The administrative centre of Sakhalinsk is Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which translates as South Sakhalin, it is afterall located in the south of the island. It started its life as Vladimirovka and then became Toyohara when it was part of Japan. It only gained its present-day name after the city was returned to Russia following the end of the Second World War. Although it is a rather pleasant city with an interesting regional museum, the real reason for visiting Sakhalin is for the nature so it is best to use Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk as a base for exploring the island.