Introduction to Sakhalin Island

Sakhalin Island (Russian: Сахалин; Japanese: 华太岛/からふと; English: Sakhalin), formerly known as Kuye, Kuwu, Guwei or Black Dragon Island. The Russian translation is "Sakhalin Island", and Japan calls it "North Ezo Land" (referring to the north of Hokkaido) or "Hua Tai". It is located in the northeastern region of China in history. It is now the largest island in the Russian Federation and is under the jurisdiction of the Sakhalin Oblast. Sakhalin Island is located east of the Heilongjiang outlet, facing the Sea of ??Okhotsk to the east and north, facing the mainland across the Tatar Strait to the west, and bordering Japan across the Soya Strait to the south. The terrain is long and narrow from north to south, covering an area of ??about 76,400 square kilometers. It is shaped like a fish and has more than 6,000 rivers and 1,600 lakes. It is rich in natural resources and products. On September 7, 1689, China and Russia signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk, which legally established that the vast areas in the Heilongjiang and Ussuri River basins, including Sakhalin Island, belonged to Chinese territory. In 1858, Russia forced China to cede Sakhalin through a series of unequal treaties such as the Treaty of Aihun and the Treaty of Beijing. In 1905, Japan obtained the area south of 50° north latitude of Sakhalin Island through the Treaty of Portsmouth, namely Nanhuatai. In 1905 and from 1918 to 1925, the entire territory of Sakhalin was ruled by Japan. In 1945, the Soviet Union launched Operation August Storm and occupied the entire Sakhalin Island. Japan gave up its sovereignty over Minamikarata (south of 50°N latitude) in the San Francisco Peace Treaty, but did not transfer it, so the southern part of the island is still a blank area on Japanese maps. Currently, all of Sakhalin is controlled by Russia.