(Japanese Karafuto) Island in the Pacific, N of Japan, that since 1947, with the Kurils, forms a region of Russia; capital Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Japanese Toyohara); area 74,000 sq km/28,564 sq mi; including aboriginal Ainu and Gilyaks. There are two parallel mountain ranges, rising to over 1,525 m/5,000 ft, which extend throughout its length, 965 km/600 mi.
The economy is based on dairy farming, leguminous crops, oats, barley, and sugar beet. In the milder south, there is also timber, rice, wheat, fish, some oil, and coal. The island was settled by both Russians and Japanese from the 17th century. In 1875 the south was ceded by Japan to Russia, but Japan regained it 1905, only to cede it again 1945. It has a missile base.
An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale hit the island May 1995; worst affected was the city of Neftegorsk, where many poorly constructed buildings of the Soviet era collapsed, crushing their inhabitants. + prikaži više