The Japanese archipelago has a total of 14,125 islands, more than double the official figure that was available before, after a new count whose results were announced a few days ago by the Japan Geospatial Information Authority (GSI). Exactly 7,272 islands were added to the historical count.
The last count, from 1987, indicated that Japan had a total of 6,852 islandsHowever, the GSI has found the new figure thanks to the improvement in topographic technology and the digitization of maps, according to a statement published today. That official body recently discovered that there are 14,125 islands in Japanese territory, more than double the number that was officially handled since a 1987 report by the Japan Coast Guard.
The new figure, which does not imply any change in the size of Japan’s territory or the country’s territorial waters, replaces that of 35 years ago, which was achieved after a count of the Coast Guard Japan from all the Japanese islands with a circumference of at least 100 meters.
In all, the GSI automatically found 120,729 islands, however, it discarded those that did not reach the aforementioned circumference or that they had been built artificially when comparing them with previous maps.
“The definition of ‘islands’ is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but there is no international agreement on the method of counting islands, so we count land with a circumference of 0.1 km or more and that has formed naturally”, explained the GSI.
The count does not include islands in lakes or rivers.
The islands that surround that nation have been the center of several territorial disputes with nearby countries. Japan claim the islands Kuril south, in Russian hands, which tokyo names Northern Territoriesa dispute that dates back to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops wrested it from a country in chaos and the failure of a fateful enterprise.
In addition to that, Japan also claims to have a historic claim to the uninhabited islands Senkakuin it east china seawhich he currently manages, but China has repeatedly disputed that claim. Tensions are growing between the two countries, although not only because of these maritime disputes.
Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea remain locked in a dispute of more than 70 years over the sovereignty of a group of islets known as Dokdo by seoul and takeshima by tokyo in it sea of japanwhich Korea calls East Sea.
(With information from EFE and international media).-
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Source-www.infobae.com