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Geography of Japan

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mainland is in the upper left-hand corner.]]
Japan is an island nation in the East Asia comprised of a large stratovolcanic archipelago extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. Measured from the geographic coordinate system, Japan is 36° north of the equator and 138 ° east of the Prime Meridian. The country is north-northeast of China and Taiwan (separated by the East China Sea) and slightly east of Korea (seperated by the Sea of Japan1). The country is south of Siberia in Russia.

The main islands (from north to south) are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. There are also about 3,000 smaller islands and islets, some inhabited and others uninhabited. In total, Japan's territory is 377,835 km,ē of which 374,744 kmē is land and 3,091 kmē water. This makes Japan's total area slightly smaller than the U.S. state of California.

Japan belongs to the temperate zone with distinct four seasons, but its climate varies from cool temperate in the north to subtropical in the south. The climate is also affected by the seasonal winds that blow from the continent to the ocean in winters and vise versa in summers.

About 73 percent of the Japan is mountainous, with a mountain range running through each of the main islands. Japan's highest mountain is Mt. Fuji, with an elevation of 3776m (12,388 feet). Since so little flat area exists, many hills and mountainsides are cultivated all the way to the top. As Japan is situated in a volcanic zone along the Pacific deeps, frequent low-intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes occur several times a century. Hot springs are numerous and have been developed as resorts.

Late June and early July are a rainy season except Hokkaido as a seasonal rain front or baiu zensen (梅雨前線) stays above Japan. In summer and early autumn, typhoons, grown from tropical depressions generated near the equator, attack Japan with furious rainstorms.

Its varied geographical features divide Japan into six principal climatic zones.

As an island nation, Japan has a long coastline. A few prefectures are landlocked: Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama, Nagano, Yamanashi, Gifu, Shiga, and Nara. The others all have coasts on the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan, Seto Inland Sea or have a body of salt water connected to them. Three prefectures--Two, Hokkaido and Okinawa--are composed of islands.

Location: Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula.

Geographic coordinates: 36 00 N, 138 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area:
total: 377,835 kmē
land: 374,744 kmē
water: 3,091 kmē
note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-guntō 小笠原群島), Daitō-shotō(大東諸島), Minami Torishima(南鳥島), Okino-tori-shima(沖ノ鳥島), Ryūkyū Islands; (Ryūkyū-shotō 琉球諸島), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-rettō 火山列島)

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than California

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 29,751 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles; between 3 nautical miles and 12 nautical miles in the international straits - La Perouse or Sōya Strait; (宗谷海峡), Tsugaru (津軽), Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait (対馬海峡)

Climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north

Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Hachirō-gata; (八郎潟) -4 m
highest point: Fujisan (富士山) 3,776 m

Natural resources: negligible mineral resources, fish

Land use:
arable land: 11%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 2%
forests and woodland: 67%
other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 27,820 kmē (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis ; Tropical cyclone

Environment - current issues: air pollution from car emissions in urban area suspected for causing Asthma; over-enrichment of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality for aquatic life; quota for fisheries imposed on Japanese fishing fleets; over-fish farming causing degrading water quality for aquatic life; Biodiversity threatened by foreign animals, fish, insects, and plants

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: strategic location in northeast Asia

Japanese addressing system, List of national parks of Japan

Notes

1. See also
dispute over the name of the Sea of Japan for alternatate names.