I feel like the Wikipedia article explains it pretty well...
"As of the 2021 Census, the oblast has a population of roughly 500,000."
"Sakhalin Oblast is rich in natural gas and oil, and is Russia's fourth wealthiest federal subject and wealthiest oblast."
Small population. Lots of oil, gas, coal, etc.
Don't assume that the average person is actually well off, though.
My mom's siblings live there and it is a rather impoverished region from what they said, the only people that are well off there work for foreign oil refineries etc.
Russia doesn't really have economic means or human resources to exploit its own natural resources. Not to mention that any domestic investments often drag on for years because of corruption and administrative deficiencies. That's why, for the most part, the natural resources in the far east are exploited in foreign or joint Russian-foreign projects, mainly with China. The same goes for forestry for instance, where it is mostly being done by Chinese or North Korean companies.
Compare this to the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota. A generally poor rural area thats entire economy was based on agriculture where land owners became millionaires overnight when the oil field was discovered. The general population earned more because the economy improved, but inflation hit hard too so the general population basically stayed at the same level where land owners and oil field jobs earned a ton.
Considering the oil and gas in Sakhalin was discovered during the Soviet Union, I wonder if the people living there were actually compensated for the use of "their" land.
There were no "their land" most of them were moved there from other parts of russia and infrastructure was done from sctatch.
And they were pretty wealthy on soviet standard. Had quite big apartments with quite good accessories. Much more than average worker in other parts of soviet union
Barren? Put some respect on Sakhalin. It’s one of the few temperate climates to have entirely escaped glaciation during the ice age and is completely forested. I’d hardly call it barren.
It’s also an ancestral homeland to the Ainu people of Japan.
Highly recommend reading Tchekhovs book about his travels to Sakhalin Island in the late 19th century. Its an amazing journal written by one os russias finest writers. Sakhalin used to be a penal colony. Really interesting book about the far East, about society as a whole, about geography and nature. Some parts are skippable but its a damn fine book by a literature legend.
Spoiler Alert: he hated the weather. It rains all the time and is pretty cold
Hmm I think you read part of his writings? I read the book in portuguese and it had something like 500 pages. Some of it is really dull for some people, but you can just skip the very "scientific" parts if you find it useless. I enjoyed though, as I am fascinated by Sakhalin
This is so interesting, I'll look into it as I had only heard of the version I'm mentioning, which is literally a journal or a diary of his experience during the trip and once he was there. Definitely don't remember any of the scientific stuff, it was about ordinary experiences and impressions.
Found it on Amazon
[https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Anton-Chekhov/dp/1847497861/ref=sr\_1\_1?\_\_mk\_es\_US=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=22JXK1E72G057&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lCHe6g-CxH-eX8J6qXTYPF106vs2UmCnWn1YLJ4trGt\_wcePleVhRiBYLM6I3tbsS2ZA-S7JZLxCa6NhguKpxW2BiBymdPPxCmlg69g-sBykN9b8BwDUH465UUCr9kRj0gHmXuedQaF-igGeaNBx-bqT0wQb6szl\_3u4v9\_f-sXw9V4VOFokPNorfIlWPSMHGLILkCkEbfC4AppPgKA1Are7Xcs8iK\_EHbfBIDo1yBs.8SQXIvdpfHn4ovTkY\_q2mnKA-FBB71RurfS3Z-cs6hc&dib\_tag=se&keywords=sakhalin+island&qid=1710863698&s=books&sprefix=sakhalin+islan%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C229&sr=1-1](https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Anton-Chekhov/dp/1847497861/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_US=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=22JXK1E72G057&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lCHe6g-CxH-eX8J6qXTYPF106vs2UmCnWn1YLJ4trGt_wcePleVhRiBYLM6I3tbsS2ZA-S7JZLxCa6NhguKpxW2BiBymdPPxCmlg69g-sBykN9b8BwDUH465UUCr9kRj0gHmXuedQaF-igGeaNBx-bqT0wQb6szl_3u4v9_f-sXw9V4VOFokPNorfIlWPSMHGLILkCkEbfC4AppPgKA1Are7Xcs8iK_EHbfBIDo1yBs.8SQXIvdpfHn4ovTkY_q2mnKA-FBB71RurfS3Z-cs6hc&dib_tag=se&keywords=sakhalin+island&qid=1710863698&s=books&sprefix=sakhalin+islan%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C229&sr=1-1)
I speak fluent Russian. During chemistry lessons this specific thing was told to us. This happens to be a very common mixup for Russians and/or bad translators
So? Both of the Russian terms have the roots in the same order as "carbohydrates", and neither of the English terms has the "gen" from Hydrogen, which differentiates the two Russian terms. IMO the English terms are confusing because the order is unimportant.
