Sakhalin

Sakhalin, Russia Karafuto An island and a province with a name derived from the Manchu Sahalin Ula ‘Black River’. This referred actually to the lower reaches of the Amur River on the mainland which flows into the Tatar Strait opposite the northern end of the island. On an early French map the name spread across the page to include, apparently, the island. Shortly afterwards, when a new map was being prepared, the name was accepted as the name for the island and was shortened to Sahalin. In 1855–75 the Japanese and the Russians shared the island, but in 1875 it passed completely to the Russians in exchange for the Kuril Islands. Following the Russo‐Japanese War, the southern half of the island was ceded to Japan in 1905 and renamed Karafuto, a corruption of the local Ainu name, Krafto. In 1918 the northern half was also occupied by the Japanese, but they relinquished it in 1924 and it was reoccupied by Soviet troops the following year. The southern half was returned to the Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War in 1945.