Karafuto Prefecture - Name

Name

The Japanese name Karafuto (樺太?) comes from Ainu Kamuy Kar Put Ya Mosir (カムイ・カ・プ・ヤ・モシ), which means "the island a god has created on the estuary (of Amur River)". It was formerly known as Kita Ezo (北蝦夷?), meaning Northern Ezo (Ezo is the former name for Hokkaidō). When Japanese administered the prefecture, Karafuto usually meant Southern Sakhalin only. For convenience, the northern part of the island was sometimes called Sagaren (薩哈嗹?).

In Russian, the entire island was named Sakhalin (Сахалин) or Saghalien. It is from Manchu Sahaliyan Ula Angga Hada, meaning "peak of the mouth of Amur River". The southern part was simply called Yuzhny Sakhalin (Южный Сахалин, "South Sakhalin").

In Korean, the name is Sahallin (사할린) or Hwataedo (화태도, 樺太島), with the latter name in use during Korea under Japanese rule.