Where is Sakhalin Island located on the map of Russia. Sakhalin Island - cities, history, attractions, photos of Sakhalin Island

23.09.2019

Sakhalin is the true end of the world, a place dominated by the mighty Pacific Ocean, breaking powerful waves against coastal rocks. The incredibly picturesque and distant island attracts adventure seekers who are not afraid of hardship and lack of civilization, but who appreciate the beauty of the wild and solitude.

At first glance, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a typical, unremarkable city with Soviet architecture and the absence of significant historical sights, but on the other hand, it is a real mix of cultures, traditions and dialects. Who is not here only: Japanese, Koreans, Americans, Russians. For exotic things, it is better to go to the local market, where you can buy seafood delicacies and plunge into the atmosphere of the busy port.

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What to see and where to go in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk?

The most interesting and beautiful places for walking. Photos and a short description.

Looking at the building of the local history museum, the question arises - what is it: the palace of the Japanese nobility, or is it still a place where expositions are exhibited? This is not surprising, since the structure was built in 1937 in the traditional teikan-zukuri style characteristic of the country. rising sun at the time when Sakhalin Island was under the jurisdiction of the Japanese authorities. The expositions of the museum are quite diverse, during the excursion you can learn about the nature, history of indigenous peoples, culture and development of the region.

Ski resort and sports complex, existing, according to one version, since the days of Karafuto prefecture (1905-45). Even then, people were skiing here and held ski jumping competitions. V Soviet time sports competitions were also held in the "Mountain Air", tourists from the union republics came here. After desolation in the 1990s and reconstruction in the 2000s, the resort has become one of the most modern in Russia.

The central city square with a characteristic landscape: a monument to Lenin, administrative buildings, a railway station, a fountain and paving stones. During the holidays, it becomes the main place for festivities and the organization of all kinds of events. On weekends, the townspeople stroll here, foreign tourists visit it as part of sightseeing tour... In summer, the square turns into a rather pleasant and picturesque place.

The square is a memorial complex erected in honor of the liberation of Sakhalin from the Japanese invaders in 1945. It was built in the 1980s. The ensemble includes a monument to Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky, two sculptural groups depicting a soldier and sailors, a stele " Eternal glory Heroes ”, the Eternal Flame, the Walk of Fame with 14 busts of heroes installed and a memorial in honor of the soldiers who died during the Afghan and Chechen wars. Also on the square are samples of military equipment.

The complex opened in 2016 in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Victory. It is a square and a building of a cultural and educational center, where historical expositions dedicated to the Russian-Japanese and World War II, a conference hall and a cinema are located on 3 floors. The square is located next to a temple under construction, which in the future will also be included in the memorial complex.

The museum was opened in 2004 on the territory of the House of Culture of Railwaymen. Its exposition covers the period from the beginning of the 20th century, when railways began to be built on Sakhalin. Visitors can see models of cars, rails in section, various devices and equipment used to organize the movement, the uniform of the driver and the station attendant. Under open air hosted real railroad technology.

On the territory of the Sakhalin region, the city art gallery is the only museum of this kind. In addition, it is quite young (it was founded in the 1980s). On the first floor of the museum, temporary vernissages are held, on the second, permanent exhibitions are available for inspection: "Russian art of the 19th - early 20th century", "Decorative and applied art of Japan", " Modern Art Korea ".

The museum is dedicated to a very specific event - A.P. Chekhov's trip to Sakhalin in 1890, following which he wrote a whole book. But, contrary to expectations, his collection is quite diverse: paintings, graphics, documents, photographic materials, coins, decorative and applied art products. There are even personal belongings of members of the Chekhov family and various items that belonged to the exiles (in the 19th century Sakhalin was a convict island).

The main dramatic scene of the island, formed in the 1930s. The name of the writer was given to her in 1954. In addition to performances, a stormy theatrical activity is organized here: festivals, creative laboratories, various cultural projects, competitions. The repertoire is dominated by plays by contemporary authors, although there are also classical productions. An interesting program for children is also presented.

The theater was created in 1981 thanks to a team of enthusiasts. At first, the performances were held in the rented premises of the sports club, until 2011 the stage shared the space with the pension center, then moved to a new building. The theater often hosts groups from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large Russian cities as well as from abroad. The Sakhalin Puppet Theater hosts the On Islands of Miracles festival.

The new cathedral of the city, erected in 2015 to replace the old one, which, due to its small size, could not accommodate everyone. The cathedral was created in the Novgorod style: five domes placed on a quadrangle and facades ending in symmetrical arches. The building is constructed from Indian red marble and granite as well as regular white marble. The outer walls are decorated with mosaics created in Jerusalem.

The first cathedral church of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, erected in the 1990s. For quite a long time, no Christian churches were built on Sakhalin, since from the beginning of the 20th century the island belonged to Japan, and from 1945 it became part of the USSR, which was zealously fighting religion. The revival of temple construction on Sakhalin happened just in the 1990s. A large part of the funds for the work was donated by the townspeople.

One of the largest zoos in the Far East, founded in 1993. More than 170 species of animals (500 individuals) live in it, of which dozens are listed in the Red Books of Russia and the world. The rarest representatives of the fauna: Ussuri bear, African lion, vulture turtle, raccoon dog, Amur tiger, Far Eastern leopard and other rare and endangered species.

The city park grew out of a small garden that existed in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 1906. Naturally, it was decorated in a Japanese style with a characteristic harmonious combination of natural space, plenty of water and landscape design elements. After Sakhalin became part of the USSR, the territory was modernized, adding attractions, a dance floor and sports zones. In 1981, the park was practically destroyed by typhoon "Willis", later it was recreated from ruins.

The height of Chekhov's peak is over 1000 meters, it is one of the highest on the island. During the rule of the Japanese, a temple house was built on the top, which is still there. A tourist trail leads up the mountain, in some places equipped with ropes and marked with signs. Rare animals live on the slopes of the peak, in some places there are thickets of bamboo and dwarf birch.

Remnant Frog - natural place the forces of the island, where the representatives of the indigenous people of the Ainu performed their mysterious rites. It is located about 20 km from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk near the village of Vestochka. The frog is included in the list of the “seven wonders of Sakhalin”, it is considered a local “good gin”. The Ayichka river flows nearby. People believe that its waters have medicinal properties.

Natural reservoir with clean clear water, the second largest on the island. This is a unique natural monument and a place of attraction for fishing enthusiasts (about 30 species of commercial fish live in the lake, including valuable salmon species). In summer, lush greenery blooms around, in early autumn a rich harvest of berries ripens on the banks. Tunaycha connects with the Sea of Okhotsk through a narrow strait.

One of the most beautiful places coast, which is covered with green grass coastal cliffs. On the edge of the cape, nature has created bizarre stone arches, which were chosen by loud gulls. There is a narrow strip of sandy beach next to the rock. If you manage to get here in July-August, you can witness an amazing natural phenomenon- spawning of Pacific salmon.

Cape Crillon is the southernmost point of Sakhalin, named after a French general. It is quite difficult to get here off-road, but the magnificent nature is worth it. There is rarely good weather on the cape, as the cold current joins here. Sea of Okhotsk with the warm current of the Tatar Strait. Rare visitors are greeted by stormy winds and rain, which really gives the feeling that this place is a real end of the Earth.

The narrow and rocky Cape Aniva is located in the southeastern part of Sakhalin. It resembles a huge stone ship, with difficulty overcoming the raging waters of the Pacific Ocean. In the 1930s, under the leadership of a Japanese architect, a lighthouse was built on the rocks to somehow reduce the number of wrecked ships. A little later, a village appeared nearby. Currently, the facility and settlement are abandoned.

Sakhalin makes an indelible impression on the traveler. It is enough to look at the photos of these places, you fall in love with this amazing land in absentia, the local landscapes are so beautiful. There are sights that are historical heritage, but the main wealth of the Sakhalin region is its natural monuments.

The regional museums of the region display expositions reflecting the life of the indigenous peoples. In addition, here you can see exhibitions dedicated to the modern culture of the countries of the East, walk around Chekhov's places. Of course, interesting is the museum of railway equipment in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which, by right, is considered one of the most visited attractions in the region.

The museum is interesting, first of all, for its unique technology, as well as for the narrow-gauge railway, which has no analogues in the whole world: its track width is 1067 mm. and it is fully operational. So part of the museum's collection is located right in the open air. Here you can see a variety of carriages, mini-steam locomotives of the 30s of the XX century, and other old equipment.

Interesting are also such island rarities as the old branch of the railway, located between Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Kholmsk, or the narrow-gauge Nogliki-Okha railway, which operates to this day in the north of Sakhalin, and other monuments of the heritage of the Karafuto governorate, as well as lighthouses from centuries of history, an unusual tunnel in the form of a broken line on Cape Jonkier, not far from Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, laid in solid rocky ground by convicts, parking ancient man and much more.

However, the greatest interest is caused not by man, but by nature itself. A place that any tourist wants to see is a tiny piece of land in the Sea of Okhotsk east of Sakhalin, which is marked on all maps of the world as Tyuleniy Island. There is a unique rookery here fur seals, you can see such an accumulation of these sea animals only here and near the Commander Islands in the USA. And although no ship has the right to approach the protected area closer than 30 miles, and aircraft are prohibited from flying over this place, you can get here on an excursion.

The sights of Sakhalin include its thermal springs: Lesogorskie (near the village of Lesogorsk, along the river Lesogorka), Lunskie (on the Lunsky Bay, in the isthmus area), Daginskie (in the village of Goryachy Klyuchi, half a kilometer from the Nogliki - Okha highway).

In the Krasnogorsk region you can see a grove of relict yews, not far from the village of Vakhrushev, admire the amazingly beautiful waterfall of the Nituy River, stone statues, similar to idols from Easter Island on Cape Stukabis or rocky arches of Cape Velikan, and not far from the settlements of Staradubskoye and Vzmorye to pick up Sakhalin amber of the color of thick tea with a cherry tint, which is not inferior in quality to the Baltic ones.

Of course, these are not all the wonders of Sakhalin, which these lands are so generously endowed with. You just can't tell everything. Perhaps the last thing I would like to mention is salmon spawning, which is also one of the main natural attractions of the Sakhalin Region. Anyone who has never seen how stubbornly this sea fish goes to spawning grounds, jumping over rapids and overcoming waterfalls, streams flowing into the ocean, will be extremely interesting to observe this amazing natural phenomenon.

