Map of Japan
- 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
- Area
- total: 377,835 sq km
note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
water: 3,091 sq km
land: 374,744 sq km - Area - comparative
- slightly smaller than California
- Land boundaries
- 0 km
- Coastline
- 29,751 km
- Maritime claims
- contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM; between 3 NM and 12 NM in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM - Climate
- varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
- Terrain
- mostly rugged and mountainous
- Elevation extremes
- lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m
highest point: Fujiyama 3,776 m - Natural resources
- negligible mineral resources, fish
- Land use
- arable land: 12.13%
permanent crops: 1.01%
other: 86.86% (1998 est.) - Irrigated land
- 26,790 sq km (1998 est.)
- Natural hazards
- many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons
- Environment - current issues
- air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere
- Geography - note
- strategic location in northeast Asia
- (Article based on Wikitravel article by Based on work by Brian Kurkoski, Mitch Sako, Paul N. Richter, Rene Malenfant, Evan Prodromou, Ryan, Jose Ramos, Namgay Dorji, David Zentgraf, Bujdosó Attila, Niels, Richard Petersen, Craig Fryer, Sat.K, Ted O'Neill and Yann Forget and Wikitravel user(s) Nightingale, Jpatokal, WindHorse, Maj, Sekicho, Ravikiran r, Littleblackpistol, Cjensen, PierreAbbat, MMKK, Historian, Nzpcmad, KagakuyaSan, Mark, Bijee, InterLangBot, Chris j wood, Nils, Joi, MykReeve, Huttite, Dhum Dhum, Â?, Luke, Karen Johnson and CIAWorldFactbook2002. Article used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.)
