Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk started as a small Russian settlement called Vladimirovka. It was founded by convicts in 1882. In the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905, the southern part of Sakhalin was given to Japan. This treaty ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Because Vladimirovka was in southern Sakhalin, it was given to Japan. Vladimirovka was renamed Toyohara (meaning "bountiful plain" in Japanese).