Physical Geopgrahy

145, 882 square miles  - four islands (Honshu, Kyushu, Hokkaido, Shikoku)  make up 99.37 % of the land  1/10 of all the world's volcanoes in the world are in Japan.  Highest point- Mt. Fuji =12,388 ft. high 11% arable land  Climate:  Because Japan's island stretch so far the weather varies from icy and cold in the north to subtropical in the south.

Human Geography

Population (2002) 126,974,628 Growth rate 0.2% Birthrate 10.0/1000 infant mortality rate 3.8/1000 population density 870 people per square mile Capital: Tokyo population of the Tokyo metropolitan area is 34,750,000 Other large cities:  Osaka 17,800,000 (metro area),  Yokohama (part of Tokyo metro area)  3,307,136; Nagoya (metro area) 5,100,000; Sapporo, 1,719,000; Kobe (part of Osaka metro area), 1,501,000; Kyoto (part of Osaka metro area), 1,44456,000; Fukuoka, 1,263,000; Kawasaki (part of Tokyo metro area), 1.196,000; Hiroshima, 1,099,000 Population Density: 863 people per square mile 78% urban; 22% rural  Language:  Japanese Ethnicity: 99.4% Japanese; 0.6% other (mostly Korean) Religions:  Shintoist, Buddhist, Christian Literacy rate 99%

Government

Constitutional Monarchy  Emperor:  Akihito (1989)  Prime Minister:  Junichiro Koizumi  Legislature  Called the Diet. The Diet has two Houses: the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors  Prime Minister is elected to the Diet.  He appoints the cabinet members who head government ministries or agencies.

Economy
 

Per Capita  Income: $24,900  Monetary Unit:  The Yen  Unemployment rate (2000) 4.7%  Agriculture:  rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fish  Labor Force:  (2000)  services 65%; industry 30%; agriculture 5%  Industries:  motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods.  Natural Resources:  negligible  Exports:  motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals  Imports:  Fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, officer machinery  Major trading partners:  U.S., Taiwan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia

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