Editing Sakhalin (section)

==Geography==
Sakhalin is separated from the mainland by the narrow and shallow [[Strait of Tartary]], which often freezes in winter in its narrower part, and from [[Hokkaido]], Japan, by the Soya Strait or [[La Pérouse Strait]]. Sakhalin is the largest island in Russia, being {{convert|948|km|mi|abbr=on}} long, and {{convert|25|to|170|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} wide, with an area of {{convert|72492|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|0}}.<ref name="islands.unep.ch"/> It lies at similar latitudes to England, Wales and Ireland.

Its [[orography]] and geological structure are imperfectly known. One theory is that Sakhalin arose from the [[Sakhalin Island Arc]].<ref name="FarEast">{{cite book|last=Ivanov|first=Andrey |title=The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia |editor=Shahgedanova, Maria |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |date=March 27, 2003|series=Oxford Regional Environments|volume=3|pages=428–429 |chapter=18 The Far East |isbn=978-0-19-823384-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CFiT3qbN5UC&pg=PA428 |access-date=July 16, 2008}}</ref> Nearly two-thirds of Sakhalin is mountainous. Two parallel ranges of mountains traverse it from north to south, reaching {{convert|600|–|1500|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The Western Sakhalin Mountains peak in Mount Ichara, {{convert|1481|m|ft|abbr=on|0}}, while the Eastern Sakhalin Mountains's highest peak, Mount Lopatin {{convert|1609|m|ft|abbr=on|0}}, is also the island's highest mountain. Tym-Poronaiskaya Valley separates the two ranges. Susuanaisky and Tonino-Anivsky ranges traverse the island in the south, while the swampy Northern-Sakhalin plain occupies most of its north.<ref name="autogenerated1974">Ivlev, A. M. Soils of Sakhalin. New Delhi: Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, 1974. Pages 9–28.</ref>

Crystalline rocks crop out at several capes; [[Cretaceous]] [[limestone]]s, containing an abundant and specific fauna of gigantic [[ammonite]]s, occur at Dui on the west coast; and [[Tertiary]] [[conglomerate (geology)|conglomerates]], [[sandstone]]s, [[marl]]s, and [[clay]]s, folded by subsequent upheavals, are found in many parts of the island. The clays, which contain layers of good coal and abundant fossilized vegetation, show that during the Miocene period, Sakhalin formed part of a continent which comprised north Asia, Alaska, and Japan, and enjoyed a comparatively warm climate. The [[Pliocene]] deposits contain a mollusc fauna more Arctic than that which exists at the present time, indicating that the connection between the Pacific and [[Arctic Ocean]]s was probably broader than it is now.

Main rivers: The [[Tym (Sakhalin)|Tym]], {{convert|330|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} long and navigable by rafts and light boats for {{convert|80|km|mi|abbr=on|0}}, flows north and northeast with numerous rapids and shallows, and enters the [[Sea of Okhotsk]].<ref name="Tym">[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article113138.html Тымь] – an article in the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]''. (In Russian, retrieved 21 June 2020.)</ref> The [[Poronay]] flows south-southeast to the [[Gulf of Patience]] or Shichiro Bay, on the southeastern coast. Three other small streams enter the wide semicircular [[Aniva Bay]] or Higashifushimi Bay at the southern extremity of the island.

The northernmost point of Sakhalin is [[Cape Elizabeth (Sakhalin)|Cape Elizabeth]] on the [[Schmidt Peninsula (Sakhalin)|Schmidt Peninsula]], while [[Cape Crillon]] is the southernmost point of the island. The [[Khalpili Islands]] are off [[Cape Khalpili]].

Sakhalin has two smaller islands associated with it, [[Moneron Island]] and [[Ush Island]]. Moneron, the only land mass in the Tatar strait, {{convert|7.2|km|mi|abbr=on|1}} long and {{convert|5.6|km|mi|abbr=on|1}} wide, is about {{convert|24|nmi|km}} west from the nearest coast of Sakhalin and {{convert|41|nmi|km|abbr=on}} from the port city of Nevelsk. Ush Island is an island off of the northern coast of Sakhalin.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="145px">
File:Sakhalin and her surroundings English ver.png|Sakhalin and its surroundings
File:Кекуры Мыса Великан 3.jpg|Velikan Cape, Sakhalin
File:Хребет Жданко и бухта Тихая.jpg|Zhdanko Mountain Ridge
</gallery>