Changes

**Yaeyama Islands - incl. [[Ishigaki Island]], [[Taketomi Island]], [[Kohama Island]], [[Kuroshima (Yaeyama)|Kuroshima]], [[Hatoma Island]], [[Iriomote-jima]], [[Hateruma Island]], and [[Yonaguni Island]]

**Yaeyama Islands - incl. [[Ishigaki Island]], [[Taketomi Island]], [[Kohama Island]], [[Kuroshima (Yaeyama)|Kuroshima]], [[Hatoma Island]], [[Iriomote-jima]], [[Hateruma Island]], and [[Yonaguni Island]]

The fifty-five major islands in the chain constitute a total land area of 1,193 square miles, and are comprised of a series of seamounts, separate from the continental shelf, formed at the boundary of the Eurasian and Philippine Plates.<ref>Pearson, 8.</ref>

The fifty-five major islands in the chain constitute a total land area of 1,193 square miles, and are comprised of a series of seamounts and coral islands, separate from the continental shelf, formed at the boundary of the Eurasian and Philippine Plates.<ref>Pearson, 8.</ref>

Unlike the Japanese Archipelago, which is volcanic, the islands of Ryûkyû formed from limestone coral, and so have a very different geology and topography. There are no serious mountains in the Ryukyus, and the average height above sea level across the entire archipelago is a tiny fraction of that of the far more mountainous islands of Japan and Taiwan.

Unlike the Japanese Archipelago, which is volcanic, the islands of Ryûkyû formed from limestone coral, and so have a very different geology and topography. There are no serious mountains in the Ryukyus, and the average height above sea level across the entire archipelago is a tiny fraction of that of the far more mountainous islands of Japan and Taiwan.

==History==

==History==

===Early History===

===Early History===

The archaeological record shows that human habitation in the Ryukyus began roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. More recent major waves of immigration, from a variety of directions, settled the northern Ryukyus around 9000 years ago, and the Sakishima Islands (the southern Ryukyus) around 4500 years ago.

The archaeological record shows that human habitation in the Ryukyus began roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. No archaeological remains have been found for the period from roughly 16,000 and 7000 BCE. Beginning around 7000 BCE, however, more recent major waves of immigration began to enter the Northern and Central Ryukyus from the north (Kyushu), and beginning around 2900 BCE, entering the Sakishima Islands from the south.

 

Agriculture is not believed to have begun in the islands until around 800 CE, with islanders previously subsisting in hunter-gatherer communities.

The overall chain of islands continues relatively regularly from Kyushu to Taiwan, with one island, or small group of islands, after another, such that one can travel from one island to another without ever being out of sight of land (provided it's a clear day); however, there is a significant gap, 270 km wide, between Okinawa and the islands to the south, known as the Kerama Gap.<ref>Pearson, 4.</ref> As a result, while the people of Okinawa and the various islands north of it engaged in considerable trade with one another and with "mainland" Japan, the islanders of Sakishima remained disconnected from those interactions until around the 11th century CE.<ref name=pear1>Pearson, 1.</ref>

The overall chain of islands continues relatively regularly from Kyushu to Taiwan, with one island, or small group of islands, after another, such that one can travel from one island to another without ever being out of sight of land (provided it's a clear day); however, there is a significant gap, 270 km wide, between Okinawa and the islands to the south, known as the Kerama Gap.<ref>Pearson, 4.</ref> As a result, while the people of Okinawa and the various islands north of it engaged in considerable trade with one another and with "mainland" Japan, the islanders of Sakishima remained disconnected from those interactions until around the 11th century CE.<ref name=pear1>Pearson, 1.</ref>

The 10th-11th centuries saw considerable technological and commercial developments in [[Song Dynasty]] China ([[960]]-[[1279]]), along with various concurrent developments in [[Heian period]] Japan. Interactions between China, Japan, and the Ryukyus increased, and migrants between the three regions introduced the cultivation of rice, wheat, barley, and other crops, and the raising of livestock into the Ryukyus.<ref name=pear1/>

The 10th-11th centuries saw considerable technological and commercial developments in [[Song Dynasty]] China ([[960]]-[[1279]]), along with various concurrent developments in [[Heian period]] Japan. Interactions between China, Japan, and the Ryukyus increased, and migrants between the three regions introduced the cultivation of rice, wheat, barley, and other crops, and the raising of livestock into the Ryukyus.<ref name=pear1/>

The people of the various islands, over the course of time, formed up into complex societies, generally taking the form of chiefdoms.

The people of the various islands, over the course of time, formed up into complex societies, generally taking the form of chiefdoms. For a time, the island became embroiled in considerable violence, as local elites built fortresses called ''[[gusuku]]'' and fought one another for land and power. It was also during this "Gusuku Period" that [[Ryukyuan pottery|pottery]] and [[porcelain]] were first introduced to the islands.<ref>''Okinawa bijutsu zenshû'' 沖縄美術全集. vol. 5, Okinawa Times (1989), 39.</ref>

===Age of Maritime Trade===

===Age of Maritime Trade===