nment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Desertification

Geography - note: strategic location in northeast Asia

@Japan:People

Population: 125,732,794 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 15% (male 9,931,114; female 9,464,940)
15-64 years: 69% (male 43,577,219; female 43,250,874)
65 years and over: 16% (male 8,089,200; female 11,419,447) (July 1997
est.)

Population growth rate: 0.23% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 10.01 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 7.39 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth : 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 80.45 years
male: 77.4 years
female: 83.65 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.44 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality:
noun : Japanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Japanese

Ethnic groups: Japanese 99.4%, other 0.6% (mostly Korean)

Religions: observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including
Christian 0.7%)

Languages: Japanese

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1970 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%

@Japan:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Japan

Data code: JA

Government type: constitutional monarchy

National capital: Tokyo

Administrative divisions: 47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba,
Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido,
Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi,
Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara,
Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane,
Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama,
Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi

Independence: 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)

National holiday: Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December