World Atlas: Japan. On this page you can see the map, country flag and many detailed information about the people, history and economy of Japan.
Here you can find online selected information about the geography, inhabitants, government, economy and history of Japan. Included are selected statistics, an overview map and the detailed map of Japan. But let's start with the flag of Japan here:
Japan - Overview:
What you should know about Japan? Let's start with this: In 1603, after decades of civil warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate (a military-led, dynastic government) ushered in a long period of relative political stability and isolation from foreign influence. For more than two centuries this policy enabled Japan to enjoy a flowering of its indigenous culture. Japan opened its ports after signing the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854 and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1931-32 Japan occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and an ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, elected politicians hold actual decision-making power. Following three decades of unprecedented growth, Japan's economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s, but the country remains an economic power. In March 2011, Japan's strongest-ever earthquake, and an accompanying tsunami, devastated the northeast part of Honshu island, killed thousands, and damaged several nuclear power plants. The catastrophe hobbled the country's economy and its energy infrastructure, and tested its ability to deal with humanitarian disasters. Prime Minister Shinzo ABE was reelected to office in December 2012, and has since embarked on ambitious economic and security reforms to improve Japan's economy and bolster the country's international standing.
Geography of Japan
Where on the globe is Japan? The location of this country is Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. Total area of Japan is 377,915 sq km, of which 364,485 sq km is land. So this is quite a large country. How could we describe the terrain of the country? This way: mostly rugged and mountainous. The lowest point of Japan is Hachiro-gata -4 m, the highest point Mount Fuji 3,776 m. And the climate is varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north.
Inhabitants of Japan
Let's take a look how many people live in Japan. The number is: 126,451,398 (July 2017 est.). So this country is among the most populous in the World. Who lives here? Japanese 98.5%, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%. What are the languages in Japan? Japanese. And the religions: Shintoism 79.2%, Buddhism 66.8%, Christianity 1.5%, other 7.1%. How old are the people in average? 47.3 years. We have to add that this number is the median - so one half of the people is older than this, one half is younger. And what is their life expectancy (at birth)? This: 85.3 years. Where the people live in Japan? Here: all primary and secondary regions of high population density lie on the coast; one-third of the population resides in and around Tokyo on the central plain (Kanto Plain). The major urban areas of Japan are: Tokyo (capital) 38.001 million; Osaka-Kobe 20.238 million; Nagoya 9.406 million; Kitakyushu-Fukuoka 5.51 million; Shizuoka-Hamamatsu 3.369 million; Sapporo 2.571 million (2015).
Government and Economy of Japan
The capital of Japan is Tokyo and the government type parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Let's take a look at the administrative divisions - 47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi. Regarding the economy of Japan, important industrial products are among world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods. Important agricultural products are vegetables, rice, fish, poultry, fruit, dairy products, pork, beef, flowers, potatoes/taros/yams, sugarcane, tea, legumes, wheat and barley. The most important export commodities are motor vehicles 14.9%; iron and steel products 5.4%; semiconductors 5%; auto parts 4.8%; power generating machinery 3.5%; plastic materials 3.3% (2014 est.) and the most important export partners are US 20.2%, China 17.7%, South Korea 7.2%, Hong Kong 5.2%, Thailand 4.3% (2016). The most important import commodities are petroleum 16.1%; liquid natural gas 9.1%; clothing 3.8%; semiconductors 3.3%; coal 2.4%; audio and visual apparatus 1.4% (2014 est.) and the most important import partners are China 25.8%, US 11.4%, Australia 5%, South Korea 4.1% (2016). How rich is Japan and how rich are people in this country? The most important number here is GDP per capita (PPP): $42,700 (2017 est.). This means the people are rich on average here. Let's add that this means Gross Domestic Product per person, which is recalculated with respect to the relative cost of local goods and services. And one more important number - population below poverty line: 16.1% (2013 est.).