Sakhalin region is located in the Far East of the Russian Federation, off the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent in the transition zone from the continent to the Pacific Ocean. It borders Kamchatka, Khabarovsk and Primorsky territories, in the south - with Japan. The administrative center is the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Located 10,417 km east of Moscow, in the southeastern part of Sakhalin Island. There are 18 municipalities on the territory of the Sakhalin Region.

Sakhalin Island is separated from the mainland by the Tatar Strait of the Sea of ​​Japan, narrow (7.3 km) and shallow Nevelsky Strait, Amur Liman and Sakhalin Gulf. From Hokkaido Island (Japan), Sakhalin is separated by Laperuza Strait (about 40 km). From the west and south, the island is washed by the waters of the warm Sea of ​​Japan, from the north and east - by the cold Sea of ​​Okhotsk.
Most of the territory of Sakhalin Island is occupied by medium-high mountains. In the western part from its southern tip along the coast of the Tatar Strait, the West Sakhalin Mountains stretch for almost 650 km. In the eastern part are the East Sakhalin Mountains. Here are the highest peaks of the island - Mount Lopatina (height 1609 m) and Mount Nevelskogo (1397 m).
The mountain ranges of Sakhalin are divided by lowlands, quite swampy and cut through by rivers and streams. The main rivers of the island are the Tym and Poronai.

The Kuril Islands - an archipelago of volcanic islands on the border of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. The islands are divided into the Great Kuril Ridge and the Small Kuril Ridge. The archipelago is located between the island of Hokkaido (Japan) and the Kamchatka Peninsula. The largest islands are Paramushir, Urup, Iturup and Kuna.
Each island is either a volcano, or its fragment, or a whole chain of volcanoes. The relief of the islands is mostly mountainous. The highest point is Mount Alaid on Atlasova Island (2339 m above sea level). High seismic and volcanic activity is the main feature of local nature. There are 37 active and potentially active volcanoes on the Kuril Islands, and earthquakes quite often happen.

Fauna

Of the hunting animals in the Sakhalin Region there are: brown bear, wolverine, fox, sable, hare, reindeer, squirrel, chipmunk, ermine, otter. Red deer and musk deer can also be seen. Forest birds are numerous: capercaillie, hazel grouse, woodcock, partridge, tit, woodpecker, mallard, teal, guillemot, cormorants. Rookeries are common on the Kuril Islands.
Sakhalin rivers and lakes, the sea around the island are rich in fish, especially of the salmon family. There are also Sakhalin sturgeon, pike, crucian carp, common carp, the largest freshwater fish - kaluga (which is extremely rare).

The mineral reserves of the Sakhalin region are diverse and individual species are quite large. Only on Sakhalin there are more than 50 types of mineral raw materials, of which oil, gas, coal and lignite, building materials, peat, fresh groundwater have a huge industrial importance and are being developed.

Sakhalin region is a resourceful region with significant reserves of oil, gas, and coal. On the territory of the region, widespread mineral resources, aquatic biological, forest, recreational and balneological resources are represented in a wide range.

The economy of the Sakhalin Region has been developing quite dynamically in the recent years. The growth of key macroeconomic indicators has continued. The volume of GRP is $ 14 billion (2017).
The contribution of the Sakhalin Region to the formation of industrial production as a whole in the Far Eastern Federal District is about 35%. At the same time, the region ranks 1st in terms of industrial production per capita in the Far Eastern Federal District.
The geographical position of the Sakhalin Region forms the prospects for the development of foreign economic activity, primarily in the zone of the Asia-Pacific region. In terms of foreign trade, Sakhalin Regon is the undisputed leader in the Far Eastern Federal District. The volume of foreign trade turnover is 12 billion US dollars (2017).

Thanks to the implementation of large-scale international projects Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 in the region, the oil and gas sector occupies a dominant position, accounting for more than 80% of total industrial production and more than 70% of the regional budget tax revenues. In Sakhalin Region, Russia's first natural gas liquefaction (LNG) plant was launched. LNG is supplied to Japan (over 65%), the Republic of Korea, China, Thailand and Mexico. Options to increase the capacity of the LNG plant are being considered.

The transport infrastructure of the Sakhalin Region is represented by air, sea, rail, road and pipeline transport.
Road transport is a basic element of the transport system of the Sakhalin Region. This type of transport takes first place in terms of passenger traffic in the region. Over 29 million people are transported by this mode of transport annually, of which the majority of passengers are transported along urban routes (96% of the number of passengers carried annually). Road transport in the Sakhalin Region carries about 38% of the total cargo in transport, which is about 2 million tons of cargo.

Air Transport

Due to the geographical location of the Sakhalin Region, air transport solves important social problems. More than 90% of passenger traffic outside the region and back is carried out by air. Inside the region, passengers are transported to hard-to-reach areas, including the Kuril Islands, mostly by air.

In the Sakhalin Region there are 7 airports and one heliport, which provide airport support for regular passenger and charter flights in the absence of alternative modes of transport.
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport is a federal airport, in 1990 it received international status and ensures the implementation of intra-regional, inter-regional and international air transportation. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport is the largest transport infrastructure company in the region and has a significant impact on the social processes of the region.
From Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport, regular passenger air transportations are carried out on the following airlines: international (Seoul, Sapporo, Tokyo, Krabi, Phuket, Utapao, Kamran), interregional (Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yakutsk, Novosibirsk) and intraregional (Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Kurilsk, Okha).

Sea transport

The region’s maritime transport infrastructure includes 8 seaports and 14 maritime terminals within the borders of the ports, a transport fleet and the Vanino - Kholmsk sea railway crossing, which provides about 75% of the total volume of cargo delivered to Sakhalin.

Railway transport

Rail transport is the main form of trunk transport, providing intermunicipal transportation of bulk goods in the region. The bulk of freight and passenger rail transport on the island is provided by the Far Eastern Railway - a branch of the Russian Railways Open Joint Stock Company in the Sakhalin Region.

By order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 7, 2018 No. 2713-r, the amount of the grant for 2018 from the federal budget to the budget of the Sakhalin Region in the amount of 883 million rubles was approved. In order to encourage the achievement of the best values ​​of indicators based on the results of evaluating the activities of executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to achieve high rates of building up the economic (tax) potential of territories in 2017. In terms of grant size, Sakhalin Region takes the third place, giving way to Kamchatka Krai - 930.7 million rubles and Belgorod region - 990.8 million rubles.