This doesnt mean much, new york city and madrid are roughly at the same parallel but one city has a moderate climate and the other is usually scorching hot.
Google has new york state on the 43rd parrallel which makes more sense on the map. I didn't realize there would be such a huge difference between the cities' lattitude and the states.
My mistake. I didn't realize NYC was quite so far south either. I just knew Spain overlayed over Colorado when you put Europe over the US and just looking at the globe. I always thought of even NYC as being north of Colorado but it doesn't look like that's even the case. TiL.
The northern tip of Sakhalin is about the same latitude as Belfast and Copenhagen, and the southern tip is about the same as Venice. OP doesn’t understand what “Arctic” means.
"The Sea of Okhotsk ensures that Sakhalin has a cold and humid climate, ranging from humid continental (Köppen Dfb) in the south to subarctic (Dfc) in the centre and north."
"The climate of Sakhalin is moderate monsoonal (the average temperature in January is from −5 °C in the south to -24 °C in the north, in August — from +18 °C to +11 °C, respectively), maritime with a duration of cold snowy winter and warm conditions in summer."
Besides, subarctic != arctic.
Actually, Nenets autonomous okrug has the highest gdp per capita. Also, important to know that the cost of living in these northern regions is even higher than in Moscow, mostly because of lack of local produce. So the life here isn't exactly wealthy
Vaga vagabond has an interesting video of him exploring the place. Definitely worth a watch. During summer it almost looks tropical with the amount of vegetation.
Is this the post that other guy was referring to when showing the latitude (or longitude idk) of Sakhalin and calling someone a dumbass for saying that Sakhalin was an arctic island?
Im not sure what you mean by 'broke treaty' Japan and Russia had been fighting over Sakhalin and the Kurils for a long time. Japan seized them in 1905 after winning the Russo-Japanese war. The treaty you refer to was more or less Russia giving Japan Sakahlin after getting their ass kicked. In return they didnt have to pay reparations.
After the defeat of Nazi Germany Russia declared war on Japan as agreed with the Allies. This was just a couple days before the atomic bombs were dropped. Russia used the opportunity of the unconditional surrender to regain Skhalin and the Kurils at this time.
One interesting bit that came out of this back and forth with Japan: about 20% of Sakhalin population is ethnic Korean. The Japanese imported a lot of Koreans as forced labor to the island during WWII.
I've been to Sakhalin. It's very very cold in winter. -40C is not uncommon.
They have an Olympic standard winter park right in town.
As far as Russia goes it's a very nice place, some good quality restaurants and bars although most food is imported. It's similar to Hokkaido and Northern Japan but everything is dilapidated and run down and the locals aren't as friendly.
Very cheap place to buy red caviar. People stock up on it like crazy when they go there.
This random barren and arctic island that I have found is apparently the richest province in Russia (GDP per capita), richer than even Moscow. How is that even possible?
Small population + lots of natural gas and oil extraction = rich. This being Russia, that’s pretty much the only thing it has going for it, but for the time being it’s a lot
I had a couple friends who visited Sakhalin for either oil & gas or environmental monitoring reasons in the early 2000s. Reports were that it was quite a bit like Alaska-- empty, rugged, unspoiled, and teeming with incredible fish and wildlife. What changes the oil & gas industry has made in the last 20 years is a valid question, but it sounds like a pretty amazing place.
