Okha () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative center An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Okhinsky District of

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

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Population:

Geography

Okha is located on the east coast of the far north of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

island, just south of the isthmus of the Schmidt Peninsula, approximately north of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, near the shoreline of the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...

History

It was founded shortly after the discovery of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

in the area in 1880, initially under the name ''Okhe''. The name is derived from an Ainu word meaning ''Bad Water''. Industrial exploitation of the petroleum reserves began in 1923, during the Japanese occupation of Sakhalin from 1920 to 1925. During this time the town was called or depending on Kanji used. Town status was granted to it in 1938.

Climate

The town suffered significant damage in the 1995 Neftegorsk earthquake that occurred on May 28, and was used as pivotal base for rescuers deployed to Neftegorsk, which was destroyed to the extent that it was not rebuilt. A number of survivors of Neftegorsk were later transferred to Okha. Another smaller earthquake hit the town on May 10, 2005, but there were no fatalities or significant damage.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Okha serves as the

of Okhinsky District and is subordinated to it.Law #25-ZO As a municipal division, the town of Okha and ten rural localities of Okhinsky District are incorporated as Okhinsky Urban Okrug.Law #524

Economy

Okha, along with the

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, is the center of Sakhalin's

industry. An oil pipeline and gas main runs from Okha to

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

on the Russian mainland. A number of oil wells exist in close proximity to the town, mainly controlled by the company

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and pet ...

. In 1920, during the Siberian Intervention, Japan occupied the northern part of Sakhalin Island, returning it to the Soviet Union in 1925 after the Treaty of Beijing was signed on January 20, 1925. However, Japan formed the state owned firm North Sakhalin Oil () which extracted oil from the OKHA Oil Field () near Okha on North Sakhalin from 1926 to 1944.

Transportation

The town is the northern end point for the island's road system. There was a rail connection to the island's narrow-gauge rail network at Nogliki; however, this was closed in 2006. There is an airport in Okha with service to

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Notable People

* Katya Clover - Erotic model (November 12, 1989)

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

* {{Use mdy dates, date=November 2012 Cities and towns in Sakhalin Oblast