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Japan Just Found 7,000 Islands It Didn't Know It Had

2023-03-02T17:29:22.168Z


Japan did a count of its islands and discovered that it has 7,000 more than it thought. Because? We tell you the story.


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(CNN) --

Japan did a tally of its islands and found it has 7,000 more than it thought.

Digital mapping by the Japan Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) recently found that there are 14,125 islands on Japanese territory, more than double the number of 6,852 officially reported since a 1987 report by the Japan Coast Guard.

However, the GSI stressed this week that the new figure reflected advances in surveying technology and the detail of the maps used for counting, and did not change the total area of ​​land in Japan's possession.

He stated that although there is no international agreement on how to count the islands, he had used the same size criteria as in the previous count 35 years ago.

That involved counting all natural land areas with a circumference of at least 100 meters.

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The new figure does not include artificially reclaimed land.

Islands of Japan, seen from Mount Shiude in Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture.

(Credit: Kyodo News/Getty Images/File)

The islands surrounding Japan have been the focus of several territorial disputes.

Japan claims the Russian-held southern Kuril Islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a dispute that dates back to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan.

Japan also claims it has a historic claim to the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which it currently administers, but China has repeatedly disputed that claim.

Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea remain locked in a more than 70-year dispute over sovereignty over a group of islets known as Dokdo for Seoul and Takeshima for Tokyo in the Sea of ​​Japan, which Korea calls the East Sea.

IslandsJapan

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2023-03-02

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