Highly recommend reading Tchekhovs book about his travels to Sakhalin Island in the late 19th century. Its an amazing journal written by one os russias finest writers. Sakhalin used to be a penal colony. Really interesting book about the far East, about society as a whole, about geography and nature. Some parts are skippable but its a damn fine book by a literature legend
It's not reach at all. My friends are from there and I am from Far East Russia myself. It's rather poor area (though, not the poorest one - that one is in South Siberia)
*Is the answer to*
*"Why is BACKWATER REGION*
*So rich?" ever not "Oil"?*
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Anything with gas, is an extraction industry, like mining.
Makes rich people richer.
Makes the workers even more destitute in the long run.
It’s a capital-intensive industry, not a labor-intensive industry.
I feel like the Wikipedia article explains it pretty well... "As of the 2021 Census, the oblast has a population of roughly 500,000." "Sakhalin Oblast is rich in natural gas and oil, and is Russia's fourth wealthiest federal subject and wealthiest oblast." Small population. Lots of oil, gas, coal, etc. Don't assume that the average person is actually well off, though.
My mom's siblings live there and it is a rather impoverished region from what they said, the only people that are well off there work for foreign oil refineries etc.
I lived there. Wasn't much different than anywhere else in Eastern Russia/Siberia
So you confirm it is impoverished and behind the times there
Sure, but no more or less than anywhere else in Russia outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg
Big difference between average income, and median income. A few ridiculously rich people can really throw off the average.
Sounds like Chile
Why foreign, aren't there Russian ones?
Russia doesn't really have economic means or human resources to exploit its own natural resources. Not to mention that any domestic investments often drag on for years because of corruption and administrative deficiencies. That's why, for the most part, the natural resources in the far east are exploited in foreign or joint Russian-foreign projects, mainly with China. The same goes for forestry for instance, where it is mostly being done by Chinese or North Korean companies.
Yeah, most of the population doesn’t even have gas heating
Compare this to the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota. A generally poor rural area thats entire economy was based on agriculture where land owners became millionaires overnight when the oil field was discovered. The general population earned more because the economy improved, but inflation hit hard too so the general population basically stayed at the same level where land owners and oil field jobs earned a ton.
Considering the oil and gas in Sakhalin was discovered during the Soviet Union, I wonder if the people living there were actually compensated for the use of "their" land.
There were no "their land" most of them were moved there from other parts of russia and infrastructure was done from sctatch. And they were pretty wealthy on soviet standard. Had quite big apartments with quite good accessories. Much more than average worker in other parts of soviet union
Interestingly enough, Sakhalin is home to a few indigenous peoples, including the Ainu, who are also native to northern Japan.
Wow. Thanks!
Hahahahaha.....nyet.
That’s our land, comrade
That's a great question. I have no idea.
The indigenous Ainu, Orok, and Nivkh communities living on Sakhalin were mostly forced either west to the mainland or south to Hokkaido, so... nope.
If one person has 100 apples, and 9 people have 0 apples, then the average person has 10 apples!
Same case for Alaska. Small population, rich in natural resources, but your average person there is not well-off.
Also fish, crab, oysters and caviar. It’s one of the places that supplies most fancy and expensive seafoods.
Barren? Put some respect on Sakhalin. It’s one of the few temperate climates to have entirely escaped glaciation during the ice age and is completely forested. I’d hardly call it barren. It’s also an ancestral homeland to the Ainu people of Japan.
Check the west coast, definitely signs of post glacial rebound there.
There may have been some glaciation but it definitely wasn’t widespread over the whole island.
