Discover

(Redirected from Gulf of Tartary)

'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', 'Strait of Nevelskoi') 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, 4-20 m deep, and 7.3 km wide at the narrowest point.
Russian often name Strait of Tartary's narrowest point as ''Strait of Nevelskoi'' (Пролив Невельского).
The name ''Tartary'' named after the ''Tatars'', 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 sailed the strait in 1808 whereof the name was introduced by Philipp Franz von Siebold in his book ''Nippon: Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan'' (1832-54), while Russian authors prefer to name it after Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy, who explored the area in 1848.
''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.
A reference was made to this strait in the 2003 film ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen''.
The strait where the Ainu tribes colonized Sakhalin (Karafuto) from mainland Asia.