Japanese archipelago


The Japanese archipelago is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk southwest to the Philippine Sea south along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia continent. It consists of islands from the Sakhalin Island Arc, the Northeastern Japan Arc to the Ryukyu Islands and the Nanpō Islands. Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the 4th largest island country in the world with. It has the 8th largest exclusive economic zone of.

Terminology

The term mainland Japan is used to refer to the mainland from the remote islands. It is also used when referring to the main islands Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa. It included Karafuto Prefecture until the end of World War II.
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. 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.

Palaeogeography

Geography

The archipelago consists of 6,852 islands, of which 430 are inhabited. The five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Honshu is the largest and referred to as the Japanese mainland.
The current Japanese archipelago topography is:
administered by Tokyo Metropolis.
administered by Kagoshima Prefecture and Okinawa Prefecture.

Islands and prefectures