Japan - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Japan.

note 1: strategic location in northeast Asia; composed of four main islands (the "Home Islands") -- Hokkaido, Honshu (the largest, most populous, and site of Tokyo, the capital), Shikoku, and Kyushu  

note 2: a 2023 Geospatial Information Authority of Japan survey technically detected 100,000 islands and islets, but only the 14,125 islands with a circumference of at least 100 m (330 ft) were officially counted; only about 260 of the islands are inhabited

note 3: Japan annually records the most earthquakes in the world; it is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire

. Mother's mean age at first birth is 30.7 years (2018 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 4 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Geographical data of Japan
Location Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Geographic coordinates 36 00 N, 138 00 E
Map references Asia
Tarrain mostly rugged and mountainous
Natural Resources negligible mineral resources, fish 
Natural Hazards

many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors but occasional severe earthquakes) every year; tsunamis; typhoons

volcanism: both Unzen (1,500 m) and Sakura-jima (1,117 m), which lies near the densely populated city of Kagoshima, have been deemed Decade Volcanoes by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Asama, Honshu Island's most active volcano, Aso, Bandai, Fuji, Iwo-Jima, Kikai, Kirishima, Komaga-take, Oshima, Suwanosejima, Tokachi, Yake-dake, and Usu; see note 2 under "Geography - note"

Irrigated Land 15,730 sq km (2014)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Major aquifers
Land Boundaries 0 km
Border Countries
Coastline 29,751 km
Climate varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Area
Total Area
Land Area 364,485 sq km
Water Area 13,430 sq km
comparative Area slightly smaller than California
Maritime Claims
Territorial sea 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and the Korea and Tsushima Straits
Contiguous zone 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone 200 nm
Elevations
Highest point Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Lowest point Hachiro-gata -4 m
Mean elevation 438 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 12.5% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 11.7% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 0% (2018 est.)
Forest 68.5% (2018 est.)
Other 19% (2018 est.)
Population Distribution

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)

People and Society

In Japan, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Japanese 97.5%, Chinese 0.6%, Vietnam 0.4%, South Korean 0.3%, other 1.2% (includes Filipino, Brazilian, Nepalese, Indonesian, American, and Taiwanese) (2022 est.)

Population
Pop growth rate -0.43% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 6.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 11.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure 10.9% of GDP (2020)
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 13 beds/1,000 population (2018)
Total fertility rate 1.4 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 0.68 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate 39.8% (2015)
Est married women (ages 15-49) 46.8% (2023 est.)
Literacy
Education expenditures 3.4% of GDP (2020 est.)
Net Migration rate 0.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality Japanese | Japanese (singular and plural)
Languages
Religions Shintoism 48.6%, Buddhism 46.4%, Christianity 1.1%, other 4% (2021 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 12.1% (male 7,701,196/female 7,239,389)
15-64 years 58.4% (male 36,197,840/female 35,777,966)
65 years and over 29.5% (2024 est.) (male 15,976,233/female 20,309,321)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 71.1
Youth dependency ratio 20.1
Elderly dependency ratio 51
Potential support ratio 2 (2021 est.)
Median Age
Total 49.9 years (2024 est.)
Male 48.3 years
Female 51.3 years
Urbanization
Urban population 92% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization -0.25% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 37.194 million TOKYO (capital), 19.013 million Osaka, 9.569 million Nagoya, 5.490 million Kitakyushu-Fukuoka, 2.937 million Shizuoka-Hamamatsu, 2.666 million Sapporo (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.79 male(s)/female
Total population 0.95 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 1.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 2 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 1.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 85.2 years (2024 est.)
Male 82.3 years
Female 88.2 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: NA
Improved: rural rural: NA
Improved: total total: 99.1% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: NA
Unimproved: rural rural: NA
Unimproved: total total: 0.1% of population (2020 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: NA
Improved: rural rural: NA
Improved: total total: 99.9% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: NA
Unimproved: rural rural: NA
Unimproved: total total: 0.1% of population (2020 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 8.36 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 1.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 0.29 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 1.63 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 5.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 20.1% (2020 est.)
Male 30.1% (2020 est.)
Female 10% (2020 est.)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Japan

Want to know more about Japan? Check all different factbooks for Japan below.

Japan is found in Eastern Asia