This region is a real pearl of Russia, which attracts travelers from all over the world with its beauty. The sights of Sakhalin are very diverse and interesting, and therefore worth seeing. The main one is the magnificent nature, against the background of which a person seems only a small cog in the grandiose picture of the universe.

There is an island in the ocean ...

Before describing the sights of Sakhalin, let's pay a little attention to the island itself. It is located in the Far East and is the largest in our country. Its shores are washed by the Sea of Japan and Okhotsk, La Perouse and Tatar.

Since the moment Sakhalin became part of Russian Empire, it became a place of exile and hard labor. The Soviet Union continued the same tradition. But it is not only the dark past that attracts tourists. The fantastic nature of Sakhalin is what you should come here for! Healing mineral springs, ski resorts and numerous museums with unique expositions will reward the traveler who has overcome the difficult road.

Rest on Sakhalin

Natural wonders are the main attractions of Sakhalin. First of all, I would like to mention Mount Vaidu and its cave. The summit itself is low - only 900 meters above sea level, but in its depths you can see real wonders, including stalactites and stalagmites.

Healing mud and mineral springs are the pride of the island. For example, under the capital there is the Sinegorsk spring with a rare kind of natural mineral waters. They are suitable for the treatment of radiation sickness, disorders of cellular metabolism, ailments of the hematopoietic organs.

Daginsky thermal springs are shown to people suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system and skin ailments. These objects are also a natural monument. Just imagine: against the backdrop of an amazing landscape, a picturesque reservoir is steaming, in which swans swim.

Skin diseases are successfully treated in balneological health resorts located on the shores of the Tatar Strait.

On the outskirts of the capital of the island there is a ski resort "Mountain Air". It has ten kilometers of modern, well-equipped tracks of various difficulty levels, a snow park, and a chute for tubing lovers in its territories. The resort also has a gondola chairlift and a drag lift.

The island capital and its museums

Many sights of Sakhalin are located near the island capital. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the main one in Russia, which is completely based on the islands (there are already 59 of them). The city stands on the banks of the Susuya River in the Susunai Valley, at the foot of the Russian Mountain.

The capital was founded in 1882. Today it is unique modern city, in which life is in full swing. The most famous museums of Sakhalin can be found here. This is the Local History Museum, which will tell the visitor the history of the settlement of the island, tell about the indigenous people, about the flora and fauna, about the war with Japan. The building was erected in the teikan style and has a flat roof of tiles, skylights, windows in the ceiling, and kazari.

The Sakhalin Regional Art Museum is located in the center of the city. There are many rich and diverse expositions, and in addition, within the walls of the institution you can visit concerts, music and poetry evenings. Of particular interest are also the Museum of Railway Engineering and the City Literary and Art Museum of A.P. Chekhov's books.

There are emerald parks in the city, a memorial to the fallen soldiers with an eternal flame. City Park of Culture and Leisure - favorite place recreation of the inhabitants of the capital. It has a lake, lush flower beds, green lawns, benches, a children's railway, a tennis court and the Cosmos stadium. In 1995, the Resurrection Cathedral was built in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Some more useful information

Natural monuments of Sakhalin will not leave indifferent any of the travelers. What are the rocky arches of Cape Velikan on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, the hard-to-reach Cape Aniva with the abandoned lighthouse of the same name, Mount Spamberg with unique mountain lakes on the plateau (eighteen pieces), the Three Brothers rocks, the Devil's Bridge. The nature of Sakhalin is so beautiful that the inhabitants of these places composed legends that could explain its incredible beauty.

How to get there?

You can get to the island either by air or by sea - there is no land connection with the mainland on Sakhalin. The airport of the capital receives domestic and international flights. There are small air stations in the cities of Nogliki, Okha, Shakhtersk and the village of Zonalnoe. If the traveler decides to get here by water, then he should head to the Vanino - Kholmsk ferry crossing, which operates every day throughout the year. And the village of Vanino, located on the mainland, can be reached by train.

Go to the fabulous Sakhalin Island - and you will fall in love with it once and for all!

The museum is interesting, first of all, for its unique equipment, as well as for the narrow-gauge railway, which has no analogues in the whole world: its track gauge is 1067 mm, and it is fully operational. So part of the museum's collection is located right in the open air. Here you can see a variety of carriages, mini-steam locomotives of the 30s of the XX century, and other old equipment.

Interesting are also such island rarities as the old branch of the main railway located between Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Kholmsk, or the narrow-gauge railway Nogliki-Okha, which operates to this day in the north of Sakhalin, and other monuments of the heritage of the Karafuto governorship, as well as lighthouses with a century-old history, an unusual tunnel in the form of a broken line at Cape Jonkier, not far from Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, laid in solid rocky ground by convicts, an ancient man's camp and much more.

However, the greatest interest is caused not by man, but by nature itself. A place that any tourist wants to see is a tiny piece of land in the Sea of Okhotsk east of Sakhalin, which is marked on all maps of the world as Tyuleniy Island. There is a unique rookery of fur seals, you can see such an accumulation of these sea animals only here and near the Commander Islands in the USA. And although no ship has the right to approach the protected area closer than 30 miles, and aircraft are prohibited from flying over this place, you can get here on an excursion.

The sights of Sakhalin include its thermal springs: Lesogorskie (near the village of Lesogorsk, along the Lesogorka river), Lunskie (on the Lunsky Bay, in the isthmus region), Daginskie (in the village of Goryachy Klyuchi, half a kilometer from the Nogliki-Okha highway).

In the Krasnogorsk region, you can see a grove of relict yews, not far from the village of Vakhrusheva, admire the amazingly beautiful waterfall of the Nituy River, marvel at huge stone statues similar to idols from Easter Island on Cape Stukabis or rock arches of Cape Velikan, and not far from the villages of Staradubskoe and Vzmor Sakhalin amber of the color of thick tea with a cherry tint, which is not inferior in quality to the Baltic amber.

mountain Sister Sakhalin Island

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT SAKHALIN

Sakhalin is the largest island in Russia, washed by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan, separated from the mainland by the narrow Tatar Strait and the Nevelskoy Strait, and from the island of Hokkaido by the La Perouse Strait.

Until the 19th century, the status of Sakhalin was not defined. For the first time it was secured to Russia by the St. Petersburg Treaty of 1875, according to which the island of Sakhalin was transferred to Russia, and the northern Kuril Islands became the property of Japan.

Immediately after the conclusion of this treaty, tsarist Russia identified Sakhalin as a place of exile and hard labor for criminals. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War and the signing of the Portsmouth Treaty, Japan received South Sakhalin, but in 1920 the Japanese occupation of Northern Sakhalin began, which lasted until 1925. After the end of World War II, the entire territory of Sakhalin Island was incorporated into the USSR.

Sakhalin attracts tourists primarily for its unique nature... Mount Vaida (900 meters above sea level) and Vaidia cave - unique natural complex... In the cave, you can admire the bizarre stalactites and stalagmites and other wonders.

In addition to its healing properties, Daginsky thermal springs are also a unique natural monument. This is a very unusual sight - the ponds outgoing by the ferry, in which wild swans swim, surrounded by pristine nature.

Sakhalin is famous for its mineral springs and curative mud. Near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk there is a unique mineral spring Sinegorsk of carbonic bicarbonate-chloride sodium water with a high arsenic content. This rare type of natural mineral water is used in the treatment of diseases with impaired cellular metabolism and radiation sickness. Procedures with carbonic-arsenic waters and for the treatment of hematopoietic organs are used.

On the shores of the Tatar Strait there are balneological health resorts using sea silt sulphide mud. This mud is used to treat slow healing ulcers and other skin diseases of various origins.

The Daginsky thermal springs of Sakhalin treat such serious diseases of the musculoskeletal system as arthrosis, arthritis, polyarthritis, neuritis, sciatica, osteochondrosis, as well as most skin diseases.

On the eastern outskirts of the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk there is a modern, well-equipped ski resort "Mountain Air". About 10 kilometers of ski slopes different categories difficulty is laid along the slopes of Mount Bolshevik. A modern snow park has been built for snowboarders, equipped with jumps and rails, and a special chute has been arranged for tubing lovers. The slopes are equipped with a drag lift and a gondola-chair lift.

Burunnaya Bay Sakhalin Island

GEOGRAPHY OF SAKHALIN ISLAND, WHERE IT IS, HOW TO GET THERE

Sakhalin (Japanese 樺太， Chinese 库页 / 庫頁) is an island off the east coast of Asia. It is part of the Sakhalin Region. Largest island Russia. It is washed by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. It is separated from mainland Asia by the Tatar Strait (in the narrowest part, the Nevelskoy Strait, it is 7.3 km wide and freezes in winter); from the Japanese island of Hokkaido - by the La Perouse Strait.

The island got its name from the Manchu name of the Amur River - "Sakhalyan-ulla", which means "Black River" - this name, printed on the map, was mistakenly attributed to Sakhalin, and in further editions of maps it was printed as the name of the island.

The Japanese call Sakhalin Karafuto, this name goes back to the Ainu "kamui-kara-puto-ya-mosir", which means "the land of the god of the mouth." In 1805, a Russian ship under the command of I.F.Kruzenshtern explored most coast of Sakhalin and concluded that Sakhalin is a peninsula. In 1808, Japanese expeditions led by Matsuda Denzuro and Mamiya Rinzo proved that Sakhalin was an island. Most European cartographers were skeptical about the Japanese data. For a long time, on different maps, Sakhalin was designated either an island or a peninsula. Only in 1849 did the expedition under the command of GI Nevelskoy put an end to this issue, passing on the Baikal military transport ship between Sakhalin and the mainland. This strait was later named after Nevelskoy.

The island stretches meridionally from Cape Crillon in the south to Cape Elizabeth in the north. The length is 948 km, the width is from 26 km (Poyasok Isthmus) to 160 km (at the latitude of the village of Lesogorskoye), the area is 76.4 thousand km².

Tikhaya Bay Sakhalin Island

TOURISM IN SAKHALIN

Sakhalin Tourism

The tourist potential of the Sakhalin Oblast is enormous, although not fully exploited. The island of Sakhalin and the Kuriles itself is a treasury of the Far Eastern nature. And the stake on tourism, which is being made today by local authorities and business representatives, will bring it to one of the leading positions in the economy of the islands.