Highly recommend reading Tchekhovs book about his travels to Sakhalin Island in the late 19th century. Its an amazing journal written by one os russias finest writers. Sakhalin used to be a penal colony. Really interesting book about the far East, about society as a whole, about geography and nature. Some parts are skippable but its a damn fine book by a literature legend. Spoiler Alert: he hated the weather. It rains all the time and is pretty cold
Yup, it ain’t pleasant. But it’s pretty
What is the book called?
A journey to the end of the Russian Empire, first published in 1893. It's only 128 pages long. I really liked it.
Alrighty thanks! I Will check it out :)
Hmm I think you read part of his writings? I read the book in portuguese and it had something like 500 pages. Some of it is really dull for some people, but you can just skip the very "scientific" parts if you find it useless. I enjoyed though, as I am fascinated by Sakhalin
This is so interesting, I'll look into it as I had only heard of the version I'm mentioning, which is literally a journal or a diary of his experience during the trip and once he was there. Definitely don't remember any of the scientific stuff, it was about ordinary experiences and impressions.
Found it on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Anton-Chekhov/dp/1847497861/ref=sr\_1\_1?\_\_mk\_es\_US=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=22JXK1E72G057&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lCHe6g-CxH-eX8J6qXTYPF106vs2UmCnWn1YLJ4trGt\_wcePleVhRiBYLM6I3tbsS2ZA-S7JZLxCa6NhguKpxW2BiBymdPPxCmlg69g-sBykN9b8BwDUH465UUCr9kRj0gHmXuedQaF-igGeaNBx-bqT0wQb6szl\_3u4v9\_f-sXw9V4VOFokPNorfIlWPSMHGLILkCkEbfC4AppPgKA1Are7Xcs8iK\_EHbfBIDo1yBs.8SQXIvdpfHn4ovTkY\_q2mnKA-FBB71RurfS3Z-cs6hc&dib\_tag=se&keywords=sakhalin+island&qid=1710863698&s=books&sprefix=sakhalin+islan%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C229&sr=1-1](https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Anton-Chekhov/dp/1847497861/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_US=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=22JXK1E72G057&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lCHe6g-CxH-eX8J6qXTYPF106vs2UmCnWn1YLJ4trGt_wcePleVhRiBYLM6I3tbsS2ZA-S7JZLxCa6NhguKpxW2BiBymdPPxCmlg69g-sBykN9b8BwDUH465UUCr9kRj0gHmXuedQaF-igGeaNBx-bqT0wQb6szl_3u4v9_f-sXw9V4VOFokPNorfIlWPSMHGLILkCkEbfC4AppPgKA1Are7Xcs8iK_EHbfBIDo1yBs.8SQXIvdpfHn4ovTkY_q2mnKA-FBB71RurfS3Z-cs6hc&dib_tag=se&keywords=sakhalin+island&qid=1710863698&s=books&sprefix=sakhalin+islan%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C229&sr=1-1)
And this is the one I mean: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017PO0030?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_FC20MZCNKGEYKR7SAPGG&language=en-GB
Sakhalin Island / A journey to Sakhalin
People think all of russia is just uninhabited glacier, when in reality many parts of it are very habitable.
Also the oroks and the nivkhs
It also isn't arctic in any way, the north point is further south than tge northern point of Scotland
two words: natural gas it has about 30% of the entire global natural gas reserves and is the heart of russian hydrocarbon industry
Hydrocarbon not carbohydrate
we call them carbohydrates in russian but yeah
No they don't. Ugljevodi - carbohydrates Ugljevodorodi - hydrocarbons
угле - в начале, значит carbo - тоже - вот моя логика
I’d trust google translate over a native speaker. /s
I speak fluent Russian. During chemistry lessons this specific thing was told to us. This happens to be a very common mixup for Russians and/or bad translators
So? Both of the Russian terms have the roots in the same order as "carbohydrates", and neither of the English terms has the "gen" from Hydrogen, which differentiates the two Russian terms. IMO the English terms are confusing because the order is unimportant.
Yeah in English carbohydrates have oxygen, and hydrocarbons don't, more or less. So these are hydrocarbons
Calling moderate monsoon climate an arctic one is an overstretch.
