Moneron Island
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
possession located off Sakhalin Island.
Description
Moneron has an area of about 30 square kilometre and a highest point of 429 metres (1,407.5 ft). It is approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long (N/S axis) by 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide, and is located 41 nautical miles (75.9 km) from Sakhalin's port of Nevelsk and about 24 nautical miles (44.4 km) directly southwest of Sakhalin Island itself at the northeastern end of the Sea of JapanSea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
. It has no permanent population.
History
The island was known as Totomoshiri ("island of sea lionSea Lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...
s") by its original Ainu
Ainu people
The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
inhabitants. It came under the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of Matsumae clan
Matsumae clan
The was a Japanese clan which was granted the area around Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension all of Japan, from the Ainu 'barbarians' to the north. The clan was originally known as the Kakizaki clan who settled...
in the 18th century and got its current European name from a visit of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
navigator La Perouse
La Perouse
La Perouse may refer to* Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, a French naval officer and explorer,and the following places which were named after him:* La Perouse, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney...
, who named it Moneron after Paul Mérault Monneron
Paul Mérault Monneron
Paul Mérault Monneron or de Monneron was an engineer officer in the French armed forces and from 1785 to 1788 a member of Lapérouse's expedition.- Family :...
, the chief engineer of his expedition. Latterly, the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese named it Kaibatō (海馬島), which was a Sinicized rendition of its Ainu name, but it reverted to its Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an name after Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's defeat in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and its occupation by the Soviet Union.
KAL 007
Korean Air Flight 007Korean Air Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet interceptors on 1 September 1983, over the Sea of Japan, near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin island...
, with 269 passengers and crew, crashed into the sea about 55 kilometres (29.7 nmi) north of Moneron Island on September 1, 1983, after it was shot down for straying into restricted Soviet airspace.
Fauna and flora
In 2006, infrastructure was constructed to allow tourists to visit the island. The facilities are operated by the Moneron National Park, which is the first marine national park in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.