Sakhalin

Sakhalin.Europeans discovered Sakhalin in the 17th century. The first to visit the island in 1640 were the Cossacks, led by the ataman and explorer Ivan Moskvitin. Three years later, the expedition of the Dutch navigator Martin de Vries went there. However, Freese erroneously considered Sakhalin to be a peninsula connected to Hokkaido. Disputes about whether it connects to the mainland or other islands continued until the middle of the 19th century. In 1849, Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy crossed the strait between the island and the mainland on the military ship Baikal. Sakhalin was marked on maps as an island, and the strait was later given the name of Nevelskoy.
In 1869, those who were sentenced to penal servitude, most often for life, began to be exiled here. Initially, prisons for them were built only in the northern part of the island, but then settlements appeared in the south. Gradually, convicts became the main part of the population of Sakhalin.

At the end of the 19th century, Anton Chekhov came to the island. He got acquainted with the life of convicts, wrote down petitions and memoirs of Sakhalin residents, and conducted a population census here. Later, the writer published the artistic and publicistic book "Sakhalin Island", in which he described in detail the local nature, the way of life of the indigenous people and the exiles, included fragments of documents, statistics, records of scientists and travelers who had been on the island before. A whole museum in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is dedicated to this book: its exposition includes exhibits related to the life and work of Chekhov (including his personal belongings). Several settlements of the Sakhalin region are named after the writer. Monuments to Chekhov have been erected in several cities of the island, and the Literary and Art Museum of A.P. Chekhov "Sakhalin Island".

The indigenous people of Sakhalin are the Nivkhs and Ainu. However, today they make up less than 1% of all inhabitants of the island. In addition to Russians, Koreans, Ukrainians, and Tatars live in the Sakhalin Region.

Historical and cultural monuments of Sakhalin
Sakhalin passed from Russia to Japan and back several times, and many monuments of Japanese culture have been preserved on the island. One of them is the building of the Museum of Local Lore in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It was built in traditional Japanese style in 1937. The modern exposition of the museum includes more than 170 thousand exhibits: they include samples of flora and fauna, household items of the indigenous inhabitants of the island, historical documents, ancient weapons.

Another monument of Japanese architecture is a ritual torii gate made of white marble near the village of Vzmorye. Previously, there was a temple of Tomarioru Jinja behind them, but it has not survived to this day.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Japanese built the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk-Polyakovo railway line on the island. Nowadays, it is not used for its intended purpose and has become a historical monument. From the Devil's Bridge - the highest in the Sakhalin Region - a beautiful view of the surroundings of the railway opens up.

Island nature
The flora and fauna of Sakhalin is poorer than on the mainland, but dense forests grow here and there are animals and plants listed in the Red Book. In addition, scientists have recorded a phenomenon that is unique to this region: herbaceous plants on Sakhalin often grow to gigantic sizes. Nettle, buckwheat, bear's pipe and other herbs can reach 3-5 meters in height.

Different species of birds nest on Lake Tunaicha, and on Seal Island near Sakhalin there is a large seal rookery and huge bird colonies. Karst caves are located in the vicinity of the highest point of the island - Mount Wajda. From the top of the Zhdanko mountain range, a view of the picturesque surroundings opens up. On Cape Velikan, you can see natural arches, grottoes and pillars that arose under the influence of wind and salty sea water. Sakhalin has an active mud volcano, as well as mineral and thermal springs.sea. travel, world, nature