Sakhalin

Sakhalin (formerly Saghalien), Russian island off the coast of eastern Siberia, in the Sea of Okhotsk, north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. It measures about 600 mi (970 km) long and 16–100 mi (26–160 km) wide, and contains coal and iron deposits and lumber. Fishing and fur trading are also important economic activities. Ownership of the island, which was originally discovered by the Dutch, was disputed by Japan and Russia—from 1905 it was divided between the 2 countries. The Ainu people were the original inhabitants; Soviet colonization dates from the discovery of oil in 1931. By 1951 Japan had given up all claims to the island.