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I've been working a bit on a timeline where an independent Sakhalin is created following the end of the Second World War. The general idea I have is that Japan keeps the entire island following the end of the intervention in the Russian Civil War (they held the northern parts of the island OTL but gave them up in the mid-20s). Due to a reason I haven't yet settled on (the Aleutian plan for a northern advance on Japan takes hold, the Soviets do worse in the West, and don't have any naval invasion in the East in 1945, I'm not sure yet), the US gains control of the island at the end of WW2. Operation Keelhaul and similar repatriation of Soviet POWs, conscript labor, and refugees doesn't take place. The idea is hatched to try and resettle at least some of these new stateless persons on Sakhalin. But I'm a little stuck when it comes to names for this hypothetical independent nation that consists of Sakhalin (and perhaps the Kuriles) - the Sakhalin Republic is fairly bland. Does anyone know of any other potential local or historic names for the area that might be a better fit?
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