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The Sea of Okhotsk (from the Russian Okhotskoe
more) is a part of the western
Pacific Ocean, lying between the
peninsula of
Kamchatka and the disputed Russo-Japanese
Kurile Islands on the east, the
Japanese
island of
Hokkaido to the south and the island of
Sakhalin, the
Amur province of
Siberia (or Outer
Manchuria) and eastern
Siberia from the
Shantar Islands to
Okhotsk on the west.
The
Sakhalin Gulf and the
Gulf of Tartary connect it with the
Sea of Japan on the west of the island of Sakhalin, and on the south
of this island by the
Strait of La Perouse.
Most of the Sea of Okhotsk, except for the area around the Kuril
Islands, is frozen during the winter. Aside from offshore islands, the
only island is the remote, tiny St Jonas ("Ostrov Svyatovy Iony"). In the
summer, the
icebergs melt and the sea becomes navigable again.
Cities by the Sea of Okhotsk include:
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Palana,
Russia
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Magadan, Russia
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Okhotsk, Russia
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Oktyabarsky, Russia
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Yuzhno Sakhalinsk (Toyohara),
Sakhalin
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Abashiri,
Japan
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Monbetsu, Japan
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Wakkanai, Japan
In the
Japanese language, the sea was traditionally called Hokkai
(北海), or "north sea." However, because this term is now used to refer to
the
North Sea in Europe, the name has changed to Ohotsukukai
(オホーツク海), a transliteration of the Russian name.
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