Where is it? Sakhalin Oblast, or region, is an island located in the Russian Far East, to the east of Primorye Krai and Khabarovsk Krai in the Sea of Okhotsk. It is in the same time zone as Vladivostok. You can find the current local time here. China, Japan and Russia have all claimed sovereignty over the region at one time or another.

What's the biggest city? Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, population 170,000 as of the 2002 census, out of 546,695 total inhabitants in the region. Other large cities are Korsakov and Kholmsk.

Who lives here? Mostly ethnic Russians and, as with Magadan, more than a few are the descendants of convicts sent as forced laborers. The oldest native group on the fish-shaped island seems to be the Ainu, the same people who live on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk has a large Korean population. Koreans were brought in as forced laborers by the Japanese when they controlled the area from 1905 to 1945, and many remained after Japan's defeat in World War II. There is also a substantial community of expatriates working for the many oil and gas companies exploring the region. They live in gated communities outside the city that rival any American suburb. You'll also see a fair number of "McMansions" built by Russian energy execs and businesspeople.

What do they do here? Oil and gas exploration rule the economy of Sakhalin, accounting for perhaps as much as 80% of its industrial output. There is also coal mining and forestry, and the island's mountains, dense forests and twisting rivers have been discovered by sport tourists. Speaking of tourism, the area's hotel base hasn’t kept pace with the large number of oil service workers coming through the region, so a hotel room can be hard to come by.

Does it have any English-language news sources? The Sakhalin Times. It has put out its own guidebook to the region, Sakhalin Unplugged". The former weekly, The Sakhalin Independent, seems defunct.

How do I see what it looks like? You can see pictures of Sakhalin on Flickr. There are a lot of shots that give you an idea of the harsh climate here.

How do I get here? By air--Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport is served by Aeroflot, Domodedovo and Transaero from Moscow, and Vladivostok Avia and SAT Airlines from Vladivostok. Asiana Airlines and SAT fly from Seoul. On the island, there is a north-south railway and a potholed collection of roads.

Which adoption agencies work here? The World Association for Children and Parents (WACAP) and ABC Adoption Services/Carolina Adoption Services. A private group, Kidsave International, has set up a model program to help local families mentor and adopt children from Sakhalin's orphanages. Kidsave is running one of its signature "MiracleWalk" fundraising events in Sakhalin on June 23.

Which Russian adoption bloggers have been here? Me. Russia Forum member "Russiamomto3" adopted one of her children from Sakhalin. There is also a Yahoo! group Sakhalin_Island_Adoption.

Truly trivia: In 1983 Korean Air flight 007 was shot down just west of Sakhalin by the Soviet military after it flew into Soviet airspace.

Need more information? Unfortunately, Kommersant doesn't have much to say and "Way To Russia" hasn't been here yet. There is a Russian-language Web site for the region. Here's the current weather in Sakhalin, which is one of the coldest places in Russia.

Image Credit: shinyai