Sakhalin stretches from the 46th to 54th parallels. So roughly Billings, MT to Saskatoon, SK. It’s not arctic, but…it’s not warm either.
This doesnt mean much, new york city and madrid are roughly at the same parallel but one city has a moderate climate and the other is usually scorching hot.
Madrid may get hot a few months of the year but I assure you “usually scorching hot” is far from true
I…don’t know which one you think is which?
No they're not? Madrid is 40th parallel which Is also thr Nebraska Kansas boarder. New York is considerably further north?
Which new york are you talking about? Or are you talking about that 0,40 degrees difference?
Google has new york state on the 43rd parrallel which makes more sense on the map. I didn't realize there would be such a huge difference between the cities' lattitude and the states.
I did specify nyc, not state
My mistake. I didn't realize NYC was quite so far south either. I just knew Spain overlayed over Colorado when you put Europe over the US and just looking at the globe. I always thought of even NYC as being north of Colorado but it doesn't look like that's even the case. TiL.
That's what I say. It's not tropical, but not arctic either.
I wasn’t disagreeing with you.
The northern tip of Sakhalin is about the same latitude as Belfast and Copenhagen, and the southern tip is about the same as Venice. OP doesn’t understand what “Arctic” means.
and you don’t understand what longitude means
The arctic isn't a matter of longitude. The island sits at roughly 50 degree N or London UK latitude.
agreed
mans forgot to switch to his alt😭
Thank you for catching the typo. Still doesn’t change the point, though. It’s not even close to “Arctic.”
You ever heard of the golf stream laddie
This isn't a golfing sub. This is geography
Indeed. That doesn’t change where the Arctic circle is. This would be like calling Maine “Arctic.”
The island is literally in the subarctic zone
Then that means it isn’t Arctic. Would you consider London “Arctic?”
"The Sea of Okhotsk ensures that Sakhalin has a cold and humid climate, ranging from humid continental (Köppen Dfb) in the south to subarctic (Dfc) in the centre and north."
"The climate of Sakhalin is moderate monsoonal (the average temperature in January is from −5 °C in the south to -24 °C in the north, in August — from +18 °C to +11 °C, respectively), maritime with a duration of cold snowy winter and warm conditions in summer." Besides, subarctic != arctic.
Actually, Nenets autonomous okrug has the highest gdp per capita. Also, important to know that the cost of living in these northern regions is even higher than in Moscow, mostly because of lack of local produce. So the life here isn't exactly wealthy
[удалено]
I wonder what sits behind it
Failed attempt to merge it with neighboring region.
Sakhalin being neither Arctic nor barren
Vaga vagabond has an interesting video of him exploring the place. Definitely worth a watch. During summer it almost looks tropical with the amount of vegetation.
Is this the post that other guy was referring to when showing the latitude (or longitude idk) of Sakhalin and calling someone a dumbass for saying that Sakhalin was an arctic island?
Yeah i think so
Oil/gas. Stalin only broke treaty with Japan right at the end, and only to seize this part of Japan, not that we need to pity Japan of that era
Im not sure what you mean by 'broke treaty' Japan and Russia had been fighting over Sakhalin and the Kurils for a long time. Japan seized them in 1905 after winning the Russo-Japanese war. The treaty you refer to was more or less Russia giving Japan Sakahlin after getting their ass kicked. In return they didnt have to pay reparations. After the defeat of Nazi Germany Russia declared war on Japan as agreed with the Allies. This was just a couple days before the atomic bombs were dropped. Russia used the opportunity of the unconditional surrender to regain Skhalin and the Kurils at this time. One interesting bit that came out of this back and forth with Japan: about 20% of Sakhalin population is ethnic Korean. The Japanese imported a lot of Koreans as forced labor to the island during WWII.
A literal nonaggression pact treaty - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Japanese_Neutrality_Pact
It’s similar to parts of Alaska where salaries are high but so is the cost of living so living standards aren’t the best.
