Nevelsk is a port town in Sakhalin Oblast

Sakhalin Oblast

Sakhalin Oblast is a federal subject of Russia comprising the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.The oblast has an area of 87,100 km² and a population of 546,695...

, 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...

. Population 18,639 (2002 Census

Russian Census (2002)

Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics .-Resident population:...

).

Geography

The town is located on the southwest coast of Sakhalin

Sakhalin

Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...

, 123 km from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

-Demographics:Most residents are ethnic Russians, but there also exists a sizable population of Koreans. Of the 43,000 Sakhalin Koreans, half are estimated to live in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, comprising roughly 12% of the city's population...

, on the Sea of Japan

Sea 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...

.

History

The first Russian settlers founded a village on the present site of Nevelsk in 1789. The region was the site of a struggle for control between the Russians and Japanese. After the treaty of Shimoda

Treaty of Shimoda

The Treaty of Shimoda of 1855, formally Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia , was signed between the Russian Vice-Admiral Euphimy Vasil'evich Putiatin and Toshiakira Kawaji of Japan in the city of Shimoda, Izu Province, Japan, on February 7, 1855...

 officially transferred the southern Kuril Islands

Kuril Islands

The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...

 to Japan in 1855, the town was placed under joint Russian-Japanese administration under the name Honto.

The town reverted to complete Russian administration in 1875, as the Treaty of Saint Petersburg gave control of all the Kuril Islands to Japan, in exchange for complete Russian sovereignty over the island of Sakhalin

Sakhalin

Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...

. It then returned to Japanese rule in 1905, after the Treaty of Portsmouth

Treaty of Portsmouth

The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905 after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine in the USA.-Negotiations:...

 ceded southern Sakhalin to Japan to end the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

.

Sakhalin's first ice-free harbour was constructed here between 1916 and 1927, and the town developed as a centre for the local fishing industry.

The end of the Second World War saw the Soviet Army

Soviet Army

The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...

 retake the full island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The town was given town status in 1947 under its present name, in honour of Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy

Gennady Nevelskoy

Gennady Ivanovich Nevelskoy was a Russian navigator.In 1848 Nevelskoy led the expedition in the Russian Far East, exploring the area of the Sakhalin and the outlet of the Amur River. He proved that the Strait of Tartary was not a gulf, but indeed a strait, connected to Amur's estuary by a narrow...

The town was damaged by the 2007 Sakhalin earthquake, leaving about 2000 people homeless.

Economy and infrastructure

The town's economy relies largely on fishing and associated industries. Due to relatively warm ocean currents, the town is located in the mildest climactic zone on the island of Sakhalin, making possible agriculture in the surrounding region. There have been recent efforts to develop the area as a tourist area for marine animal viewing, diving and yachting.