JAPAN

JAPAN

JAPAN
By Jonathan Appel
GEOGRAPHY
Japan is made up of a four main island chain with other small islands in the western Pacific Ocean volcanic mountain range. The main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. Many of the major cities including Tokyo, the capital, are found on the island of Honshu. Many of the islands of Japan are volcanically active to this day. There are approximately fifty active volcanoes known to the Japanese and about 1,500 minor earthquakes occur each year. Mt. Fuji, probably the most photographed mountain in the world, is found just outside the city of Tokyo, and is a dormant volcano. Mt. Fuji is Japan’s tallest mountain and rises 12,389 ft. above sea level. Seventy five percent of Japan is uninhabitable due to mountainous terrain and is too steep for settlement and farming. The country has a very restricted living area, only 25% of the land. The present population of Japan is more than 125,000,000. Seventy seven percent of the people live in urban areas, leaving only 23% for rural farming communities.
Japan has about ten major cities on the island of Honshu. Many of the cities on Honshu are on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean or the Sea of Japan. Tokyo is built on a protective bay that leads to the pacific. Many of the rural sections of Japan, comprising 75% of the land, lie in northern Honshu and most of Hokkaido. The total area of the country is a little less than the state of California and has four times the population.
Japan lies from approximately 23 degrees to 47 degrees north latitude, and has a variety of climates, that are typical of middle latitude countries. Hokkaido for example has a humid continental climate, which has short, cool summers and long, cold, and snowy winters. As you move further south the climates become much more subtropical. Japan gets a fair amount of rainfall each year; the average is about 50 inches, but some places get 100 inches.
PEOPLE
Japan has approximately 130 million people....