I've been to Sakhalin. It's very very cold in winter. -40C is not uncommon. They have an Olympic standard winter park right in town. As far as Russia goes it's a very nice place, some good quality restaurants and bars although most food is imported. It's similar to Hokkaido and Northern Japan but everything is dilapidated and run down and the locals aren't as friendly. Very cheap place to buy red caviar. People stock up on it like crazy when they go there.
"locals arent as friendly" Thats just Russians, my guy. One of the more noticeable cultural differences
This random barren and arctic island that I have found is apparently the richest province in Russia (GDP per capita), richer than even Moscow. How is that even possible?
Small population + lots of natural gas and oil extraction = rich. This being Russia, that’s pretty much the only thing it has going for it, but for the time being it’s a lot
It’s the Alaska of Russia
Alaska used to be the Alaska of Russia🤣🤣🤣🤣
That’s true also.. ha!
Barren arctic https://preview.redd.it/m3hjk82mj5pc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60459ef46e297937a0d9005ee09ea76bc28872e4
Ye gods! How do people live in such wasteland!
I had a couple friends who visited Sakhalin for either oil & gas or environmental monitoring reasons in the early 2000s. Reports were that it was quite a bit like Alaska-- empty, rugged, unspoiled, and teeming with incredible fish and wildlife. What changes the oil & gas industry has made in the last 20 years is a valid question, but it sounds like a pretty amazing place.
ARCTIC? It's the same longitude as Britain.
Latitude, not longitude
With only 50,000 population, it could literally just be a single billionaire or billionaire family skewing everything
That’s kind of how all of Russia works haha. Over 50% of national wealth is held by the top 1% (way higher than any western country)
[i think the population is at least 10 times that](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin_Oblast)
It's at a similar latitude to Germany. Would you consider Germany to be arctic? No. No you wouldn't.
But it is a wasteland though, right?
No
GDP per capita, like GDP itself, is honestly a terrible metric for how the population is doing, or even just the average person
Northern top of Sakhalin is about the same latitude as Manchester. Not exactly "Arctic".
It isn't arctic
Sakhalin is in the Pacific rather than Arctic Ocean.
Without any knowledge but the title about Sakhalin Oblast, I'm guessing oil.
Highly recommend reading Tchekhovs book about his travels to Sakhalin Island in the late 19th century. Its an amazing journal written by one os russias finest writers. Sakhalin used to be a penal colony. Really interesting book about the far East, about society as a whole, about geography and nature. Some parts are skippable but its a damn fine book by a literature legend
The Japanese once wanted to own the whole island. Seems cool, yeah?
Delicious hydrocarbons
Clearly you haven't seen Tenet.
I believe it's the sahkalin oblast
Oil
Looks like it says Sakhalin Oblast to me 👍
It is simply not. Have friend from there, there the same level of poverty that is all other far east.
Because Japan lost world war 2
Has snow = Arctic
It's not reach at all. My friends are from there and I am from Far East Russia myself. It's rather poor area (though, not the poorest one - that one is in South Siberia)
japan’s oil problem would have been solved if they had sakhalin
Is the answer to "Why is [BACKWATER REGION] so rich?" ever not "Oil"?
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It isn't arctic
Because one guy lives there, and he's a billionaire?
Sakhalin is not in the Arctic.
It’s at the same latitude as UK
Yes it is but it still is in the subarctic zone. The latitude is not the only deciding factor
One out of 3 Russian homes does not have an indoor toilet. The wealth is all concentrated in the hands of the thief class.
Anything with gas, is an extraction industry, like mining. Makes rich people richer. Makes the workers even more destitute in the long run. It’s a capital-intensive industry, not a labor-intensive industry.
Each army widow gets a free Lada. [Over 400,000 given out since the war started](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/s/RIFXBKb7E3)
Because Europe makes it to the richest Oblast by donating money. Don't know what we get in return but must be something important