Tatar Strait

The Strait of Tartary connects the Sea of Okhostsk to the Sea of Japan.

Strait of Tartary (Gulf of Tartary, Gulf of Tatary, Tatar Strait, Tartar Strait, Strait of Tartar, also Chinese: 韃靼海峽 , Japanese: 間宮海峡, Mamiya Strait, Russian Татарский пролив) is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia (South-East Russia), connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with the Sea of Japan on the south. It is 900 km long^{[citation needed]}, 4–20 m deep, and 7.3 km wide at the narrowest point.

History

The name Tartary named after the Tartars, an archaic name for various peoples of Inner Asia and Northern Asia. In this case it refers to the various peoples of Manchuria, which was historically called East Tartary in the English language.

In Japan, the strait is named after Mamiya Rinzo, who traveled to the strait in 1808^[1] whereof the name was introduced by Philipp Franz von Siebold in his book Nippon: Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan (1832-54). On Russian maps, the short narrowest section of the strait (south of the mouth of the Amur) is called Strait of Nevelskoy, after Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy, who explored the area in 1848; the body of water north of there, into which the Amur River flows, is the Amur Liman; and the name of "Strait of Tartary" is reserved for the largest section of the body of water, south of Strait of Nevelskoy.

Transportation

Vanino, an important port on the Strait of Tartary

Since 1973, a rail ferry operates across the strait, connecting the port of Vanino, Khabarovsk Krai on the mainland with Kholmsk on Sakhalin Island.^{[2] [3]} A tunnel under the strait, to give a road and/or rail connection between Sakhalin and the mainland, was begun under Stalin, but abandoned incomplete after his death. Renewed calls for a tunnel have been made by politicians in recent years.

Looking at the map, one could think that the Strait of Tartary would provide a convenient connection for boats sailing from the Sea of Japan to the Sea of Okhotsk, e.g. from Vanino to Magadan. However, according to the SASCO that operates that shipping line, their ships rarely travel that way. The usual winter route from Vanino to Magadan is via Tsugaru Strait, and around Hokkaido; the usual summer route, is via La Pérouse Strait and around Sakhalin. Only when coming back from Magadan to Vanino with a low load and in good weather would the ships travel along the shortest route, i.e. via the Amur Liman, Strait of Nevelskoy, and the Strait of Tartary proper (which, incidentally, SASCO calls the "Strait of Sakhalin" - Sakhalinsky Proliv).^[4]

In fiction

Strait of Tartary is also a poem by Walter de la Mare, in which he speaks about Tartary as a land in Asia north of China.

See also

• Korean Air Lines Flight 007

References

External links

• (Russian)Tatar Strait

Coordinates: 52°11′00″N 141°37′00″E / 52.1833333°N 141.6166667°E / 52.1833333; 141.6166667

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