Japan Has Recently Discovered 7,000 Unknown Islands

Japan discovered that it has more islands than it thought.

The Geospatial Information Agency of Japan (GSI), a digital mapping agency, recently discovered that there are 14,125 islands on Japanese territory. This is more than twice the 6,852 figure that was in use in an official report from the Japan Coast Guard in 1987.

The GSI stressed this week that the new figure reflected advancements in surveying technology as well as the detail of the maps used to count - it did however not alter the total area of land held by Japan.

It stated that although there is no international agreement about how to count islands it used the same size criteria as the previous survey which was 35 years ago.

This meant that all land areas naturally occurring in the area were counted with a circumference at least 100m (330 feet).

The new number does NOT include artificially reclaimed land.

Many territorial disputes have involved the islands around Japan.

Japan claims the Russian-held south Kuril islands. Tokyo refers to them as the Northern Territories. This dispute dates back to World War II when Soviet troops took them from Japan.

Japan claims that it also has historical rights to the East China Sea's uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which it currently manages. However, China has repeatedly denied this claim.

Japan and South Korea are locked in a dispute for sovereignty of the group of islands known as Dokdo in Seoul and Takeshima in Tokyo in the Sea of Japan. Korea refers to the East Sea.

 

Source: cnn.com