Sea of Okhotsk

The Sea of Okhotsk (from the Russian Okhotskoe more) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula 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 La Perouse Strait.

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:

• Palana, Russia
• Magadan, Russia
• Okhotsk, Russia
• Oktyabarsky, Russia
• Yuzhno Sakhalinsk (Toyohara), Sakhalin
• Abashiri, Japan
• Monbetsu, Japan
• 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.