Tokyo –
Japan has recalculated the number of islands in its territory. As it turns out, there are 7,000 more islands than Japan previously thought.
Reported by CNN, Friday (3/3/2023), digital mapping by the Japan Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) recently found that there are 14,125 islands in Japanese territory. This figure is more than double the 6,852 figure that has been in official use since a 1987 report by the Japanese Coast Guard.
However, the GSI this week emphasized that the new figures reflect advances in surveying technology and the detail of the maps used for the calculations. GSI stated that this did not change the total area of land owned Japan.
The GSI said that while there is no international agreement on how islands are counted, the size criteria used were the same as the previous survey 35 years ago.
That means calculating all land areas with a circumference of at least 100 meters. The new figure does not include artificially reclaimed land.
The islands around Japan have been the center of several territorial disputes. Japan claims the southern Kuril islands which are controlled by Russia. Tokyo refers to the island as the Northern Territory.
The island is a dispute that dates back to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops seized it from the Japanese.
Japan also says it has historical claims to the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which it currently administers. However, China has repeatedly challenged the claim.
Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea remain in a dispute for more than 70 years over the sovereignty of a group of islands known as Dokdo by Seoul and Takeshima by Tokyo in the Sea of Japan, which Korea calls the East Sea.
(lir/lir)
