 "Sahaliyan", the word that has been borrowed in the form of "Sakhalin", means "black" in Manchu, "ula" means "river" and "sahaliyan ula" ( , "Black River") is the proper Manchu name of the Amur River.Its Japanese name, , supposedly comes from Ainu "kamuy kar put ya mosir" (, shortened to "Karput" ), which means "the island a god has created at the estuary (of the Amur River)".The name was used by the Japanese during their possession of its southern part (1905–1945).