general information on japan

general information on japan 

1.  country name and localisation :Japan "Nihon or Nippon in Japanese" , is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
2. Geographic coordinates: 36 00 N, 138 00 E
3. capital of the country; "tokyo".
4. land surface: Japan's total land area is about 378,000 square km,About 3/4 of Japan's land surface is mountainous.Japan's highest mountain is Mt. Fuji (3,776 m) with Kitadake at 3,192 m being the second highest.
5. coastline: 29,751 km
6. Ethnic groups: 98.5% Japanese , 0.5% Korean , 0.4% Chinese , 0.6% other
7. religion: both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other religions 16% ,but a lot of Japanese people are not conscious about religion,and Japan enjoys full religious freedom based on Article 20 of its Constitution.
8. languages: More than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language.
9. population:The last set of official figures pertaining to Japan’s population were released at the time of the 2010 census and the final statistics showed there to be 128,056,026 people here which would make Japan the tenth largest country in the world. However, a recent estimate showed that the population of Japan in 2012 had fallen to around 127,960,000
10. governement and politics: Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected members of the Diet, while sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people. 
11. economy:The economy of Japan is the third largest national economy in the world after the United States and the People's Republic of China and is the world's second largest developed economy According to the International Monetary Fund.
12. national anthem:"Kimigayo" (君が代) is the national anthem of Japan,"Kimigayo" is also one of the world's shortest national anthems currently in use, Its lyrics are based on a Waka poem written in the Heian period.
13. flag: The Japanese flag was officially adopted on February 27, 1870. The national flag of Japan is officially called Nisshoki, meaning sun-mark flag, and is also called Hinomaru in which means "circle of the sun." The flag of Japan features a red circle on a white background,Japan has been associated with the symbol of the sun since at least the seventh century, and although the exact origin of the flag is not known, most scholars believe it is related to the country's nickname.
14. climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north.
15. currency: The Japanese yen (円 or 圓 en?, sign: ¥; code: JPY) is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling.

map of japan

flag of japan