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Japan is an island nation in East Asia comprising a stratovolcanic archipelago extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. It lies between 24° to 46° north latitude and from 123° to 146° east longitude. The country is southeast of the Russian Far East, separated by the Sea of Okhotsk; slightly east of Korea, separated by the Sea of Japan; and east-northeast of China and Taiwan, separated by the East China Sea. The closest neighboring country to Japan is the Russian Federation.〔(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan )〕 The major islands, sometimes called the "Home Islands", are (from north to south) Hokkaidō, Honshū (the "mainland"), Shikoku and Kyūshū. There are 6,582 islands in total, including the Nansei Islands, the Nanpo Islands and islets, with 430 islands being inhabited and others uninhabited. In total, as of 2006, Japan's territory is , of which is land and water. This makes Japan's total area slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Montana, and slightly larger than Norway. Location: Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. Map references: Asia, Oceania Area: *''total'': 377,915 km² *''land'': 364,485 km² *''water'': 13,430 km² *''notes'': Includes the Bonin Islands, Daitō Islands, Minami-Tori-shima, Okinotorishima, the Ryukyu Islands, and the Volcano Islands. Ownership of the Senkaku Islands and Liancourt Rocks (Japanese:''Takeshima'', Korean:''Dokdo'') is in dispute. Area comparative: 11% smaller than California; slightly larger than Newfoundland and Labrador Land boundaries: none Coastline: Maritime claims: *''territorial sea'': ; between in the international straits—La Pérouse (or Sōya Strait), Tsugaru Strait, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait. *''exclusive economic zone'': *''contiguous zone'': Climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous, can easily be compared to Norway, both having about 70% of their land in the mountains. Natural resources: small deposits of coal, oil, iron, and minerals. Major fishing industry. Land use: *''arable land'': 11.65% *''permanent crops'': 0.83% *''other'': 87.52% (2012) Irrigated land: 25,000 km² (2010) Total renewable water resources: 430 km3 (2011) Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): *''total'': 90.04 km3/yr (20%/18%/62%) *''per capita'': 714.3 m3/yr (2007) ==Composition and topography== About 72% of Japan is mountainous, with a mountain range running through each of the main islands. Japan's highest mountain is Mount Fuji, with an elevation of . Japan's forest cover rate is 68.55% since the mountains are heavily forested. Among the developed nations, the other countries with such a high forest cover percentage are only Finland and Sweden.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url = http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.FRST.ZS?order=wbapi_data_value_2013+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=desc )〕 Since so very little flat area is present, many hills and mountainsides at lower elevations around towns and cities are often cultivated. 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 exploited as an economic capital by the leisure industry. The mountainous islands of the Japanese archipelago form a crescent off the eastern coast of Asia. They are separated from the mainland by the Sea of Japan, which historically served as a protective barrier. The country consists of four major islands: Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū; with more than 6,500 adjacent smaller islands and islets ("island" defined as land more than 100 m in circumference),〔(【引用サイトリンク】url = http://www.nijinet.or.jp/info/faq/tabid/65/Default.aspx )〕 including the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands in the Nanpō Islands, and the Satsunan Islands, Okinawa Islands, and Sakishima Islands of the Ryukyu Islands. The national territory also includes the Volcano Islands (Kazan Retto) such as Iwo Jima, located some 1,200 kilometers south of mainland Tokyo. A territorial dispute with Russia, dating from the end of World War II, over the two southernmost of the Kuril Islands, Etorofu and Kunashiri, and the smaller Shikotan Island and Habomai Islands northeast of Hokkaidō remains a sensitive spot in Japanese–Russian relations (). Excluding disputed territory, the archipelago covers about 377,000 square kilometers. No point in Japan is more than 150 kilometers from the sea. The four major islands are separated by narrow straits and form a natural entity. The Ryukyu Islands curve 970 kilometers southward from Kyūshū. The distance between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, the nearest point on the Asian continent, is about 200 kilometers at the Korea Strait. Japan has always been linked with the continent through trade routes, stretching in the north toward Siberia, in the west through the Tsushima Islands to the Korean Peninsula, and in the south to the ports on the south China coast. The Japanese islands are the summits of mountain ridges uplifted near the outer edge of the continental shelf. About 73 percent of Japan's area is mountainous, and scattered plains and intermontane basins (in which the population is concentrated) cover only about 27 percent. A long chain of mountains runs down the middle of the archipelago, dividing it into two halves, the "face", fronting on the Pacific Ocean, and the "back", toward the Sea of Japan. On the Pacific side are steep mountains 1,500 to 3,000 meters high, with deep valleys and gorges. Central Japan is marked by the convergence of the three mountain chains—the Hida, Kiso, and Akaishi mountains—that form the Japanese Alps (Nihon Arupusu), several of whose peaks are higher than 3,000 meters. The highest point in the Japanese Alps is Mount Kita at 3,193 meters. The highest point in the country is Mount Fuji (Fujisan, also erroneously called Fujiyama), a volcano dormant since 1707 that rises to 3,776 meters above sea level in Shizuoka Prefecture. On the Sea of Japan side are plateaus and low mountain districts, with altitudes of 500 to 1,500 meters. None of the populated plains or mountain basins are extensive in area. The largest, the Kantō Plain, where Tokyo is situated, covers only 13,000 square kilometers. Other important plains are the Nōbi Plain surrounding Nagoya, the Kinai Plain in the Osaka–Kyoto area, the Sendai Plain around the city of Sendai in northeastern Honshū, and the Ishikari Plain on Hokkaidō. Many of these plains are along the coast, and their areas have been increased by reclamation throughout recorded history. The small amount of habitable land has prompted significant human modification of the terrain over many centuries. Land was reclaimed from the sea and from river deltas by building dikes and drainage, and rice paddies were built on terraces carved into mountainsides. The process continued in the modern period with extension of shorelines and building of artificial islands for industrial and port development, such as Port Island in Kobe and the new Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay. Hills and even mountains have been razed to provide flat areas for housing. Rivers are generally steep and swift, and few are suitable for navigation except in their lower reaches. Most rivers are less than 300 kilometers in length, but their rapid flow from the mountains provides a valuable, renewable resource: hydroelectric power generation. Japan's hydroelectric power potential has been exploited almost to capacity. Seasonal variations in flow have led to extensive development of flood control measures. Most of the rivers are very short. The longest, the Shinano River, which winds through Nagano Prefecture to Niigata Prefecture and flows into the Sea of Japan, is only 367 kilometers long. The largest freshwater lake is Lake Biwa, northeast of Kyoto. Extensive coastal shipping, especially around the Seto Inland Sea (Seto Naikai), compensates for the lack of navigable rivers. The Pacific coastline south of Tokyo is characterized by long, narrow, gradually shallowing inlets produced by sedimentation, which has created many natural harbors. The Pacific coastline north of Tokyo, the coast of Hokkaidō, and the Sea of Japan coast are generally unindented, with few natural harbors. In November 2008, Japan filed a request to expand its claimed continental shelf.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Japan granted more continental shelf )〕 In April 2012, the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf recognized around of seabed around Okinotorishima, giving Japan priority over access to seabed resources in nearby areas. According to U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, the approved expansion is equal to about 82% of Japan's total land area.〔 The People's Republic of China and South Korea have opposed Japan's claim because they view Okinotorishima not as an island, but a group of rocks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Geography of Japan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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