The area is primarily of interest to Japanese tourists, which is due to the presence of natural and historical resources. As for the infrastructure, it is poorly developed. Nevertheless, at the beginning of 2011, 57 travel companies operated in the region, of which 34 were tour operators and 23 travel agents.

The Sakhalin Region is an attractive territory for the development of ecotourism. True, most travel companies are still focused on outbound tourism... 90% of those entering are Japanese citizens who require a high level of comfort from accommodation, transport, information services, which is not inferior to the Japanese. Therefore, today many hotels in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk strive to provide high quality services in terms of safety, sanitation and comfort. Many restaurants operating in hotels offer a menu, including oriental cuisine, and even a separate Japanese one.

In addition, with the assistance of the regional administration, a number of measures were carried out at the expense of investors, the purpose of which is to support and develop the tourism industry. As part of the work to preserve the monuments of Japanese culture, an action was carried out to improve the territory of the former treasury of the Karafuto jinja temple.

Sakhalin Energy, together with the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Sakhalin Region, implemented a project to arrange an ecological route to Chekhov Peak. The construction of a tourist complex in the village. Hot Springs of the Nogliki District. Landscaping carried out tourist base"Aquamarine" (the village of Lesnoye, Korsakovsky district). The issue of construction of a tourist complex on the territory of Lesogorsk thermal mineral springs is being discussed. A catalog of investment proposals in the field of tourism has been formed, including a proposal for the development of beach areas in the Sakhalin region.

And finally, now in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a megaproject is being carried out to create the Sakhalin City Center, which will globally change the focus in the tourism sector, because investors expect that upon completion of the project, Sakhalin will become tourist mecca, and it is inbound tourism that will generate income.

natural rock arch at Cape Kuznetsov

Today in the Sakhalin region one of the best ski resorts in the region. For this type of recreation, the Sakhalin winter provides excellent opportunities. In the south of the island, abundant snow cover lasts an unusually long time (up to 6 months), not only in medium-high mountain peaks but also in the valleys - perfectly in line with the standards of Olympic winter outdoor sports. If desired, skiers can extend the season for a couple of months on the slopes of the highest Sakhalin mountain, Lopatin, which is located in the middle of the island.

A wide variety of recreational routes with visits to thermal springs in different parts of the region, where you can take advantage of unique healing mineral waters and muds that meet a wide range of medical needs, ranging from gastrotherapy, neuropathology, to severe skin diseases and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

Some travel agencies are already ready to provide the most interesting entertainment and sports programs. This is water tourism, with rowing on kayaks, rafting and catamarans, sea travel on yachts, and autotourism, and the most interesting hiking routes across Sakhalin and the Kuriles, and helicopter trips to completely inaccessible corners of the Sakhalin region.

Well, and exotic. Unique geological natural monuments, an abundance and variety of seafood, racing on relict reindeer sleds and supermodern snowmobiles, bear hunting, professional fishing, all kinds of water activities, visiting rookeries of sea animals and much more.

Sea of Okhotsk

ROUTES IN SAKHALIN

Sakhalin Island Routes

Sakhalin land is beautiful and amazing, there are so many interesting things here that you can fall in love with it in absentia. It is difficult to tell about everything, but it is easy to imagine how difficult the choice of a tourist is, because you want to see as much as possible. And this despite the fact that the tourism sector is not fully developed here, especially the Kuril Islands, which are part of the Sakhalin Region. The routes are very different, from quite budgetary ones to striking in their cost and scope of ideas, like trips by helicopter to the South Kuriles or along Sakhalin, for example, to the lake "Upper" of the Spamberg Mountain, which has no connection with the outside world.

Quite expensive tours include bear hunting and deer hunting. However, most are classified as ecological tourism, including fishing, berry picking, diving, boat trips on the lakes.

LLC "Imperial Tour" is ready to take you to the Dolinka River on an all-terrain vehicle, to Lake Ainskoye on a GAZ-66 car, to assist in trips to the Kura River and Lake Ptichye.

Travel company LLC "Moguchi" offers routes for corporate recreation, in particular, delivery to the hard-to-reach Sakhalin peninsula - Cape Krillon. The rocky islands of Hirano, the seal rookery, visits to historical sites (Cape Kanabeyev, the Hochemina trail, old Japanese bridges, grottoes), numerous waterfalls and weeping rocks await vacationers here. The huntsman-guide will demonstrate how commercial fishing for pink salmon goes, then he will show how to cook five-minute red caviar in field conditions, Sakhalin fish soup, pink salmon baked in burdocks. I must say that seafood and fish will always be present on your table, regardless of the direction of the path that you choose.

The company organizes trips to the north of Sakhalin, to its Okha region, where you can hunt bears, fur-bearing animals and feathered game, go fishing and just watch local birds and animals. From here you will certainly bring unique photographs.

Intour-Sakhalin offers a number of interesting routes. The 50th Parallel program is a trip to the Japanese places of the island. The route begins in Korsakov, then tourists visit lakes Tunaicha and Chastichivoe, Poronaysk, the former border between the USSR and Japan, the so-called 50th Parallel, the settlements of Pobedino, Smirnykh, the city of Kholmsk.

The company organizes the route Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - Tikhaya Bay, with a stop in Vzmorye and a visit to a Japanese temple. The Intur-Sakhalin arsenal has many one-day programs: a tour to the Mogutan mud volcano in the Pugachevo settlement and a geological monument in the vicinity of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, nicknamed the "frog" for its shape; excursion around the territory of the Yuzhno-Sakhalin ski resort; Boat trip to Cape Vindis and Cape Kuznetsov, on the slopes of the sea terraces of which countless cormorants, gulls, guillemots nest, and where all year round you can see sea lions and seals. In the form of one-day routes, you can get acquainted with other sights of Sakhalin (Moneron Island, Cape Velikan, Cape Krillon).

In winter, for those wishing to rest in Nekrasovka (Nogliki district of Sakhalin) with sleigh rides in a dog sled through Cape Tatyana to Moskalev and back.

In summer, a 6-day route to the Susunai Valley is good for recreation (Lake Tunaicha, fishing on the Komissarovka River, in the vicinity of the village of Pervaya Pad and on Teplye Lakes, as well as a visit to Cape Svobodny on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk). Sakhalin island

In the south of the island, Intur-Sakhalin offers to climb the Bolshevik mountain by cable-gondola, climb Chekhov's peak, relax on Lake Tunaicha and the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk and go to Starodubskoye to get acquainted with the collection site of amber, which the sea throws on the shore after the storm.

The route "Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - Nogliki" includes a visit to the village of Goryachy Klyuchi, near which healing hot springs are located. The concert of the folklore ensemble "Nivkhinka" adds an exotic touch to the trip.

Recreational routes include a trip to Sinegorsk, which is famous for its mineral springs and the sanatorium "Sinegorskie mineral water". Water from these springs is also used in medical institutions in Dolinsk.

There are routes for outdoor enthusiasts. One of them is the conquest of Mount Lopatin (1609 m).

As part of a 9-day tour Travel Company"Mishka Tour" offers a walking tour to an extraordinary beautiful monument nature - the Zhdanko ridge. Accompanied by qualified guides and certified rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, you can go on a speleological tour to the caves of Mount Vaida or climb the 20-meter Khomutovsky rocks, climb Peak Smely, take an ice-climbing course on the unusually beautiful icefalls of the Zhdanko Ridge. Each participant of the excursion receives special equipment, undergoes mandatory instructions and learns to work with a rope, at heights and in caves. The head of the route always has a means for scaring away animals (flares), radio stations, a satellite phone, a first aid kit, and rescue equipment.

An extreme tour in the Dolinsky region involves a rope crossing over a roaring threshold of a mountain river and a deep canyon. You will have the opportunity to walk around the area and see places of unique beauty.

Also, with experienced instructors of the travel agency, you can dive in the area of Cape Juno or in the place of sea lion rookery in the area of Nevelsk to observe the life of these animals under water, explore the seabed near the village of Prigorodnoye (Snorkeling), see gray whales from the Piltun Cape lighthouse, challenge Sakhalin lakes, having mastered kayaking.

For fans of extreme sports, a one-day rafting along the upper reaches of the Krasnoarmeyka River, with the passage of the Bykovsky rapids, one of the most difficult and most beautiful in the south of Sakhalin. Another extreme route is a 3-day rafting on catamarans along Lutoga. Each participant of the excursion is provided with quality equipment. At other times and in a different way, you can come to the upper reaches of the Lyutoga to watch salmon spawning.

In addition, "Mishka Tour" provides one-day boat trips along hard-to-reach capes and bays off the western coast of the Tonino-Anivsky peninsula, along the ancient volcanoes of the Zhdanko ridge, a trip to Cape Burunny, to Cape Kuznetsov.

The Ostrov travel agency specializes in fishing and hunting tours. It offers its clients routes to the bays of Nyisky and Nabil, to the rivers Dagi, Tym, Lyutoga, Poronai, rafting on the Evay River with fishing in Chayvo Bay, hunting in the central and southern parts of the island.

With the Travel Company LLC "Island Journey" Sivuch "you can see the most beautiful waterfalls of the island. Visit the shore of the waterfalls at Cape Bird, admire the Uyunovsky and Aikhor waterfalls, as well as the waterfall on Olkhovatka, go to the Imperial Lake.

Island Noticeable, Tikhaya Bay

SAKHALIN ISLAND RELIEF

The relief of the island is composed of medium-high mountains, low mountains and low-lying plains. The southern and central parts of the island are characterized by mountainous relief and consist of two meridionally oriented mountain systems - the West Sakhalin (up to 1327 m high - Mount Onor) and the East Sakhalin mountains (up to 1609 m high - the city of Lopatin), separated by the longitudinal Tym- Poronaiskaya lowland. The north of the island (with the exception of the Schmidt Peninsula) is a gentle, hilly plain.

The shores of the island are weakly indented; large bays - Aniva and Terpeniya (wide open to the south) are located in the southern and middle parts of the island, respectively. The coastline has two large bays and four peninsulas.

