Sakhalin is one of the largest islands in Russia, interesting both geographically and historically. Its geographical location is unique; it is separated from the continent and from Japan by three straits, bathed by the cold Sea of Okhotsk and the warm Japanese Sea. The seas washing the coast of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands are among the most productive areas of ocean in the world. Nearly two-thirds of the Sakhalin area is mountainous. Lopatin Mountain is the highest, at 1,609 m. The Northern part of the island is a swampy plain covered with deciduous taiga, while mountains of the central and southern parts of the island are covered with forests. There are two mud volcanoes, more than 60 thousand rivers and streams, and about 16,120 lakes on the island. Sakhalin is attractive for its oil, coal and timber resources. From the very beginning of Sakhalin colonization not only the Russians and Japanese “paid attention” to this territory. According to historical data, the first Japanese expedition visited Sakhalin in 1635. By the end of the 18th century English and French explorers showed an interest in Sakhalin and the Kurils. In 1787, ships of the La Perouse’s expedition (the frigates Bussole and Astrolabia) conducted their explorations. Jean Francois Galoup de la Perouse thus became the first European to sail into the Tatar Straits. Sailing to the North, the French seafarer plotted on the map the shape of Sakhalin and the mainland, but could not find a way between them. Near the entrance to the narrowest part of the Tatar Strait it appeared that the coastlines of Sakhalin and the mainland joined at the horizon. La Perouse did not go further. He sent out two rowboats, which were also forced to come back. French seafarers came into conclusion that Sakhalin was joined to the mainland. The French sailors explored more than 700 kilometers of Sakhalin coastline and after a short stop the ships under La Perouse's command sailed from the Japanese Sea to the Sea of Okhotsk via the strait between Sakhalin and Hokkaido. This strait today bears his name. In 1796-1797, the English captain William Robert Broughton explored the coastline of Sakhalin and the Kurils. Broughton sailed eight miles further than La Perouse up to the Tatar Straits and concluded that he was in a gulf surrounded by low, sandy shores. Thus appeared the theory that Sakhalin was a peninsula.   www.sras.org