Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia, located in the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, South and North Korea, and Russia. The Sea of Okhotsk lies to the north, and the East China Sea and Taiwan lie to the south.

Japan is an archipelago made up of 6852 islands. Four of these – Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku – make up 97% of Japan’s land area. A majority of the islands are mountainous, and many are volcanic. The highest point in Japan is the volcanic Mount Fuji, at 3776 meters. With a population greater than 126 million people, Japan is the 10^th most populous country in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the capital Tokyo and other nearby prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 35 million people.

Official language – Japanese.

Capital – Tokyo.

Biggest cities – Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Kawasaki, Saitama.

Form of government – Parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

Area – 377,944 km².

Population – 126,958,000.

Currency – Yen.

ISO Code – JP.

IOC Code – JPN.

Time zone – UTC +9.