River) is Earths eighth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria in China. ... The Ussuri River (Chinese: Wūsūlǐ Jīang 乌苏里江, Russian: река Уссури) is a river in south east Russia, flowing north, forming part of the Chinese border, to the Amur River. ... Tsar, (Bulgarian цар�, Russian царь; often spelled Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. ... A Penal Colony is a colony used to detain prisoners and generally use them for penal labor in an economically underdeveloped part of the states (usually colonial) territories, and on a far larger scale than the prison farm. ... The Treaty of Saint Petersburg was signed in 1875 between Japan and Russia. ... The Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands (Russian: Кури́льские острова́), also known as Kurile Islands, stretch northeast from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kamchatka, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. ... Combatants Imperial Russia Empire of Japan Commanders N/A N/A Strength 500,000 Soldiers 400,000 Soldiers Casualties 134,817+ KIA/POW, 170,000 MIA etc. ... The Russian and Japanese delegates around the negotiating table at the Portsmouth Navy Yard St The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. ... Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Ю́жно-Сахали́нск) is a city in Sakhalin, Russia, administrative center of the Sakhalin Oblast. ...

In August 1945, the Soviet Union took over the control of Sakhalin. The Soviet attack on South Sakhalin started on August 11, 1945, about a month before the Surrender of Japan. The 56th Rifle Corps consisting of the 79th Rifle Division, the 2nd Rifle Brigade, the 5th Rifle Brigade and the 214 Armored Brigade attacked the Japanese 88th Division. Although the Red Army outnumbered the Japanese by three times, they couldn't advance due to strong Japanese resistance. It was not until the 113th Rifle Brigade and the 365th Independent Naval Infantry Rifle Battalion from Sovietskaya Gavan (Советская Гавань) landed on Tōrō (塔路), a seashore village of western Sakhalin on August 16 that the Soviets broke the Japanese defense line. Japanese resistance grew weaker after this landing. Actual fightings continued until August 21 and these fightings were petty. From August 22 to August 23, most of the remaining Japanese units announced truce. The Soviets completed the conquest of Sakhalin on August 25, 1945 by occupying the capital of Sakhalin, Toyohara. Japanese sources claim that 20,000 civilians were killed during the invasion. August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The surrender of Japan in August 1945 brought World War II to a close. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

Since January 2, 1947, the Sakhalin Region, in its present form, was officially defined and integrated as a part of Russia. The Japanese who had been living there before mostly repatriated to Japan, but at least one-third of Koreans were refused repatriation; stuck on the island, they and their descendants became known as the Sakhalin Koreans. January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Sakhalin Koreans trace their roots back to immigrants from Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces in the late 1930s and early 1940s. ...

On May 28, 1995, an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale occurred, killing 2,000 people of the town of Neftegorsk. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the natural seismic phenomenon. ... The Richter magnitude test scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... Neftegorsk (Нефтего́рск) was an oil-producing town in eastern Russia devastated on May 28, 1995, by an earthquake measuring 7. ...

As per the 2002 census, 333 residents of the oblast still identified themselves as ethnic Japanese. Data on Ainu population is not available; "Ainu" may have been either included in the "Other" category or the Ainus may have identified themselves as "Japanese" during the census.

Law and government

The current governor is Ivan Malakhov. Ivan Pavlovich Malakhov is the governor of Sakhalin Oblast. ...

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Sakhalin Oblast

Cities and towns under the oblasts jurisdiction: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Южно-Сахалинск) (administrative center) with 2 selsovets under the citys jurisdiction. ...

External link

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sakhalin Oblast

• (Russian) Official website of Sakhalin Oblast.

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