Poronaysk (russian: Порона́йск; ja, 敷香町 ''Shisuka-chō''; Ainu: ''Sistukari'' or ''Sisi Tukari'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

Poronaysky District Poronaysky District (russian: Порона́йский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion) of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia; one of the seventeen in the oblast.Law #25-ZO As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Poronaysky Urban O ...

Sakhalin Oblast Sakhalin Oblast ( rus, Сахали́нская о́бласть, r=Sakhalínskaya óblast', p=səxɐˈlʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast) comprising the island of Sakhalin and the K ...

, Russia, located on the

Poronay River The Poronay (russian: Поронай, ja, 幌内川) is the longest river on the island of Sakhalin in Russia. It flows in a southerly direction through Tym, Smirnykhovsky and Poronaysky Districts. Geography The river begins on Mt. Nevel in th ...

north of

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ( rus, Ю́жно-Сахали́нск, a=Ru-Южно-Сахалинск.ogg, p=ˈjuʐnə səxɐˈlʲinsk, literally "South Sakhalin City") is a city on Sakhalin island, and the administrative center of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. I ...

. Population:

History

It was founded in 1869 as a Russian outpost Tikhmenevsky near the

Nivkh Nivkh or Amuric or Gilyak may refer to: * Nivkh people The Nivkh, or Gilyak (also Nivkhs or Nivkhi, or Gilyaks; ethnonym: Нивхгу, ''Nʼivxgu'' (Amur) or Ниғвңгун, ''Nʼiɣvŋgun'' (E. Sakhalin) "the people"), are an indigenous et ...

and Ainu settlements in the area. The

Treaty of Portsmouth A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

transferred it to Japanese control along with the rest of the southern half of the island of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

. It was renamed , it is said to mean " Sisi Tukari (in front of the mountain) " otherwise " Siika (big river) " in Ainu language , remaining under Japanese control until the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

retook the whole of the island in 1945. After the town had been granted to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, it was named Poronaysk in 1946, after the river on which it stands. The river's name is from Ainu ''poro nay'', meaning "broad river," "big river," or "growing river." Various Japanese place name Horonai (幌内) share the same etymology with Poronaysk.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Poronaysk serves as the

and is subordinated to it.Law #25-ZO As a municipal division, the town of Poronaysk, one

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

, and eleven rural localities of Poronaysky District are incorporated as Poronaysky Urban Okrug.Law #524

Economy

Poronaysk has a paper mill, as well as timber and fishing industries. ''Sakhalinskaya GRES'' power station is supplied with coal from an open cut mine close to the town.

Transportation

The town lies on the island's railway network, as well as on the main highway connecting Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky.

Climate

Poronaysk, owing to the cold

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

surrounding the town, has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

('' Dfc'') with short, mild and very foggy summers and very cold winters.

Sister city

Kitami is a Cities of Japan, city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri, Hokkaido, Abashiri. Kitami is physically in th ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, JapanThe Russian presence in Japan
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Notable people

Taihō Kōki , ''Ivan Boryshko''; May 29, 1940 – January 19, 2013, lead=yes was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He became the 48th '' yokozuna'' in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time. Kōki won 32 tournament championships be ...

, ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' *Svetlana "Lana" Yudina (라나), singer-songwriter currently based in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and China

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Sakhalin Oblast 1869 establishments in the Russian Empire