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Japanese archipelago: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 37°30′52″N 137°42′44″E / 37.514444°N 137.712222°E / 37.514444; 137.712222
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[[Image:Japan topo en.jpg|thumb|right|210px|[[Topographic map]] of [[Japan]]]]
[[Image:Japan topo en.jpg|thumb|right|210px|[[Topographic map]] of [[Japan]]]]
[[Image:Satellite View of Japan 1999.jpg|thumb|right|210px|Satellite image of Japan]]
[[Image:Satellite View of Japan 1999.jpg|thumb|right|210px|Satellite image of Japan]]
The {{nihongo|'''Japanese archipelago'''|日本列島|Nihon Rettō}} are the islands that form the [[country]] of [[Japan]], extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the [[Eurasia]] mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the [[Pacific Ocean]]. It comprises islands from the [[Sakhalin island arc]] and the [[Northeastern Japan arc]]. The main island is [[Honshu]]<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Japanese+Archipelago</ref>.
The {{nihongo|'''Japanese archipelago'''|日本列島|Nihon Rettō}} are the islands that form the [[country]] of [[Japan]], extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the [[Eurasia]] mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the [[Pacific Ocean]]. It comprises islands from the [[Sakhalin island arc]] and the [[Northeastern Japan arc]]. The main island is [[Honshu]]<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Japanese+Archipelago</ref>.


{{ref improve|date=June 2013}}
The term ''Home Islands'' was used at the end of [[World War II]] to define the area of Japan to which its sovereignty and the constitutional rule of the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] would be restricted.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japan's colonies and other territories in the first half of the 20th century, but is not used in reference to the country as it exists today.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}
The term ''Home Islands'' was used at the end of [[World War II]] to define the area of Japan to which its sovereignty and the constitutional rule of the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] would be restricted.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japan's colonies and other territories in the first half of the 20th century, but is not used in reference to the country as it exists today.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}



Revision as of 08:06, 24 June 2013

Topographic map of Japan
Satellite image of Japan

The Japanese archipelago (日本列島, Nihon Rettō) are the islands that form the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises islands from the Sakhalin island arc and the Northeastern Japan arc. The main island is Honshu[1].

The term Home Islands was used at the end of World War II to define the area of Japan to which its sovereignty and the constitutional rule of the Emperor would be restricted.[citation needed] The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japan's colonies and other territories in the first half of the 20th century, but is not used in reference to the country as it exists today.[citation needed]

Island components

The archipelago comprises 6,852 islands ("island" defined as land more than 100 m in circumference), of which 430 are inhabited.[2] The four main islands, listed from north to south, are as followed:

  1. Hokkaidō
  2. Honshū
  3. Shikoku
  4. Kyūshū

Palaeogeography

Changes to the Japanese archipelago over time:[citation needed]

Japanese archipelago, Sea of Japan and surrounding part of continental East Asia in Early Miocene (23-18 Ma).
Japanese archipelago, Sea of Japan and surrounding part of continental East Asia in Middle Pliocene to Late Pliocene (3.5-2 Ma)..
Japanese archipelago at the Last Glacial Maximum in the Late Pleistocene about 20,000 years ago
– regions above sea level
 (white color) – unvegetated land
– sea
thin black line indicates present-day shorelines

References

See also