The following 11 regions are distinguished in the relief of Sakhalin:

The Schmidt Peninsula (about 1.4 thousand km ²) is a mountainous peninsula on far north islands with steep, sometimes steep shores and two meridional ridges - Western and Eastern; highest point- Town of Three Brothers (623 m); connected with the North Sakhalin plain by the Okha isthmus, the width of which at its narrowest point is just over 6 km;

The North Sakhalin Plain (about 28 thousand km ²) is a gently hilly area south of the Schmidt Peninsula with a widely ramified river network, weakly expressed watersheds and separate low mountain ranges, stretching from the Baikal Bay in the north to the confluence of the Nysh and Tymisha rivers in the south point - Daakhuria town (601 m); The northeastern coast of the island stands out as a sub-area, which is characterized by large lagoons (the largest are Piltun, Chayvo, Nyisky, Nabilsky, Lunsky bays), separated from the sea by narrow strips of alluvial spits, dunes, low sea terraces - in this sub-area and the main Sakhalin oil and gas fields are located on the adjacent shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk;

The West Sakhalin Mountains stretch for almost 630 km from the latitude with. Hoe (51º19 "N) in the north to the Krillon Peninsula in the extreme south of the island; the average width of the mountains is 40-50 km, the largest (at the latitude of Cape Lamanon) is about 70 km; the axial part is formed by Kamyshovy (north of the Poyasok Isthmus) and South Kamyshovy Ridges;

The Tym-Poronayskaya lowland is located in the middle part of the island and is a hilly-ridged lowland stretching for about 250 km in the meridional direction - from the Terpeniya Bay in the south to the confluence of the Tym and Nysh rivers in the north; the maximum width (up to 90 km) reaches at the mouth of the Poronai River, the minimum (6-8 km) - in the valley of the Tym River; in the north it passes into the Nabil lowland; covered with a thick cover of Cenozoic sediments, composed of sedimentary deposits of the Quaternary period: sandstones, pebbles; very swampy South part the lowland is called the Poronayskaya "tundra";

The Susunai Lowland is located in the southern part of the island and stretches for about 100 km from Aniva Bay in the south to the Naiba River in the north; from the west, the lowland is bounded by the West Sakhalin Mountains, from the east - by the Susunai Range and the Korsakov Plateau; in the southern part the width of the lowland reaches 20 km, in the center - 6 km, in the north - 10 km; absolute heights in the north and south do not exceed 20 m above sea level, in the central part, at the watershed of the basins of the rivers Susuya and Bolshaya Takoy, they reach 60 m; refers to the type of internal lowlands and is a tectonic depression filled with a large layer of Quaternary deposits; within the limits of the Susunaiskaya lowland are the cities of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Aniva, Dolinsk and about half of the island's population lives;

The East Sakhalin Mountains are represented in the north by the Lopatinsky mountain cluster (the highest point is the city of Lopatina, 1609 m) with ridges radially extending from it; two spurs in the opposite direction represent the Nabil ridge; in the south, the Nabilsky ridge passes into the Central ridge, in the north, sharply declining, into the North Sakhalin plain;

Lowland of the Terpeniya Peninsula - the smallest of the regions, occupies a large part of the Terpeniya Peninsula to the east of the Terpeniya Bay;

The Susunai Range stretches from north to south for 70 km and has a width of 18-120 km; the highest points are Mount Pushkinskaya (1047 m) and Chekhov Peak (1045 m); it is composed of Paleozoic deposits, at the foot of the western macroslope of the ridge is the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk;

The Korsakov plateau is bounded in the west by the Susunai lowland, in the north by the Susunai ridge, in the east by the Muravyov lowland, in the south by the Aniva Bay, has a slightly wavy surface formed by a system of flat-topped ridge ridges elongated in the northeastern direction; the town of Korsakov is located on the southern tip of the plateau on the shore of Aniva Bay;

Muravyov lowland (in the picture) is located between Aniva bays in the south and Mordvinov bays in the north, has a ridged relief with flat tops of ridges; within the lowland there are many lakes, including the so-called "Warm Lakes", where the people of South Sakhalin like to go on vacation;

The Tonino-Aniva ridge stretches from north to south, from Cape Svobodny to Cape Aniva, for almost 90 km, the highest point is Mount Kruzenshtern (670 m); composed of Cretaceous and Jurassic deposits.

Cape Giant, Sakhalin

ATTRACTIONS OF SAKHALIN ISLAND

Bird lake

Beautiful and amazing lake in the south of Sakhalin Island

Devil's bridge on Sakhalin

A unique structure on Sakhalin, which is currently in a semi-disassembled state.

Bird waterfall

Most big waterfall Kunashir Island, which annually attracts a large number of tourists.

Volcano Golovnin

An active volcano on Kunashir Island with two amazing lakes at the bottom of the crater

Cape and Lighthouse Aniva

Cape in the southeast of Sakhalin Island with the lighthouse of the same name

White rocks of Sakhalin

Amazing white cliffs on the shores of the Okhotsk sea

Lake Tunaicha

One of the most favorite vacation spots for Sakhalin residents

Aikhor Sakhalin waterfall

Volcano Tyatya

A huge active volcano located on Kunashir Island, Kuril Islands.

Iturup Island

The southern island of the Kuril ridge, a real treasure of natural attractions and an excellent place for outdoor recreation.

Cape Column

Unique rock formation on Kunashir Island.

Sakhalin hot springs

Unique source medicinal water in the north of Sakhalin.

Cape Crillon

Cape Crillon is the most South point Sakhalin Islands

Ilya-Muromets waterfall

One of the largest and beautiful waterfalls Russia.

Tatar Strait Sakhalin

SAKHALIN CLIMATE

Sakhalin's climate is moderate monsoon (the average January temperature is from -6 ° C in the south to -24 ° C in the north, August - from + 19 ° C to + 10 ° C, respectively), marine with long cold snowy winters and average warm summers. The average annual temperature in the north of the island (according to long-term data) is about −1.5 ° C, in the south - + 2.2 ° C.

The following factors influence the climate:

The geographical location is between 46º and 54º N. determines the arrival of solar radiation from 410 kJ / year in the north to 450 kJ / year in the south.

In winter, the weather is largely determined by the Siberian anticyclone: at this time, northern and northwestern winds prevail, severe frosts can stand, especially in the central part of the island with a moderately continental microclimate. At the same time, winter cyclones can come from the south (which are practically absent in the mainland regions of the Russian Of the Far East), determining strong and frequent storms. Thus, in the winter of 1970, a series of snowy cyclones hit the region, accompanied by numerous avalanches. The wind reached a hurricane force (individual gusts - up to 50 m / sec), the snow cover in the southern part of Sakhalin exceeded the norm by 3-4 times, reaching 6-8 m in some places.Burans paralyzed the work of all types of transport, seaports, industrial enterprises ...

The position between the Eurasian continent and the Pacific Ocean determines the monsoon nature of the climate. It is associated with a humid and warm, rather rainy Sakhalin summer. Summer starts in June and ends in September.

The mountainous terrain affects the direction and speed of the wind. A decrease in wind speed in intermontane basins (in particular, in the relatively large Tym-Poronayskaya and Susunayskaya lowlands) contributes to cooling the air in winter and warming up in summer, it is here that the greatest temperature contrasts are observed; at the same time, the mountains protect the named lowlands, and also West Coast from the effects of the cold air of the Sea of Okhotsk.

In summer, the contrast between the western and eastern coasts of the island is enhanced by the correspondingly warm Tsushima Current. Sea of Japan, which reaches the southwestern tip of Sakhalin, and the cold East Sakhalin Current of the Sea of Okhotsk, which runs along the eastern coast from north to south.

The cold Sea of Okhotsk affects the climate of the island as a giant thermal accumulator, determining a prolonged cold spring and a relatively warm autumn: snow in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk sometimes lasts until mid-May (and in 1963 heavy snowfall was noted on June 1), while the flower beds in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk can bloom until early November. If we compare Sakhalin with similar (in terms of climatic indicators) territories of European Russia, then the seasons on the island replace each other with a delay of about three weeks. For the same reason, the warmest month of the year in Sakhalin is August, and the coldest is February. The average September temperature is almost always higher than the average June.

city of Nevelsk

Air temperature

The maximum temperature on Sakhalin (+ 39 ° C) was noted in July 1977 in the village. Border on east coast(Nogliki district). The minimum temperature on Sakhalin (-50 ° C) was recorded in January 1980 in the village. Ado-Tymovo (Tymovsky district). The registered temperature minimum in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is -36 ° C (January 1961), the maximum is + 34.7 ° C (August 1999).

The highest average annual precipitation (990 mm) falls in the city of Aniva, the lowest (476 mm) - at the Kuegda meteorological station (Okha region). The average annual precipitation in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (according to long-term data) is 753 mm.

The earliest stable snow cover appears on Cape Elizaveta (Okhinsky District) and in the village of Ado-Tymovo (Tymovsky District) - on average on October 31, the latest - in Korsakov (on average on December 1). The average dates for the melting of the snow cover are from April 22 (Kholmsk) to May 28 (Cape Elizabeth). In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, stable snow cover appears on average on November 22 and disappears on April 29.

Frequent cyclones are often accompanied by floods. The latter took place in the southern part of the island already in 2009. Both in June and July 2009, three monthly norms of precipitation fell in the south of Sakhalin, on July 15-16, the amount of precipitation in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk reached 107 mm, that is, almost two monthly norms. Many rivers overflowed their banks, twice due to the destruction of the railway line, traffic on the Sakhalin railway, connecting the south and north of the island, was stopped.

The most powerful typhoon in the last 100 years "Phyllis", moving from the Pacific Ocean to the northwest, hit the island in August 1981. The maximum precipitation then fell on August 5-6, and only 322 fell in the south of Sakhalin from August 4 to 7. mm of precipitation (about three monthly norms). The typhoon was accompanied by catastrophic floods. The water in some rivers rose by 6.5 m, landslides and mudflows were observed. The situation was aggravated by stormy southeast winds causing a surge sea water on the coasts of Aniva and Terpeniya bays. The flood caused human casualties, more than two thousand families were left homeless. The Anivsky, Smirnykhovsky and Poronaysky districts were especially affected.

Typhoon Georgia hit the south of Sakhalin on September 18-19, 1970. In a matter of hours, the monthly norm of precipitation fell, the water on the rivers rose by 5 m, crops were flooded, a large number of livestock died, roads and railways were washed out. The hurricane wind led to massive destruction of power lines. There were human casualties.

