Sakhalin

Oblast (region) in the Russian Far East; area 87,100 sq km/33,629 sq mi; population (1996) 648,000 (86% urban). Industries include oil and mineral extraction, fishing, and fish processing.

The oblast includes the island of Sakhalin, the Kuril Island chain, and the small island of Moneron, off the southwest coast of Sakhalin. There are mountain ranges running north-south on Sakhalin; the Kuril Islands are volcanic (many still active). Mineral deposits include sulphur, oil, coal, iron ore, uranium, and silver. Both Sakhalin and the Kurils are extensively forested. Cities include Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Korsakov (Sakhalin); and Kurilsk (Kurils).

The northern part of the oblast formed (from 1932) part of the Far Eastern (later Khabarovsk) krai (territory), while the southern part, annexed from Japan, became the South Sakhalin oblast in 1946. In 1947 the two were united.