Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ( rus, Ю́жно-Сахали́нск, a=Ru-Южно-Сахалинск.ogg, p=ˈjuʐnə səxɐˈlʲinsk, literally "South Sakhalin City") is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

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: ...

island, 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 is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...

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

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. It is located in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The te ...

part of Russia, situated north of Japan. Gas and oil extraction as well as processing are amongst the main industries on the island. It was called Vladimirovka () from 1882 to 1905, then during its period of Imperial Japanese control from 1905 to 1946. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 181,728.

History

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk began as a small Russian settlement called Vladimirovka, founded by convicts in 1882.Южно-сахалинск - Исторический словарь - Словари и Энциклопедии
/ref> The Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905, which brought an end to the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904–1905, awarded the southern half of the

Island to Japan. Vladimirovka was renamed Toyohara (meaning "bountiful plain"), and was the prefect capital of the Japanese Karafuto Prefecture. During the Soviet–Japanese War within

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the city was captured by Soviet troops. Ownership of the city was transferred to the Soviet Union and it was renamed Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Town status was granted to it in 1946. File:Vladimirovka.gif, Early days of Vladimirovka File:Japanese SL D51-22.jpg, This Japanese D51 steam locomotive stands outside the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Railway Station File:Католическая церковь в Южно-Сахалинске. (1).JPG, Catholic church in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Administrative and municipal status

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the

of the

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom ...

.Law #25-ZO Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with ten rural localities, incorporated as the city of oblast significance of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is incorporated as Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Urban Okrug.

Economy and infrastructure

Due to significant investment from oil companies like ExxonMobil and Shell, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk has experienced substantial economic growth. Although this growth has primarily occurred in the northern part of the island, both companies maintain headquarters and residential complexes in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk itself. The demand for natural resources by the Japanese, Chinese, and

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 ...

ns has ensured continued prosperity in the foreseeable future for the entire island. There has been significant criticism, including from Presidential Envoy Kamil Iskhakov, that Sakhalin is not caring for its citizens. Despite sizable gas deposits and incoming investments from gas companies, the regional administration does not yet have plans for the installation of gas services on the island. The oblast also continues to have the highest rate of juvenile crime in all of Russia, and more than 40% of its businesses are unprofitable. One of the very few remaining Japanese buildings in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk now functions as the local museum. The building was designed in the Emperor's Crown Style by Japanese architect Yoshio Kaizuka, and completed in 1937. File:Downtown Yuzhno.jpg, Central part of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk File:Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Victory Day Parade (2019) 06.jpg, Victory Day in central part of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk File:Toyohara museum.jpg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk museum in Japanese days File:Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Museum July 2012.jpg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk museum in 2012 Мемориальный комплекс "Победа".jpg, Victory Memorial Complex

Transportation

The city hosts the head office of Aurora Airline, subsidiary of Aeroflot. it is served by the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport. The city is also the hub for the island's narrow gauge railway network that underwent conversion to Russian broad gauge in August 2019. In addition to railways, the town is also a hub for roadways, such as the A-391 (which travels south to Korsakov) and the A-392 (which travels west to Kholmsk). Due to restrictions, foreigners wishing to leave Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in order to travel to any other part of the Sakhalin Oblast and its internal and territorial waters are required to seek permission from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Border Guard. Scuba diving and recreating on the seacoast is permitted only in places defined by the Border Guard. Yuzhno Sakhalinsk train station.JPG,

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Railway Station Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway station (russian: Станция Южно-Сахалинск) is railway station of Sakhalin Railway in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. It belongs to the Far Eastern Railway. History This station wa ...

22090307285-yuzhno-sakhalinsk-airport-2015-russia.jpg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport Aurora_Airbus_A319_at_SVO.jpg, Airbus A319 of Aurora Airline Проспект Победы. Вид снизу. (1).JPG, Victory Avenue

Education

Institutes of elementary and middle education include

Sakhalin International School Sakhalin International School is an international primary school in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk sponsored by Shell. There are approximately 180 children between 3 and 13 years of age on roll. There are 29 nationalities represented in the parent communit ...

. Institutes of higher education in the city include

Sakhalin State University Sakhalin State University (Russian: Сахалинский государственный университет/ tr: ''Sakhalinskiy gosudarstvenn'iy universitet'') is a university located in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin. It maintains a sister schoo ...

and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Institute of Economics, Law and Informatics. There are also some branches of other universities: *Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk institute (branch) of Russian State trade-economics university *Branch of Far East State university of railways *Branch of Modern Academy of the humanities *Branch of The Pacific State economics university *Branch of Russian economics academy named after G.V. Plekhanov *Branch of Far East law institute

Sport

There exist numerous sport venues and clubs in Sakhalin.

