Sa·kha·lin 
(săkə-lēn′, -lən, să-ə-lyēn)
(săkə-lēn′, -lən, să-ə-lyēn) An island of southeast Russia in the Sea of Okhotsk north of Hokkaido, Japan. Colonized by Russia and Japan in the 1700s and 1800s, it passed under Russian control in 1875.