2002 turned out to be fruitful for powerful typhoons: from July 11 to 15, typhoon "Chataan" and tropical depression "Nerri" caused very heavy rains in the south of Sakhalin, mudflows, landslides. Roads were washed out, houses were flooded. On September 2, Typhoon Rusa again brought heavy downpours to the south of the island. The water in the rivers rose by 2.5-4.5 m. 449 houses were flooded, 9 bridges were destroyed. In the Nevelsky district, 80 mudflows went down. Finally, on October 2-3, Typhoon Higos, moving from the Japanese islands, crossed the southern part of Sakhalin and caused very heavy rains and storm winds. As a result of numerous accidents on power lines, there was no electricity in twenty settlements, roads were washed out. A ship sank in the Gulf of Patience. In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a strong wind knocked down more than a thousand trees, several people were injured from their fall.

There are 16120 lakes on Sakhalin with a total area of about 1000 km². The areas of their greatest concentration are the north and southeast of the island. The two largest lakes of Sakhalin - Nevskoye with a mirror area of 178 km² (Poronaysky district, near the mouth of the Poronai river) and Tunaicha (174 km²) (Korsakovsky district, in the north of the Muravyov lowland); both lakes belong to the lagoon type.

Aniva Bay

NATURAL RESOURCES

Sakhalin is characterized by a very high potential of natural resources. In addition to biological resources, the reserves of which Sakhalin is one of the first in Russia, there are very large reserves of hydrocarbons and coal on the island and its shelf. In terms of the volume of explored reserves of gas condensate, the Sakhalin Region ranks 4th in Russia, gas - 7th, coal - 12th (in Fig.) And oil - 13th place, while within the region the reserves of these minerals are practically are entirely concentrated on Sakhalin and its shelf. Other natural resources of the island include timber, gold, mercury, platinum, germanium, chromium, talc, and zeolites.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Both the flora and fauna of the island are depleted both in comparison with the adjacent areas of the mainland, and in comparison with the located south of the island Hokkaido.

The history of the floristic study of Sakhalin, probably begun by Fyodor Bogdanovich Schmidt in 1859, goes back more than 150 years.

As of the beginning of 2004, the flora of the island includes 1521 species of vascular plants, belonging to 575 genera from 132 families, and 7 families and 101 genera are represented only by alien species. The total number of alien species on the island is 288, or 18.9% of the total flora. According to the main taxonomic groups, the vascular plants of the Sakhalin flora are distributed as follows (excluding invasive ones): vascular spore plants - 79 species (including lycopods - 14, horsetails - 8, ferns - 57), gymnosperms - 9 species, angiosperms - 1146 species (including including monocots - 383, dicots - 763). The leading families of vascular plants in the flora of Sakhalin are sedges (Cyperaceae) (121 species excluding invasive ones - 122 species including invasive ones), Asteraceae (120-175), Poaceae (108-152), Rosaceae (58 - 68), buttercup (Ranunculaceae) (54 - 57), heather (Ericaceae) (39 - 39), clove (Caryophyllaceae) (38 - 54), buckwheat (Polygonaceae) (37 - 57), orchid (Orchidaceae) (35 - 35), cruciferous (Brassicaceae) (33 - 53).

By life forms, the vascular plants of Sakhalin are distributed as follows: trees - 44 species, vines - 9, shrubs - 82, shrubs - 54, semi-shrubs and semi-shrubs - 4, perennial grasses - 961, annual and biennial grasses - 79 (all figures are given without taking into account alien species).

The main forest-forming species of the coniferous forests of Sakhalin are Gmelin larch (Larix gmelinii) and fine-scaled larch (Larix leptolepis) introduced from Japan, ayan spruce (Picea ajanensis) and Glen spruce (Picea glehnii), Sakhalin pine fir (Abieslvest sympathy), introduced sachalinensis ). The predominant deciduous species are stone birch (Betula ermanii) and white (Betula alba), downy alder (Alnus hirsuta), aspen (Populus tremula), poplar (Populus suaveolens), dew willow (Salix rorida), goats (Salix caprea) and cordifolia (Salix cardiophylla), chozenia (Chosenia arbutifolia), Japanese elm (Ulmus japonica) and lobed elm (Ulmus laciniata), yellow maple (Acer ukurunduense).

There are 44 species of mammals on the island, the most well-known of which are bear, sable, otter, American mink, reindeer, wolverine, musk deer, represented here by a special Sakhalin subspecies, raccoon dog, sea lion and others. About half of the Sakhalin theriofauna species are rodents.

There are 378 bird species recorded on Sakhalin; 201 of them (53.1%) nest on the island. The largest number of species (352) was recorded in the southern part of the island, 320 species were recorded in the central part, and 282 species in the northern part. Most of the nesting birds (88 species) are passerines; in addition, the avifauna has a high proportion of charadriiformes (33 nesting species), lamellar-billed (22 nesting species), owls and diurnal birds of prey (11 nesting species each).

seal rookery

RED BOOK

The island's fauna, flora and mycobiota include many rare protected species of animals, plants and fungi. 18 species of mammals registered on Sakhalin, 97 species of birds (including 50 nesting ones), seven species of fish, 20 species of invertebrates, 113 species of vascular plants, 13 species of bryophytes, seven species of algae, 14 species of fungi and 20 species of lichens (i.e. 136 species of animals, 133 species of plants and 34 species of mushrooms - a total of 303 species) have the status of protected, that is, they are listed in the Red Book of the Sakhalin Region, while about a third of them are simultaneously included in the Red Book Russian Federation».

From the "federal Red Book" flowering plants, the flora of Sakhalin includes heart-shaped aralia (Aralia cordata), bulbous calypso (Calypso bulbosa), Glen's cardiocrinum (Cardiocrinum glehnii), Japanese sedge (Carex japonica) and lead-gray (Carex livida), venus Cypripedium calceolus) and large-flowered (Cypripedium macranthum), Grey's bifolia (Diphylleia grayi), leafless epiphyl (Epipogium aphyllum), Japanese kandyk (Erythronium japonicum), tall potbelly (Gastrodia elata), Iris ensilifata) ), kalopanax seven-lobed (Kalopanax septemlobum), tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium), Tolmachev's honeysuckle (Lonicera tolmatchevii), long-legged winged seed (Macropodium pterospermum), whole-leafed leaf mugs of the rhodema folia - Miyakea single leaf vascular plant (Miyakea) (Neottianthe cucullata), obovate peonies (Paeonia obovata) and mountain peonies (Paeonia or eogeton), rough bluegrass (Poa radula) and Wright's viburnum (Viburnum wrightii), that is, 23 species. In addition, there are eight more "federal Red Book" plants on the island: two types of gymnosperms - Sargent's juniper (Juniperus sargentii) and pointed yew (Taxus cuspidata), three species of ferns - Asiatic half-ear (Isoëtes asiatica), Mikel's leptorumor (Leptorumoh) Wright's mecodium (Mecodium wrightii), two species and one variety of mosses - Japanese bryoxiphium (Bryoxiphium norvegicum var.japonicum), northern necker (Neckera borealis), and the dumbest plagiotecium (Plagiothecium obtusissimum).

POPULATION

Sakhalin is the largest island in terms of population in the Russian Federation. As of January 1, 2010, the population of Sakhalin and the Kuriles was 510.9 thousand people, the population of Sakhalin Island is about 493 thousand people.

According to the 2002 census, 527,268 people lived on the island, including 253,304 men and 273,964 women. About 84% of the population are ethnic Russians, the rest are Koreans (5.6%), Ukrainians (4.0%), Tatars (1.2%), Belarusians (1.0%), Mordovians (0.5%), less than 1% of the population is made up of representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North - the Nivkhs (0.5%) and the Oroks (0.06%). 2002 to 2009 Sakhalin's population continued to decline slowly (by about 1% per year): mortality still prevails over births, and the number of migrants arriving on the island from the mainland and from neighboring countries (China, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan ), lower than the number of Sakhalin residents leaving the island.

The largest city of Sakhalin is the regional center Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (190,227 people), others are relatively big cities- Korsakov (33 148 people), Kholmsk (29 563 people), Okha (21 830 people), Poronaysk (15 476 people), Dolinsk (11 885 people), Nevelsk (10 965 people).

HISTORY OF SAKHALIN

Archaeological finds indicate that people could appear on Sakhalin in the early Paleolithic era, about 250-300 thousand years ago. During the Pleistocene epoch, as a result of periodic glaciations, the level of the World Ocean dropped several times and land “bridges” appeared between Sakhalin and the mainland, as well as Sakhalin, Hokkaido and Kunashir. During the late Pleistocene, Homo sapiens penetrated Sakhalin: sites of modern humans, 20-12 thousand years old, were found in the southern and middle parts of the island, then along another land "bridge" between Asia and America, located on the site of the modern Bering Strait , Homo sapiens moved to the American continent). In the Neolithic (10-2.5 thousand years ago), the entire territory of Sakhalin Island was inhabited. Fishing and hunting for sea animals formed the basis of the material culture of people of that time, who led a sedentary lifestyle along the sea coast.

The ancestors of the modern Paleo-Asian peoples - the Nivkhs (in the north of the island) and the Ainu (in the south) - appeared on the island during the Middle Ages. At the same time, the Nivkhs migrated between Sakhalin and the lower Amur, and the Ainu - between Sakhalin and Hokkaido. Their material culture was in many ways similar, and their livelihood was provided by fishing, hunting and gathering. At the end of the Middle Ages (in the 16th-17th centuries), Tungus-speaking peoples migrated to Sakhalin from the mainland - the Evenks (nomadic reindeer herders) and the Oroks (Uilta), who, under the influence of the Evenks, also began to engage in reindeer husbandry.

Cape Kuznetsov

How Sakhalin was discovered

At the end of the 16th century, as a result of Yermak's campaign for the Urals, vast lands were annexed to the Moscow state, stretching along the Tura, Tobol and Irtysh rivers. The Russians established themselves in these lands. The stories that reached them about the unprecedented riches of Siberia, about the innumerable abundance of precious fur-bearing animals, attracted service people - Cossacks and brave industrialists farther to the east. Moving in small detachments along the rivers and portages, crossing the virgin Siberian taiga, fighting the warlike local peoples, overcoming inhuman difficulties, cold and hardships, the Cossacks and industrialists for several decades traveled a long way from the Ob to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They discovered new lands, produced as detailed descriptions of them as possible and, by the right of discovery, annexed them to Russia. The names of Dezhnev, Khabarov, Atlasov, Poyarkov and many other explorers have become glorious milestones in the history of our country.

