Japan

Capital
(and largest city) Tokyo (de facto)
35°41′N 139°46′E / 35.683°N 139.767°E / 35.683; 139.767
Official language(s) None[1]
Recognised regional languages Aynu itak, Ryukyuan languages, Eastern Japanese, Western Japanese, and several other Japanese dialects
National language Japanese
Ethnic groups 98.5% Japanese, 0.5% Korean, 0.4% Chinese, 0.6% other[2]
Demonym Japanese
Government Unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
- Emperor Akihito
- Prime Minister Naoto Kan (DPJ)
Legislature Diet of Japan
- Upper House House of Councillors
- Lower House House of Representatives of Japan
Formation
- National Foundation Day February 11, 660 BC[3]
- Meiji Constitution November 29, 1890
- Current constitution May 3, 1947
- Treaty of
San Francisco
April 28, 1952
Area
- Total 377,944 km2 [4](61st)
145,925 sq mi
- Water (%) 0.8
Population
- 2010 estimate 127,360,000[5] (10th)
- 2004 census 127,333,002
- Density 337.1/km2 (36th)
873.1/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2010 estimate
- Total $4.308 trillion[6] (3rd)
- Per capita $33,828[6] (24th)
GDP (nominal) 2010 estimate
- Total $5.390 trillion[6] (3rd)
- Per capita $42,325[6] (17th)
Gini 38.1 (2002)[7]
HDI (2010) 0.884[8] (very high) (11th)
Currency International Symbol ¥ Pronounced (Yen)
Japanese Symbol 円 (or 圓 in Traditional Kanji) Pronounced (En) (JPY)
Time zone JST (UTC+9)
- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+9)
Date formats yyyy-mm-dd
yyyy年m月d日
Era yy年m月d日 (CE−1988)
Drives on the left
ISO 3166 code JP
Internet TLD .jp
Calling code 81

Japan (i /dʒəˈpæn/; Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon, officially 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku) is an island nation in East Asia.[9] Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South 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", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands.[10] The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 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 lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

A major economic power,[2] Japan has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP[11] and by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth largest exporter and fifth largest importer. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains an extensive modern military force in self-defense and peacekeeping roles. After Singapore, Japan has the lowest homicide (including attempted homicide) rate in the world.[12] According to both UN and WHO estimates, Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world. According to the UN, it has the third lowest infant mortality rate.[13][14]


GeographyMain articles: Geography of Japan and Geology of Japan

Topographic mapJapan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. The country, including all of the islands it controls, lies between latitudes 24° and 46°N, and longitudes 122° and 146°E. The main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshū, 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.[48] About 70 to 80 percent of Japan is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use.[2][49] As a result, the habitable zones, mainly located in coastal areas, have extremely high population densities. Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.[50]

The islands of Japan are located in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are primarily the result of large oceanic movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years from the mid-Silurian to the Pleistocene as a result of the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the continental Amurian Plate and Okinawa Plate to the south, and subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk Plate to the north. Japan was originally attached to the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. The subducting plates pulled Japan eastward, opening the Sea of Japan around 15 million years ago.[51] Japan has 108 active volcanoes. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times each century.[52] The 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.[53] The most recent major quakes are the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake and the 2011 Sendai earthquake, a 8.9-magnitude quake which hit Japan on March 11, 2011, and triggered a tsunami.[54]Largest cities of Japan
2005 Census

Tokyo


Yokohama

Rank City Name Prefecture Pop. Rank City Name Prefecture Pop.
Osaka


Nagoya

1 Tokyo Tokyo 8,483,050 11 Hiroshima Hiroshima 1,154,595
2 Yokohama Kanagawa 3,579,133 12 Sendai Miyagi 1,024,947
3 Osaka Osaka 2,628,776 13 Kitakyūshū Fukuoka 993,483
4 Nagoya Aichi 2,215,031 14 Chiba Chiba 924,353
5 Sapporo Hokkaidō 1,880,875 15 Setagaya Tokyo 841,399
6 Kōbe Hyōgo 1,525,389 16 Sakai Osaka 831,111
7 Kyōto Kyōto 1,474,764 17 Niigata Niigata 813,847
8 Fukuoka Fukuoka 1,400,621 18 Hamamatsu Shizuoka 804,067
9 Kawasaki Kanagawa 1,327,009 19 Shizuoka Shizuoka 713,716
10 Saitama Saitama 1,176,269 20 Sagamihara Kanagawa 701,568

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A JAPANESE CHILD
WEB QUEST



http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/folk/index.html