Japan
country
Tokyo
capital city
Japanese
language(s)
JPY
currency
377,835 km²
area
127,417,244
population
337.23 people/km²
population density
Japan
Regions of Japan
- Aichi-ken
- Akita-ken
- Aomori-ken
- Chiba-ken
- Ehime-ken
- Fukui-ken
- Fukuoka-ken
- Fukushima-ken
- Gifu-ken
- Gumma-ken
- Hiroshima-ken
- Hokkaidō
- Hyōgo-ken
- Ibaraki-ken
- Ishikawa-ken
- Iwate-ken
- Kagawa-ken
- Kagoshima-ken
- Kanagawa-ken
- Kumamoto-ken
- Kyōto-fu
- Kōchi-ken
- Mie-ken
- Miyagi-ken
- Miyazaki-ken
- Nagano-ken
- Nagasaki-ken
- Nara-ken
- Niigata-ken
- Okayama-ken
- Okinawa-ken
- Saga-ken
- Saitama-ken
- Shiga-ken
- Shimane-ken
- Shizuoka-ken
- Tochigi-ken
- Tokushima-ken
- Tottori-ken
- Toyama-ken
- Tōkyō-to
- Wakayama-ken
- Yamagata-ken
- Yamaguchi-ken
- Yamanashi-ken
- Ōita-ken
- Ōsaka-fu
Flag of Japan
National Anthem of Japan
Neighbours of Japan
-
No Neighbours
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Japan description
Japan (Nihon or Nippon?, officially Nippon-koku?·i or Nihon-koku) is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin country", which is why Japan is sometimes identified as the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan comprises over 3,000 islands making it an archipelago. The largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for 97% of Japan's land area. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic; for example, Japan’s highest peak, Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth largest population, with about 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents. Archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan begins with brief appearances in Chinese history texts from the first century A.D. Japan is a country of over three thousand islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. The main islands, running from north to south, are Hokkaidō, Honshū (the main island), Shikoku and Kyūshū. The Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, are a chain of islands south of Kyushū. Together they are often known as the Japanese Archipelago. About 70% to 80% of the country is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use. This is because of the generally steep elevations, climate and risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground and heavy rain. This has resulted in an extremely high population density in the habitable zones that are mainly located in coastal areas. Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
