Japan
An archipelago in the Pacific, Japan is separated from the east coast of Asia by the Sea of Japan. It is
approximately the size of Montana. Japan's four main islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku.
The Ryukyu chain to the southwest was U.S.-occupied from 1945 to 1972, when it reverted to Japanese
control, and the Kurils to the northeast are Russian-occupied.
Government - Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government.
Land area: 144,689 sq mi (374,744 sq km); total area: 145,883 sq mi (377,835 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 127,463,611 (growth rate: 0.0%); birth rate: 9.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.2/1000; life expectancy: 81.2; density per sq mi: 836
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tokyo, 35,327,000 (metro. area), 8,483,050 (city proper)
Other large cities: Yokohama, 3,494,900 (part of Tokyo metro. area); Osaka, 11,286,000 (metro. area),
2,597,000 (city proper); Nagoya, 2,189,700; Sapporo, 1,848,000; Kobe, 1,529,900 (part of Osaka metro.
area); Kyoto, 1,470,600 (part of Osaka metro. area); Fukuoka, 1,368,900; Kawasaki, 1,276,200 (part of
Tokyo metro. area); Hiroshima, 1,132,700
Monetary unit: Yen
Language: Japanese
Ethnicity/race: Japanese 99%; Korean, Chinese, Brazillian, Filipino, other 1% (2004)
Religions: Shintoist and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)