In July 1643, the Cossack foreman Poyarkov with a small detachment left Yakutsk to discover and explore new lands. He climbed with his detachment upstream of the Aldan River, crossed the dividing ridge and went out to the Zeya River, along which he descended to the Amur. In the next year, 1644, Poyarkov reached the mouth of the Amur and went to sea. In the summer of 1646, Poyarkov returned to Yakutsk and brought back the first descriptions of the Amur, Shantar Islands and Sakhalin.

In subsequent years, the Russians visited Sakhalin more than once. In 1742, Lieutenant Shelting, a member of Vitus Bering's expedition, sailed along the eastern coast of Sakhalin on a double-dinghy "Nadezhda" and entered the strait, later called the La Perouse Strait, in honor of the famous French navigator, who in 1787 aboard the frigates "Bussol" and "Astrolabe" visited Sakhalin. La Pérouse gave French names to several points of the island, including the Douai River, as well as the Bay of Castries that he discovered on the mainland.

In 1805, the coast of Sakhalin was surveyed by the first Russian round-the-world expedition of Kruzenshtern. The next year, 1806, Russian officers Khvostov and Davydov visited southern Sakhalin and raised the Russian flag there.

However, for a long time the geography of the lower reaches of the Amur and Sakhalin Island remained unclear. Navigators who visited Sakhalin or passed near it believed that Sakhalin was a peninsula connected by an isthmus to the mainland. This conclusion was made by both La Perouse and Kruzenshtern and the commander of the Russian brig "Konstantin" - Gavrilov, sent in 1846 to study the mouth of the Amur and Sakhalin. Only in 1849, the research of Captain GI Nevelskoy on the transport "Baikal" proved that Sakhalin is an island.

[As it turned out later, the Japanese scientist Mamia-Rinzo as early as 1808 established that Sakhalin is an island, but the data on his travel, published in Japanese, were not known to Europeans.]

The narrow part of the strait separating Sakhalin from the mainland now bears the name of Captain Nevelskoy.

The origin of the name of Sakhalin Island

In the 18th century, maps published in Western Europe, off the coast of the Pacific Ocean, north of China, depicted the huge country of Tartary. The French navigator La Perouse was also convinced of the existence of this mysterious Tartary. Having reached the strait separating Sakhalin from the mainland on his ships, La Perouse, without hesitation for a long time, called it Tatarsky. As a result of this misunderstanding, the strait still bears an accidental and unfounded name.

The Tatar Strait is the name for the entire body of water that separates the island from the mainland. The narrowest part of the strait is named after Nevelskoy. The part of the strait lying in the north merges closely with the Amur estuary. Therefore, many, speaking about the Amur estuary, mean the northern part of the strait.

The name of the island itself is no less coincidental. The Amur River was called "Sakhalyan-ulla" in Mongolian. On one of the maps of "Tataria", published in western Europe and depicting Sakhalin as a peninsula, an inscription was made at the site of the mouth of the Amur: "Sachalien anga-hata", which in Mongolian means "rocks of the black river". After Captain Nevelsky established that Sakhalin is an island, the map compilers attributed this inscription to the new island, which has since become known as Sakhalin.

The Japanese call Sakhalia Karafuto or Kabafuto, which means "birch island".

The first steps in the development of the island

After the discovery of Nevelskoye, work on the study and development of Sakhalin was carried out quite intensively.

In 1852, warrant officer Boshnyak was sent to Sakhalin, who was supposed to check the information about the presence of coal deposits there. Boshnyak drove along the western bank to Douai, crossed the island and went to its eastern bank at the mouth of the Tymi River. Boshnyak's research confirmed the information about the wealth of Sakhalin coal.

The next year, in 1853, a military unit with artillery was landed in the southern part of the island and the Russian flag was again raised over the island. The Korsakovsky military post was established on the southern coast of the island, and the Ilyinsky post on the western coast.

In the same year, Rimsky-Korsakov on the Vostok schooner made a detailed survey of the western shores of the island and identified places suitable for anchorage of sea vessels.

Soon, small mining of coal began at the so-called "Chikhachevsky quarries" in Douai.

In 1854, 1855 and 1856 the island was researched by the zoologist L.I.Shrenk. He made several long and very difficult trips around the island, covered the physical geography of Sakhalin in some detail, described its indigenous population, flora and fauna.

The island was visited by members of a large expedition of the Russian Geographical Society F.B. Schmidt, P.P. Glen, Lieutenant Rashkov, topographer Shebunin and Dr. Brylkin. As a result of their work, a map of Sakhalin was compiled.

In 1867-1868, the geological exploration of the island was carried out by the mining engineer Lopatin.

As a result of all these studies, the fossil, plant and fish wealth of Sakhalin was more and more fully identified and the large strategic importance the island, which is a natural outpost of the Russian state in the Far East and covers Russia's exits to the Pacific Ocean.

Sakhalin was inhabited by the Ainu, Tungus, Gilyaks and Orochons. They were engaged in hunting, fishing and reindeer herding. By the time the Russians first visited the island, the indigenous people of Sakhalin were completely independent from any state.

Until the end of the 18th century, the Japanese did not settle on Sakhalin. They came to the island only for the fishing season. Then, after the appearance of the Russian Cossacks and industrialists, the Japanese began little by little to seize the island into their own hands. In 1787, the Japanese built two small villages on the island. In subsequent years, they spread throughout the southern half of the island. Uninvited aliens exploited the Ainu, actually turned them into their serfs, forced the Ainu to perform the most difficult and exhausting work for free.

It took quite a long time until the tsarist government finally realized how important Sakhalin was for Russia and sent the first military post there (in 1853). By this time, uninvited guests had already settled on the island. The appearance of the Russian guard not only did not weaken the resettlement of the Japanese there, but, on the contrary, strengthened the Japanese expansion. Russian troops could not prevent the penetration of the Japanese. Soon, Japan laid claim to the island. According to the Shimoda Treaty of 1854, Japan achieved joint possession of this island with Russia.

The seizure of Sakhalin by the Japanese clearly threatened the Russian Far Eastern possessions and exits from the Amur. In addition, the Japanese predatory destroyed the natural resources of Sakhalin. Japan readily agreed to give up its alleged "rights" to Sakhalin on the condition that Russia hand over the Kuril Islands to it in "exchange". In 1875, this deal took place. Sakhalin completely passed into the possession of Russia, and Japan, as a result of this extremely profitable deal for it, acquired the Kuril Islands, relying on which it could control Russia's exits to the Pacific Ocean.

However, Japan has not abandoned the exploitation of Sakhalin's natural resources. The short-sighted tsarist government allowed the Japanese to keep fisheries in southern Sakhalin. At the end of the 19th century, Japan annually caught 40-45 thousand tons of fish in Sakhalin. The catch of fish by the Russians did not exceed 13-15 thousand tons in those years.

Having “bought off” the Japanese at a high price, the tsarist government began to colonize the island and develop its natural resources, showing no more ingenuity in this matter than in “trading” the islands.

Sakhalin penal servitude

The tsarist government found a kind of application for Sakhalin - hard labor was created on a distant island. Harsh natural conditions Sakhalin, in combination with the hard labor regime, was a heavy punishment for the convicts. It was decided to use the labor of convicts in the development of coal, logging, etc. The escape of prisoners from the island, separated from the mainland by the stormy Tatar Strait, according to the organizers of the hard labor, was impossible.

Convicts who had served their term of imprisonment were supposed to be placed in a forced permanent settlement here, on the island, so that they would be engaged mainly in agriculture.

In 1869, the first batch of convicts, consisting of 800 people, was delivered to Sakhalin. From that time on, the dark pages of the history of Sakhalin began. Convicts arrived one after another. Hundreds, thousands of people. In the beginning, only men. Then women appeared: after some convicts their wives and children voluntarily went to exile to Sakhalin.

Shackled in hand and foot shackles, and sometimes chained in addition to a wheelbarrow, convicts worked mainly in coal mines, in the areas adjacent to Aleksandrovsk.

The inept organization of mining work, the absence of any tools, except for a pick and a shovel, and a hard labor regime did not at all contribute to the development of the coal industry. The amount of coal mined was small. The coal was not sorted and went to the consumer together with the coal. Coal was carried out of the mines on a stretcher or in sacks, which caused it to be crushed. All this sharply reduced the quality of coal and made it difficult to sell it.

The severe convict regime and the arbitrariness of the administration led to a mass exodus of convicts. Some fugitives managed to cross the Tatar Strait and return to European Russia. But many remained within the island. To get food for themselves, they robbed the settlers who had already served their sentences.

The life of the settlers was not much different from the life of the convicts.

The organization of the settlements was also affected by the complete arbitrariness of the tsarist administration. A convict who had served his sentence was given an ax, a hoe, a shovel, two pounds of rope, one saw for five people and indicated the place where he was to settle. Places for settlement were chosen without any plan, without taking into account the surrounding conditions. It also happened that the settlements turned out to be built in places completely unsuitable for agriculture, damp, flooded with water, etc. At the cost of tremendous effort, literally bloody labor, the settler built himself a hut and created some kind of economy. But this did not bring relief to him. He eked out a miserable existence. In addition, the exiled settlers did not have civil rights and lived on the basis of a special charter. At the first opportunity, the exiled settlers abandoned their huts and "household" and fled to the mainland.

Despite the mass exodus of convicts and exiled settlers, the population of Sakhalin was constantly growing due to new parties of convicts sent here. By 1904, there were about 40 thousand prisoners, exiled settlers and free residents on Sakhalin.

The exploration of Sakhalin did not stop even during the hard labor. Meteorological stations were established in the village of Aleksandrovskoye and the village of Rykovskoye. Much work was carried out to study the seas washing the shores of Sakhalin, to study its bowels, soils, vegetation and animals.

