 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is an administrative, industrial, cultural and scientific centre of Sakhalinskaya oblast. It is a railway and highway junction. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is situated at the distance of 10,4 thousand km to the east from Moscow.
The city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was founded in 1881 in the southern part of the island of Sakhalin. In June 1946 it became a city and received its present name. Since April 18, 1947 it is the administrative centre of Sakhalinskaya oblast. The total area of the city is 90 thousand  hectares (1 % of the oblast territory). The population is 187,8 thousand people.
The climate in the city depends on monsoon and active cyclonic circulation. It is the course of strong winds, often blizzards, plentiful snowfalls in the winter and intensive downpours, sharp cold snap in the summer. Winter lasts for 5 months from November till March. The average temperature of January is -13,8 degreed below zero. Summ er lasts from the beginning of June up to the end of September. The warmest month is August (+17,3 degrees centigrade). Average annual precipitations are 758 mm.
About 8 thousand enterprises and organizations of all patterns of ownership are registered in the city. The biggest number of enterprises is concentrated in trade and public catering (36,4 %), the industry (16,1 %), construction (13,7 %). Best developed are the electric power and food processing industries.
The bases of agriculture are the cattle breeding, poultry farming and vegetable growing.
More than hundred enterprises with foreign investments are registered in the city. These are the firms of England, Germany, China, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the USA, Philippines, Sweden and Japan.
Being the regional centre, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk takes a leading place in culture, science and education. There are 10 higher educational institutions (5 from of them are state ones) and their branches. They train more than 7 thousand students. 3330 students are trained in the oldest Sakhalin State University (founded in 1949).
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