FC Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk FC Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (russian: ФК Сахалин Южно-Сахалинск) is a Russian football club based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, that competes in the FNL 2, the third tier of Russian football. The club was founded as F ...

PSK Sakhalin PSK Sakhalin (Russian: ''ПСК «Сахалин»''), formerly known as HK Sakhalin and Sakhalin Sea Lions, was an ice hockey team based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. Sakhalin joined the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH) in 2014 and ...

, Vostok-65, Sakhalin Sharks,

for football, hockey, basketball, youth hockey and volleyball respectively. Mount Bolshevik provides the Gorny Vozdukh ("Mountain Air") ski resort which is qualified for international competitions. 2015-sakhalin-oji_eagles.jpg,

players in Crystal Ice Palace Spartak_Stadium_Yuzhno_Sakhalinsk.JPG, Spartak Stadium of

Горный воздух Южно-Сахалинске.JPG, Gorny Vozdukh ski resort Gondola_lift_to_Skiing_resorts_"Gorny_Vozdukh"_in_summer._Sakhalin,_Russia.jpg, Ski lifts of Gorny Vozdukh ski resort Арена-Сити. Южно-Сахалинск..JPG, Arena City Ice Palace

Mass media

Television

*3 - 1TV Russia *5 - Rossiya-24 ( Russia-24) *10- Rossiya-1 (Russia-1) *12 - ASTV (Alternative Sakhalin Television) *21 - The first multiplex digital TV DVB T2 *23 - Che *27 - Domashny / OTV (Sakhalin Regional Television) *30 - NTV Russia *33 - STS *35 - Ren-TV / Echo of Sakhalin *43 - Match TV Russia (ex. Russia-2) *46 - Petersburg–Channel 5 *49 - Rossiya-K (Russia-K) *51 - The second multiplex of digital TV DVB T2

Radio

*87,9 Autoradio (plan) *88,3 Retro FM *88,9

Radio Record Radio Record is a Russian radio station that broadcasts on 106.3 FM from Saint Petersburg. It airs an electronic dance music format with primarily trance and house offerings now expanded to variety of different genres including Rock, Deep House, ...

*89,9 Russian Radio *101,7

Radio Chanson Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

*102,5 Europa Plus *102,9

Humor FM Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

*103,5 Mayak *104,4 Love Radio *105,1

Radio Dacha Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tra ...

(plan) *105,5

Radio ASTV Radio is the technology of signaling and telecommunication, communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device ...

*106,0 Radio Rossii *106,5 Dorognoe Radio *107,2

Vesti FM Vesti FM (russian: Радиостанция «Вести ФМ») is a radio station based in Russia and owned by VGTRK. It started broadcasting on February 5, 2008, at 6:00 am Moscow Time. The station is included in the first multiplex of dig ...

Demographics

Population

Most residents are ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, but there also exists a sizable population of Korean Russians. Of the 43,000

Sakhalin Koreans Sakhalin Koreans are Russian citizens and residents of Korean descent living on Sakhalin Island, who can trace their roots to the immigrants from the Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces of Korea during the late 1930s and early 1940s, the latter ...

, half are estimated to live in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, comprising roughly 12% of the city's population. Also smaller numbers of indigenous minorities, such as

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

, Nivkhs and Oroks can be found.

Religion

The majority of the population are Russian Orthodox.

Geography and climate

The city is located on the Susuya River. It is the largest city on the island, and the only one with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The straight-line distance to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

is . The climate is humid continental ( Köppen ''Dfb'') with mild summers and cold winters. Maritime influences can be seen in that precipitation is much higher than in interior Russia and that summers are distinctly cooler than in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of th ...

or Irkutsk, while winters are much milder. Summers are frequently foggy, reducing the amount of sunshine. Considering its southerly maritime position winters are very cold, albeit warmer than expected for surrounding inland areas affected by the

Siberian High The Siberian High (also Siberian Anticyclone; russian: Азиатский антициклон (''Aziatsky antitsiklon'')) is a massive collection of cold dry air that accumulates in the northeastern part of Eurasia from September until April. It ...

. Snowfall is more frequent than in those areas, due to said maritime influence bringing moisture to the coastline. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is relatively sunny compared to

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

locations, but gloomy by the lower latitudes of the Russian Far East's standards.

Twin towns and sister cities

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Asahikawa, Japan * Hakodate, Japan * Wakkanai, Japan *

Yanji Yanji (; Chosŏn'gŭl: 연길, ''Yeon-gil;'' Hangul: 옌지, ''Yenji;'' alternately romanized as Yenki) is a county-level city in the east of China's Jilin Province, and is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Its population ...

, China * Ansan,

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
{{Use mdy dates, date=May 2011 Russian Far East 1882 establishments in the Russian Empire Imperial Crown Style architecture