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The Japanese archipelago includes four major islands and many smaller ones, stretching roughly 1500 miles<ref name=brief>Shirokauer, et al., 3-5.</ref> from [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] in the north, to the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] in the south.<ref>The northernmost parts of Hokkaidô lie at 42-43 degrees North latitude, and the southern portions of Kyushu, i.e. the southernmost points in the Japanese "mainland," around 31 degrees North. [[Yonaguni Island]], one of the southernmost of the Ryûkyû Islands, lies at around 24 degrees North.</ref> The four main islands of Hokkaidô, [[Honshu|Honshû]], [[Shikoku]], and [[Kyushu]] cover a total of roughly 146,000 square miles or 378,000 square kilometers.<ref name=brief/><ref>The land area of the three main islands which formed the extent of the realm throughout its pre-modern history, i.e. excluding Hokkaidô and the Ryukyus obtained in the late 19th century, is around 114,000 square miles, or 295,000 km².</ref>

The Japanese archipelago includes four major islands and many smaller ones, stretching roughly 1500 miles<ref name=brief>Shirokauer, et al., 3-5.</ref> from [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] in the north, to the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] in the south.<ref>The northernmost parts of Hokkaidô lie at 45 degrees North latitude, and the southern portions of Kyushu, i.e. the southernmost points in the Japanese "mainland," around 31 degrees North. [[Yonaguni Island]], one of the southernmost of the Ryûkyû Islands, lies at around 24 degrees North.</ref> The four main islands of Hokkaidô, [[Honshu|Honshû]], [[Shikoku]], and [[Kyushu]] cover a total of roughly 146,000 square miles or 378,000 square kilometers.<ref name=brief/><ref>The land area of the three main islands which formed the extent of the realm throughout its pre-modern history, i.e. excluding Hokkaidô and the Ryukyus obtained in the late 19th century, is around 114,000 square miles, or 295,000 km².</ref>

The islands lie at the intersections of four tectonic plates<ref>The North American, Eurasian, Pacific, and Philippine Sea plates.</ref>, have volcanic origins, and are heavily mountainous.<ref>That is, with the exception of the Ryûkyû Island chain, which is relatively flat, close to sea level, and is composed chiefly not of volcanic soil, but of limestone, deriving from coral origins.</ref> The islands are home to over sixty active volcanoes, comprising roughly ten percent of the active volcanoes in the world, and including several of the archipelago's most famous mountains.<ref name=totman>[[Conrad Totman]], ''Early Modern Japan'', University of California Press (1993), 4-5.</ref> [[Sakurajima]] in southern Kyushu has erupted more or less constantly since 1950; [[Mt. Fuji]] is also considered active, though it has not erupted since [[1708]]. The islands are also one of the chief centers of earthquake activity in the world.

The islands lie at the intersections of four tectonic plates<ref>The North American, Eurasian, Pacific, and Philippine Sea plates.</ref>, have volcanic origins, and are heavily mountainous.<ref>That is, with the exception of the Ryûkyû Island chain, which is relatively flat, close to sea level, and is composed chiefly not of volcanic soil, but of limestone, deriving from coral origins.</ref> The islands are home to over sixty active volcanoes, comprising roughly ten percent of the active volcanoes in the world, and including several of the archipelago's most famous mountains.<ref name=totman>[[Conrad Totman]], ''Early Modern Japan'', University of California Press (1993), 4-5.</ref> [[Sakurajima]] in southern Kyushu has erupted more or less constantly since 1950; [[Mt. Fuji]] is also considered active, though it has not erupted since [[1708]]. The islands are also one of the chief centers of earthquake activity in the world.

==References==

==References==

*Conrad Shirokauer, Suzanne Gay, and David Lurie, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage Learning (2013), 3-5.

*Conrad Shirokauer, Suzanne Gay, and David Lurie, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage Learning (2013), 3-5.

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[[Category:Resource Articles]]

[[Category:Resource Articles]]

[[Category:Locations]]

[[Category:Locations]]