Japan has counted greater than 14,000 islands in its territory, twice as many because the final survey

Japan discovered that it has 14,125 islands after a survey up to date the earlier depend that dated again to 1987. It is not going to change the general space of Japanese territory or its territorial waters.

The Geospatial Data Authority of Japan (GSI) counted all islands of the nation and concluded the nation has 14,125 islands, greater than twice as many because the earlier survey.

The GSI, which conducts nationwide surveying and mapping actions offering a foundation for land administration, counted islands when land with a circumference of not less than 100 meters (330 ft) was thought of shaped naturally.

There isn’t any worldwide settlement on the tactic for counting islands, in response to the company. Nevertheless, the United Nations Conference on the Legislation of the Sea defines an island as a “naturally shaped space of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at excessive tide,” which the company adopted to publish its findings on February 28.

To take action, the GSI used its digital land map from 2022 and cross-referenced it with previous aerial pictures, previous maps and different information. An computerized pc depend initially discovered 120,729 islands and was trimmed right down to 14,125 by the GSI. Islands in lakes, river sandbanks or artificially reclaimed land are excluded from the depend.

The earlier survey was revealed by the Japan Coast Guard and dated again 36 years in the past. The GSI used the identical dimension criterion to depend the islands however the variety of islands elevated considerably between the 2 surveys. Japan counted 6,852 islands in 1987, a quantity that was extensively used as a reference for the variety of islands within the nation.

Nevertheless, these new islands is not going to change Japan’s total territory and territorial waters. Some islands surrounding Japan have been concerned in a number of territorial disputes with Russia, China, and South Korea.

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