Tsushima Strait)

_#_Disputes: Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan Islands and the
Habomai island group occupied by Soviet Union since 1945, claimed by
Japan; Liancourt Rocks disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto
(Senkaku Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan

_#_Climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north

_#_Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous

_#_Natural resources: negligible mineral resources, fish

_#_Land use: arable land 13%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
1%; forest and woodland 67%; other 18%; includes irrigated 9%

_#_Environment: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500
seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; subject to tsunamis

_#_Note: strategic location in northeast Asia

_*_People
_#_Population: 124,017,137 (July 1991), growth rate 0.4% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 10 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 4 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 76 years male, 82 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Japanese (sing., pl.); adjective--Japanese

_#_Ethnic divisions: Japanese 99.4%, other (mostly Korean) 0.6%

_#_Religion: most Japanese observe both Shinto and Buddhist rites
so the percentages add to more than 100%--Shinto 95.8%,
Buddhist 76.3%, Christian 1.4%, other 12% (1985)

_#_Language: Japanese

_#_Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1970 est.)

_#_Labor force: 63,330,000; trade and services 54%; manufacturing,
mining, and construction 33%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing 7%;
government 3% (1988)

_#_Organized labor: about 29% of employed workers; public service
76.4%, transportation and telecommunications 57.9%, mining 48.7%,
manufacturing 33.7%, services 18.2%, wholesale, retail, and restaurant
9.3%

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none

_#_Type: constitutional monarchy

_#_Capital: Tokyo

_#_Administrative divisions: 47 prefectures (fuken, singular and
plural); 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,