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| | Japan (Japanese: 日本), official name: "Nihon koku", "Nippon koku" (info) (Japanese: 日本国) - island nation in Eastern Asia. It is located in the Pacific Ocean, to the east of Sea of Japan, China, North and South Korea and Russia. It extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to East China Sea and Taiwan in the south.
Japan is located in the Japanese archipelago consisting of 6,852 islands. Four major islands - Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu & Shikoku - occupy 97% of total area of the archipelago. Majority of islands are filled with mountains, of which many being volcanic. Highest peak in Japan - Fuji Volcano. With population of more than 127 million people, Japan occupies tenth place in the world. Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital of Japan, Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, with population of more than 30 million people, is the largest urban agglomeration in the world.
Being a great economic power, Japan stands at third place in the world with respect to nominal GDP and occupies third spot as per GDP, estimated according to purchasing power parity. Japan is the fourth largest exporter & sixth largest importer.
Japan is a developed country with very high standard of living (tenth place on human development index). One of the highest life expectancy can be found in Japan with 82.12 years in 2009 and one of the lowest infant mortality rate.
Japan is a member of G8 & APEC and also is a non-permanent member of Security council of United Nations. Though Japan has officially refused to go to war, it has large & modern army, which is used for self-defence & in peace-keeping operations.
Japan remains to be unique country in the world, against which nuclear weapon was used.
Japan - constitutional monarchy. According to constitution, which came into force on May 3, 1947, emperor of Japan - "symbol of state & unity of people". Emperor of Japan makes all the state appointments & decisions on representation of Cabinet of Ministers, which takes the responsibility. During diplomatic meetings, Emperor of Japan plays the role of Head of State. Since 1989, Emperor of Japan is Akihito with Prince Naruhito to be heir apparent.
In Japan, Parliament is the supreme government & only legislative body. It consists of two houses: Houses of Representatives & House of Councillors.
Two main parties exist in Japan. In 2009, the Social - Liberal Democratic Party of Japan obtained mandate in parliament, replacing Conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled for 54 years.
Japan maintains close economic & military relations with United States of America. Agreement on Cooperation and Safety between USA and Japan serves as base for close economic and military relations. Japan is a member of United Nations since 1956 & also non-permanent member of UN Security Council (as of 2010, it was member of Security council for 19 years). Besides, Japan is a member of G4 with an aim to become permanent member of Security Council. As member of G8, G10, APEC, participant of summit АСЕАН Plus 3 & East Asian Summit, Japan actively participates in International relations and improves links with worldwide partners, important for Japan. In March 2007, Japan signed joint declaration on cooperation in the field of security with Australia & in October 2008 - with India.
Japan is involved in territorial disputes with several neighbouring states. According to official Japanese stand, South Kuril islands, which de facto are in Russia, are part of territory of Japan. Because of this issue, peace treaty could not be signed till date between Russia and Japan. Also, Japan challenges belonging of Liancourt Rocks, which is under the control of South Korea. China & Taiwan challenge belonging of Senkaku Islands, which are under the control of Japan.
Geography:
Japan is located on big stratovolcanic archipelago, which is at Pacific coast of Asia. According to geographical system of coordinates, Japan lies at 36° to the north of Equator & at 138 ° to the east of Greenwich meridian. Country is situated at northeast of China & Taiwan (it is separated from them by East China Sea) and strictly in the east from Korea (is separated by Sea of Japan). Far East, geographical region of Russia, is located to the north of Japan.
Largest islands of archipelago (from north to south): Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku & Kyushu. Also, Japan is made up of 6848 smaller islands, including Okinawa, some of them are habitable & some - inhabitable. Japan occupies about 377,900 km² (2006), of which 364.400 km2 is land & 13,500 km2 is water. With respect to area, Japan is bigger than Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand & Great Britain. Area wise, Japan is 1.7 times bigger than Korea and 10 times of Taiwan.
Japan is covered by elevations & low and medium-altitude mountains; they make up 75 % territory of the country. Lowlands are located in separate sections along the coastline of the country. Largest lowland - Kanto, occupying about 17 000 km².
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