First Japanese intervention. Elimination of hard labor. Capture by the Japanese of South Sakhalin

In 1904, Japan treacherously attacked Russia. The Japanese invaded Sakhalin. Having landed on the island, from where the Russian administration had already evacuated, the Japanese began to manage in their own way. They shot most of the convicts held in prisons, established new rules for the exiled settlers. They soon felt that life under the Japanese was even worse than penal servitude and rushed to the mainland in masses. The number of Russians on the island dropped from 40 to 5-6 thousand.

After the end of the war, which was unsuccessful for Russia, Japan imposed the Portsmouth Treaty on Russia, according to which the southern half of Sakhalin went to Japan. The border between the parts of Sakhalin that remained in Russia and the parts of Sakhalin captured by Japan ran along the fiftieth parallel. Along the border, across the island, a giant clearing was cut in the taiga and border pillars were installed.

With the capture of the southern half of Sakhalin, Japan closed the island ring, with which it surrounded the Russian possessions off the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Russia was left with only the northern half of the island. By the time the war ended [Russian-Japanese - approx. mine] there are almost no convicts left on it. Some of them were killed by the Japanese, some fled. The tsarist government did not try to resume hard labor here. And it was hardly possible with such close proximity to the Japanese.

Japanese colonization of southern Sakhalin.

After the partition of Sakhalin under the Portsmouth Treaty, the Japanese began to intensively populate the southern part of the island. On southern Sakhalin were built seaports, moorings, roads. It is characteristic that the settlement of southern Sakhalin was carried out mainly at the expense of reservists trained in military affairs. Along with strategic construction, the Japanese organized fisheries and forestry, vigorously engaged in reindeer husbandry and fur trade. The population of the Japanese part of the island in 1906 was 12 thousand people, in 1912 - 42 thousand, in 1923 - 140 thousand and in 1939 - over 300 thousand.

The Russian government, for its part, also took measures to populate Northern Sakhalin. But these measures were as little successful as during the time of the Sakhalin penal servitude. Sakhalin has won a sad reputation for itself. Stories about the horrors of Sakhalin life were passed from mouth to mouth. The tragedy of the Sakhalin penal servitude was intertwined in these stories with the tragedy of the Russo-Japanese war. Of course, there was also a share of fiction in the stories, nature was portrayed in them as exaggeratedly harsh. But it is quite understandable that there were few who wanted to go to a distant island, standing "at the end of the world". And those who decided to go there had to sip a lot of grief.

Relocating to Sakhalin was far from easy. The government did not bother to build a port on the island, or even a convenient berth for sea vessels. The steamer, anchored a few kilometers from the coast, disembarked passengers, with all their belongings, into boats, which, along the stormy waves of the strait, delivered the settlers to the deserted coast.

The gloomy Sakhalin taiga greeted the settlers unfriendly. A peasant who moved from the central steppe regions of Russia to the taiga Sakhalin found himself in unusual conditions. In order to plow the area, it was first necessary to uproot the taiga, and this required a lot of work. The timing and methods of cultivating the land, the timing of sowing and harvesting have not been studied by anyone. The settlers had to get to know them on their own, difficult experience.

Information about the living conditions on Sakhalin, coming from the first settlers, did not at all contribute to the influx of a new population. Therefore, until the establishment of Soviet power, population growth on Sakhalin was extremely weak. During the period from 1908 to 1917, the Russian population of the island increased by only 1600-1800 people. The tsarist government did not understand very well that Northern Sakhalin, with its harsh climatic conditions and its enormous natural resources, required not agricultural, but above all carefully thought out and prepared industrial colonization. As before, as in the days of hard labor, the tsarist government cared little about the development of the island's economy and even less about creating normal living conditions for the settlers.

As a result, Northern Sakhalin, up to the establishment of Soviet power, remained a poorly populated outskirts, with a poorly developed economy and off-road characteristic of the outskirts.

The agriculture of the island did not develop. Its production was not enough even for the small population of the island. Peasants usually combined farming with local crafts - hunting for fur animals and fishing. The coal and timber industries developed slowly due to the lack of a port and berths. The question of the construction of the Sakhalin port has not moved beyond numerous projects. Fisheries were significant, but in terms of technical equipment and profitability they were far inferior to those of Japan.

Nevertheless, as a result of the colonization carried out by the tsarist government, a fairly large number of permanent settlements, as a rule, not crowded, were created on Sakhalin. Roads were also laid, albeit very primitive, allowing wheel communication between settlements and the coast of the island. The population gradually began to get used to the nature of the island. On the basis of experience, the necessary skills and rules of farming have been developed. The times of hard labor were gradually forgotten, further and further they went into the depths of the past.

Work on the study of the island continued. New information about the natural resources of Sakhalin has appeared in the scientific literature. An instrumental survey of the coast and some interior parts of Northern Sakhalin was carried out, and maps were compiled. Oil exploration began at a number of points. In the Okha region, oil was discovered by the Russians back in the eighties of the last century.

The expedition of the Geological Committee, in which the mining engineer P.I. Representatives of the resettlement administration studied the soils, climate and vegetation of the island, and identified areas suitable for settlement.

Russian merchants and industrialists showed great interest in the development of Sakhalin's natural resources. With the assistance of the government, the economy of Northern Sakhalin could develop rapidly. But the tsarist administration not only did not provide this assistance, on the contrary, it created conditions under which all attempts of the population and entrepreneurs to promote the development of Sakhalin industry remained in vain.

For tsarist Russia, the backwardness of Sakhalin was no exception. The Kola Peninsula, possessing fabulous wealth, located relatively close to St. Petersburg, was also empty and deserted. The shores of the Pechora, rich in minerals, and many other outskirts of Russia at that time were also deserted.

As a result of the victory over Japan during World War II, the entire territory of Sakhalin Island (as well as all the Kuril Islands) was included in the Soviet Union (RSFSR).

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was founded as part of the Russian Empire in 1882 under the name Vladimirovka. After the victory of the USSR and its allies in World War II, together with the entire island, it passed to the USSR.

Zhdanko ridge, west of Sakhalin

Transport

The public railway network covers most of the island (the most distant communication is from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to the village of Nogliki), there is also a sea ferry railway crossing to the mainland. The Sakhalin railway is interesting because it has an unusual track of 1067 mm for Russia, which was inherited from Japan. In the USSR, specially for Sakhalin, diesel locomotives TG16 and TG22 were designed and built in series. Since 2004, work has been underway to alter the track to the 1520 mm gauge standard for Russia. They are planned to be completed, according to various forecasts, by 2016-2020.

Non-public railways (departmental narrow-gauge) carry out transportation in areas where there are no public railways. Most of them have been dismantled, leaving an operating narrow-gauge railway in the Uglegorsk region.

Highways connect almost all settlements of the region. The quality of the roads is poor, there is asphalt only in the southern part.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is connected by air with Moscow, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, with cities and villages of the Sakhalin region (Okha, Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Burevestnik (on Iturup Island)), and also with Japan (Tokyo, Sapporo, Hakodate), South Korea(Seoul) and China (Harbin, and more recently, Beijing). It is interesting that from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (the regional center) there is no direct connection with the regional center Severo-Kurilsk, and you have to get there in a roundabout way - through Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTOS:

Team Wandering.

Lutskiy S. L. Sakhalin Island

Sakhalin - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Petukhov A.V., Kordyukov A.V., Baranchuk-Chervonny L.N. Atlas of vascular plants in the vicinity of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk // In the book: Introduction. (ISBN 978-5-904209-05-6) - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: Akon, 2010 .-- P. 9

Barkalov V. Yu., Taran A. A. List of species of vascular plants of Sakhalin Island // In the book: Plant and Animal World of Sakhalin Island (Materials of the International Sakhalin Project). Part 1. (ISBN 5-8044-0467-9) - Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 2004 .-- S. 39-66.

http://www.photosight.ru/photos/5591256/

http://sakhalin.shamora.info/Rest-in-Sakhalin-region/WIKI-Sakhalin-region/ Attractions-Sakhalin-region/

Nechaev V.A.A review of the bird fauna (Aves) of the Sakhalin region // In the book: The flora and fauna of Sakhalin Island (Materials of the International Sakhalin Project). Part 2. (ISBN 5-8044-0507-1) - Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 2005. - pp. 246-327.

The Red Book of the Sakhalin Region: Plants. - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: Sakhalin. book publishing house, 2005 .-- 348 p.

Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2013. - M .: Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat, 2013 .-- 528 p. (Table 33. The population of urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements).

Occupation of Northern Sakhalin and Japanese concessions

Wikipedia website.

Aleksandrov S.M. Sakhalin Island. - M .: Nauka, 1973 .-- 183 p.

Vasilevsky A.A. Stone Age Sakhalin Islands. - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: Sakhalin Book Publishing House, 2008. - 411 p.

Isachenko A.G., Shlyapnikov A.A. Sakhalin // Nature of the World: Landscapes. - M .: Mysl, 1989 .-- 504 p.

Southern part of the Far East. - Moscow: Nauka, 1969 .-- 422 p.

http://ilp-p.narod.ru/sakhalin/ostrov/ostrov1.htm

Sakhalin Island from the satellite

Sakhalin has not always been separated from the mainland. At the dawn of civilization, the water level in the world's oceans steadily decreased, as a result of which the so-called "bridges" arose in the strait. Presumably, it was along them that the first people moved here (about 300 thousand years ago). In the Middle Ages, the main inhabitants of Sakhalin were the Nivkhs and Ainu - small peoples who constantly migrated between the island and the Asian part of the mainland. Later, the Tungus-speaking tribes were added to them. The very name "Sakhalin" appeared due to a geographical error. By an oversight, the Manchu name of the Amur River - Sakhallian-Ulla - was correlated with the territory of the island. By the way, the literal translation of the word is “Rocks of the Black River”.

Until about the 1850s, China ruled Sakhalin Island. At the same time, the territory did not officially belong to the Celestial Empire. In 1855, the governments of Japan and Russia signed the Shimoda Treaty, according to which both states declared Sakhalin a joint possession. However, after 20 years, Russia annexed the island, paying for it with Japan with the northern Kuriles. However, the joy of expanding the holdings was short-lived. After losing the Russo-Japanese campaign, the southern part of the island again went to the Land of the Rising Sun. The fate of Sakhalin was finally decided only after the Second World War, when Russia completely regained the island, and with it the Kurils, which had been lost earlier.

