CITY · SAKHALIN OBLAST

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the capital of Sakhalin Oblast and the largest city on Sakhalin Island. In under a century and a half it has been the Russian village of Vladimirovka and the Japanese town of Toyohara, and both eras have left their mark.

Region: Sakhalin Oblast
Population: 181,587 (2021)
Founded: 1882
Airport: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Khomutovo · UUS

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History

The village of Vladimirovka was founded by convicts in 1882. After the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth southern Sakhalin passed to Japan, and the village grew into the town of Toyohara, the administrative centre of Japanese Karafuto. Soviet forces took the south of the island in 1945, and in 1946 the town received its current name and town status. In 1890 Anton Chekhov spent three months on Sakhalin, describing penal life in his book Sakhalin Island.

Culture & traditions

The Sakhalin Regional Museum occupies a 1937 building made for the Karafuto museum, in which architect Kaizuka Yoshio blended elements of a Japanese castle with Western design. Its collections cover the Ainu, Nivkh and Uilta peoples and include one of the 1906 boundary markers from the 50th parallel. A museum and monument are dedicated to Chekhov, and there is also the Chekhov Centre theatre. The city is home to a large community of Sakhalin Koreans.

Sport

Above the city on Mount Bolshevik is the Gorny Vozdukh ski resort, which meets the standards for international competitions. Teams named Sakhalin represent the city in football, ice hockey, basketball and volleyball, alongside the hockey club Vostok-65.

Food & drink

Sakhalin's rivers teem with salmon, and fish and seafood form the base of local cooking. The large Korean community adds its own traditions to city life.

Practical information

Khomutovo International Airport links the city with the mainland, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is also the hub of the island's railway. Local time is Moscow plus 8 hours. The climate is humid continental, with cold, snowy winters (−11.5 °C on average in January) and short, cool summers (about +17 °C in August). Summer suits exploring the island, while winter is the time to come for Gorny Vozdukh.

What to see

Sakhalin Regional Museum — a 1937 Japanese building with collections on the island's indigenous peoples
Gorny Vozdukh — a ski resort right above the city
Chekhov Museum — the story of the writer's 1890 journey to Sakhalin
Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ — the cathedral of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Gagarin Park — a city park for walks