Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky is located approximately halfway up Sakhalin, a night train’s trip from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It was founded in the mid-19th century as a prison camp and named in honour of Emperor Alexander II. Today tourists are drawn to Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky due to its connection with the famous Russian author Anton Chekhov who lived here in 1880 while researching life on what was then a prison island for his book Sakhalin Island.