Car Plate from Shizuoka                                           Car plate from Okinawa

Background:

Location:

Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula

Geographic coordinates:

36 00 N, 138 00 E

Map references:

Asia

Area:

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than California

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

29,751 km

Maritime claims:

contiguous zone:  24 NM

exclusive economic zone:  200 NM

territorial sea:  12 NM; between 3 NM and 12 NM in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait

Climate:

varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north

Terrain:

mostly rugged and mountainous

Elevation extremes:

lowest point:  Hachiro-gata -4 m

highest point:  Fujiyama 3,776 m

Natural resources:

negligible mineral resources, fish

Land use:

Irrigated land:

27,820 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:

many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons

Environment - current issues:

air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere

Geography note:

Environment - international agreements:

Population:

126,771,662 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years:  14.64% (male 9,510,296; female 9,043,074)

15-64 years:  67.83% (male 43,202,513; female 42,790,187)

65 years and over:  17.53% (male 9,351,340; female 12,874,252) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.17% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:

10.04 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:

8.34 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth:  1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:  1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:  1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:  0.73 male(s)/female

total population:  0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

3.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population:  80.8 years

male:  77.62 years

female:  84.15 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.41 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

0.02% (1999 est.)

10,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

150 (1999 est.)

Nationality:

noun:  Japanese (singular and plural)

adjective:  Japanese

Ethnic groups:

Japanese 99.4%, Korean 0.6% (1999)

Religions:

Languages:

Japanese

Literacy:

Country name:

conventional long form:  none

conventional short form:  Japan

Government type:

constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government

Capital:

Tokyo

Administrative divisions:

National holiday:

Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)

Constitution:

3 May 1947

Legal system:

modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage:

20 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

Legislative branch:

Political parties and leaders:

Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio HATOYAMA, leader, Naoto KAN, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman, Tadaaki ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president, Taku YAMASAKI, secretary general]; Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president, Hirohisa FUJII, secretary general]; New Conservative Party [Chikage OGI, president, Takeshi NODA, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Sadao FUCHIGAMI, secretary general]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

NA

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission:  Ambassador Shunji YANAI

chancery:  2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:  [1] (202) 238-6700

FAX:  [1] (202) 328-2187

consulate(s) general:  Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle

consulate(s):  Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission:  Ambassador-designate Howard H. BAKER, Jr.

embassy:  10-5 Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420

mailing address:  Unit 45004, Box 205, APO AP 96337-5004

telephone:  [81] (03) 3224-5000

FAX:  [81] (03) 3224-5856

consulate(s) general:  Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo

consulate(s):  Fukuoka, Nagoya

Flag description:

Economy - overview:

Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and third largest economy in the world after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met little success and were further hampered in late 2000 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies. The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength, with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots".

GDP:

purchasing power parity - $3.15 trillion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

1.3% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture:  2%

industry:  35%

services:  63% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line:

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%:  4.8%

highest 10%:  21.7% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

-0.7% (2000 est.)

Labor force:

67.7 million (December 2000)

Labor force - by occupation:

services 65%, industry 30%, agriculture 5%

Unemployment rate:

4.7% (2000)

Budget:

revenues:  $441 billion

expenditures:  $718 billion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $84 billion (FY01/02 est.)

Industries:

among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals; textiles, processed foods

Industrial production growth rate:

5.3% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:

1.018 trillion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:

Electricity - consumption:

947.038 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:

rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish

Exports:

$450 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities:

motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals

Exports - partners:

US 19%, China 14.5%, South Korea 5.4%, Taiwan 4.8%, Indonesia 4.3%, Australia 3.9% (2000 est.)

Imports:

$355 billion (c.i.f., 2000)

Imports - commodities:

fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, office machinery

Imports - partners:

US 19%, China 14.5%, South Korea 5.4%, Taiwan 4.8%, Indonesia 4.3%, Australia 3.9% (2000 est.)

Debt - external:

$NA

Economic aid - donor:

Currency:

yen (JPY)

Currency code:

JPY

Exchange rates:

yen per US dollar - 117.10 (January 2001), 107.77 (2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997), 108.78 (1996) 

Fiscal year:

Telephones - main lines in use:

60.381 million (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

63.88 million (2000)

Telephone system:

general assessment:  excellent domestic and international service

domestic:  high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind

international:  satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 190, FM 88, shortwave 24 (1999)

Radios:

120.5 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

7,108 (plus 441 repeaters; note - in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services) (1999)

Televisions:

86.5 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.jp

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

73 (2000)

Internet users:

Railways:

total:  23,670.7 km

standard gauge:  2,893.1 km 1.435-m gauge (entirely electrified)

narrow gauge:  89.8 km 1.372-m gauge (89.8 km electrified); 20,656.8 km 1.067-m gauge (10,383.6 km electrified); 31 km 0.762-m gauge (3.6 km electrified) (1994

Highways:

total:  1,152,207 km

paved:  863,003 km (including 6,114 km of expressways)

unpaved:  289,204 km (1997 est.)

Waterways:

1,770 km approximately

note:  seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas

Pipelines:

crude oil 84 km; petroleum products 322 km; natural gas 1,800 km

Ports and harbors:

Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe, Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe, Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo, Tomakomai

Merchant marine:

Airports:

173 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:

total:  142

over 3,047 m:  8

2,438 to 3,047 m:  36

1,524 to 2,437 m:  38

914 to 1,523 m:  30

under 914 m:  30 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total:  31

914 to 1,523 m:  4

under 914 m:  27 (2000 est.)

Heliports:

Military branches:

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force)

Military manpower - military age:

18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:

males age 15-49:  29,926,614 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:

males age 15-49:  25,876,484 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:

males:  765,817 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

0.96% (FY01)

Transnational Issues

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Disputes - international:

islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan