island of Russia off the E coast of Siberia: formerly (1905-45) divided between Russia & Japan: c. 29,500 sq mi (76,405 sq km)
See Sakhalin in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(săkˈə-lēnˌ, -lən, să-ᴋʜə-lyēnˈ)
An island of southeast Russia in the Sea of Okhotsk north of Hokkaido, Japan. Colonized by Russia and Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries, it passed under Russian control in 1875.