Kholmsk, Russia

Capital City

Kholmsk offers a gritty port town experience, with a population of just 30,937 as of the 2010 census. The town's strategic location on the Sakhalin Island coast comes with persistent bureaucratic headaches, as the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, customs, and a border post are all located here. And after Soviet forces retook the town in 1945, the population has steadily declined, down from 51,381 in the 1989 census. For those seeking an authentic, if rough-edged, Russian Far East outpost, Kholmsk may fit the bill, but the heavy administrative presence and economic stagnation are not for the faint of heart.