Economy and population

A little less than 500 thousand people live on Sakhalin, about 200 thousand of whom are residents of the regional center, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The overwhelming majority of the population is Russian, although among the local inhabitants you can find both Koreans and immigrants from the former Soviet republics. But representatives of indigenous peoples are extremely small here: only 1% of the total.

The region's economy is unevenly developed, which is why the standard of living of the population in different parts of Sakhalin differs. For example, the northern part of the island, including Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, subsists on oil production, while the remote and western regions, where production stopped during the collapse of the Soviet Union, are literally forced to struggle for existence. Ultimately, unemployment and low living standards led to the fact that most of the inhabitants of the Sakhalin periphery turned to poachers. Illegal shooting of wild animals, extraction of red caviar by barbaric methods slowly but surely cause irreparable damage to the nature of the great island ...

Climate and nature

Going on a trip to Sakhalin, it is better to prepare in advance for weather surprises. Since the climate of the island is moderately monsoon, the weather here is not stable. Local snowy and frosty winters are actively "helped" by atmospheric vortices, which bring strong storms with them. Spring is long and cold here, but summer is relatively warm, but short and often rainy. Another weather problem in Sakhalin is the frequent and unpredictable cyclones, bringing with them devastating typhoons and floods.

Sakhalin is an island with a unique ecosystem that was formed in a certain isolation. The terrain is formed by small mountains, low mountains and, to a lesser extent, low-lying plains, while 2/3 of the territory is occupied by taiga. By the way, there is no shortage of fresh water on Sakhalin: 17 rivers and over 16 thousand lakes provide an abundance of life-giving moisture for animals and vegetable world islands. Despite the fact that the flora and fauna of Sakhalin is somewhat poorer in comparison with the mainland or the nearest Japanese island of Hokkaido, it has something to surprise wildlife lovers. About 136 species of animals and almost 133 species of local plants are included in the Red Book. In addition, here you can find endemic (growing or living only in a specific place) representatives of the animal and plant world.

For real paradise Sakhalin has become for fans of fishing and hunting. The abundance of fish and game in the local forests and waters is difficult to describe in words. The Sakhalin taiga is also rich in mushrooms and berries. To collect a tasty "tribute", you do not have to go deep into the impenetrable jungle. Lingonberries, blueberries, cranberries, redberries can be found here almost under every bush. However, it is not entirely reasonable to go to the other end of the country exclusively for the gifts of the forest, especially since the natural resources of the island are not limited to berry fields and fishing places. There are also thermal springs, bathing in which can relieve chronic diseases, and fabulous caves filled with stalactite crystals, and ancient man's camps. True, it is worth noting that most of the local entertainment is suitable for those who are easy-going and ready to show at least minimal physical activity. Rafting, windsurfing, skiing and snowboarding, kayaking, mountaineering and paragliding, descent into mountain caves and unforgettable cycling - this is not a complete list of activities that Sakhalin is ready to offer supporters of an active lifestyle.

Sakhalin landmarks

The main and most valuable attraction of Sakhalin is its amazing nature. It is customary to go here not for high-quality European service and glossy sights, but for the delightful atmosphere of complete unity with nature, active rest and an amazing feeling of complete freedom.

Nature reserves

The most convenient and correct way to get acquainted with wild nature Sakhalin Islands - local reserves, the most interesting of which is the State nature reserve"Oriental". You can get here only with a special permit issued by the Department of Forests, but the red tape with a pass is more than worth the impressions of the visit. It is here that you can meet such a rare phenomenon for the island as the dark coniferous taiga, see how pink salmon, chum salmon and coho salmon go to spawn and take pictures of clumsy sea lions resting on the coastal rocks. To get acquainted with the Sakhalin wild grouse and reindeer, it is better to go to the "Nogliki" nature reserve. Reindeer races are held here in autumn, so if your visit to the island coincides with the fall season, do not miss the opportunity to attend this unusual event. Well, watching the bird colonies is most interesting in the Poronaysky reserve, which has occupied eastern part Sakhalin and the Patience Peninsula.

Volcanoes

Infernal vents filled with lava splashing in all directions are not about Sakhalin volcanoes. Here, craters erupt ... land mixed with water. Pugachevsky and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsky mud volcanoes even look non-trivial. Regular circles, devoid of vegetation and dotted with miniature "pores" of craters, resemble space landscapes from a fantastic blockbuster. By the way, the last major outburst from the Yuzhno-Sakhalin volcano occurred in 2011, as a result of which a new mud field was formed in its vicinity.

Thermal springs

Sakhalin nature is not only pleasing to the eye, but also heals the body. If you happen to be on the island, be sure to take a dip in Sinegorsk mineral springs, because water with such a unique composition is found only in Sakhalin and Adler. Today, there are 4 mineral wells in the Sinegorskoye field, the water from which is used for drinking, as well as for the treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems.

In the northeast of Sakhalin Island, in the Nogliki District, there is another unusual place- Daginsky thermal springs, which are funnel-shaped depressions in the silty soil. Healing water with a high content of alkali and silicic acid and a temperature of up to +40 ... + 45 ° C helps in the treatment of infertility and joint diseases. Once upon a time there was a hydropathic establishment on the adjacent territory, but then the place gradually fell into disrepair. Today, only a modest dressing house reminds of the former glory of the natural resort. However, the springs did not become less curative from this, and the place is still as popular both among the local population and among tourists.

Lakes

One of the largest lakes on Sakhalin Island is Tunaicha. Located in the vicinity of the village of Okhotskoye, this beautiful reservoir is famous for the fact that it is home to about 29 species of fish. In addition, Sakhalin salmon comes to Tunaichu for spawning. Officially, industrial fishing is prohibited here, but from August to September, amateurs are allowed to sit on the shores of the lake with a fishing rod.

Those who like more secluded places should book a tour to the South Kamyshovy ridge, where the fabulous lakes of the Spamberg Mountains are lost on a picturesque plateau. 18 pristine reservoirs, which were born as a result of rock falls, have their own, partially isolated ecosystem. The plateau section is also known for the fact that numerous springs and waterfalls of the Sakhalin Region originate from here. Here you can also find the main waterfall of the island - Shuisky.

Caves

Sakhalin is one of the most successful places for novice cavers. You should start your acquaintance with the local caves from Mount Vajda. There are plenty of fantastic multi-level dungeons decorated with bizarre dripstone formations. The intricate network of wells, underground passages and Vaida halls is assigned an average level of difficulty of passage, so during a speleotour you will hardly have to complain about the ordinariness and monotony of the excursion. Not less impressions will bring a trip to the cave of "Bear Tragedies". The gloomy stone hall, which has become a kind of graveyard of bear remains, is engraved in memory for a long time. Once upon a time, during archaeological excavations, objects of ancient cult were found here, as well as tools of labor of the first people.

Moneron Island is located 43 km from Sakhalin, in the Tatar Strait. Today these lands are empty, although the first settlers appeared here in the first millennium BC. For some time the island belonged to the Japanese, who seriously worsened its ecology, destroying most of the coniferous forests. A reminder of this era is the lighthouse that remained here in memory of the Japanese colonization. Today Moneron has the status natural park and is actively visited by travelers. The island is home to about 37 species of plants listed in the Red Book, but among tourists Moneron is better known as a place of bird "colonies", as well as rookeries of sea lions and seals.

For hunters and fishermen

There are several recreation centers at the disposal of tourists coming to Sakhalin to sit with a fishing rod and shoot local game. As a rule, these are hotel-type houses located in especially picturesque and at the same time inaccessible places of the island. It is often necessary to get to them by special equipment, but for real adventure seekers this is by no means an obstacle. "Upper", "Moguchi", "Lower" - each of the bases offers a similar range of services, including fishing, hunting, Russian bath and other "brutal" pleasures. You can also get hold of hunting trophies in special farms. For example, the hunting family farm "Geeva" in the village. Nogliki invites its guests to "go" to see a bear or an elk. The Okhotsk farm is located 50 km from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, where anyone can shoot hares and ducks, and also try to catch chum salmon, pink salmon or taimen.

For skiers

On the outskirts of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the main ski slope of the island - the tourist complex "Mountain Air". You can relax here with the whole family and at any time of the year, but the base gathers the maximum number of guests in the winter months. Skiing, snowboarding, tubing - each sport has its own type of equipped trails with a total length of about 10 km. On the territory of the complex there is a rental of sports equipment, in addition, all the slopes of the camp site are equipped with special lifts. In summer, it is customary to come here to fly a paraglider or rent a bike for walking around the area.

Remnant Frog on Sakhalin Island

Mineral springs, volcanoes, ski slopes- all this is certainly interesting, but not entirely original. If you are one of those who crave unusual sights, welcome to Krasnogorsk Yew Forest. Such a green massif, entirely consisting of centenary yew trees, is not found in any other corner of the planet. You can get a sea of positive emotions and just as many spectacular photos on Tyuleniy Island, which has the largest rookery. marine mammals... Fans of anomalous places covered with mystical legends should look into the Frog outlier. Well, you can taste the delicious gifts of Sakhalin nature at Uspenovsky cranberries. A vast treeless space, completely covered with a berry carpet, will appear to you in dreams for a long time.

Museums

Despite the fact that Sakhalin is considered to be the land of nature tourism, some cultural entertainment is also available here. Connoisseurs of painting will be interested in visiting the exposition of the art museum, which is located on Lenin Street in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. You can get acquainted with the history, as well as the flora and fauna of the island in the local history museum, located in a picturesque Japanese house on Kommunistichesky Prospekt. If you come with children, be sure to take the time to visit the zoo and botanical park, where you can see rare and endangered species of local animals. An interesting and informative excursion is also offered to its guests by the Museum of the History of the Sakhalin Railway, which contains the rarest examples of railway equipment.

How to get there

You can get to Sakhalin relatively quickly and comfortably by plane. The Russian company Aeroflot operates several direct flights from Moscow to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. A standard flight usually takes from 8 to 9 hours. An option for those who are not looking for easy routes is the Vanino-Kholmsk ferry crossing. To get to the port of Vanino ( Khabarovsk region), you must purchase a train ticket in advance on the route: Moscow-Khabarovsk or Moscow-Vladivostok (the trip lasts from 5 to 6 days). To get from railway station Khabarovsk to Vanino is better by taxi. The final stage of the journey is boarding a ferry and a 14-hour sailing through the Tatarsky Strait.