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Introduction Japan
Geography Japan
Geographic coordinates:
36 00 N, 138 00 E
Map references:
total: 377,835 sq km
water: 3,091 sq km
land: 374,744 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than California
Land boundaries:
0 km
29,751 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
mostly rugged and mountainous
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m
highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Natural resources:
negligible mineral resources, fish
Land use:
arable land: 12.13%
permanent crops: 1.01%
other: 86.86% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
26,790 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
Environment - current issues:
Environment - international agreements:
Geography - note:
strategic location in northeast Asia
People Japan
127,214,499 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 14.4% (male 9,368,132; female 8,906,024)
15-64 years: 67% (male 42,852,204; female 42,368,109)
65 years and over: 18.6% (male 9,945,638; female 13,774,392) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 42 years
male: 40.3 years
female: 43.8 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
0.11% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
9.61 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
8.55 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate:
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: 0.72 male(s)/female
Infant mortality rate:
total: 3.3 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 3.56 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 80.93 years
male: 77.63 years
female: 84.41 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.38 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
12,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
430 (2001 est.)
noun: Japanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Japanese
Ethnic groups:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1995 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
Government Japan
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Japan
Government type:
constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government
Administrative divisions:
660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)
National holiday:
Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
3 May 1947
Legal system:
20 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
note: following the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro MORI, Junichiro KOIZUMI was elected as the new president of the majority Liberal Democratic Party and soon thereafter designated by the Diet to become the next prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the Diet designates the prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must command a parliamentary majority; therefore, following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
Legislative branch:
bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (247 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 149 members in multi-seat constituencies and 98 by proportional representation); House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs)
election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 110, DPJ 59, Komeito 23, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8, Conservative Party 5, independents 14; distribution of seats as of July 2001 was: LDP 115, DPJ 60, Komeito 24, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8 (merged with DPJ in 2003), independents 6, others 6; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - LDP 49.38%, DPJ 36.88%, Komeito 7.09%, JCP 1.88%, SDP 1.25%, NCP .84%; seats by party - LDP 237, DPJ 177, Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, NCP 4, others 13; distribution of seats as of 13 November 2003 was: LDP 244, DPJ 177, Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, others 10
elections: House of Councillors - last held 29 July 2001 (next to be held in July 2004); House of Representatives - last held 9 November 2003 (next election has not been scheduled)
Judicial branch:
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Naoto KAN, leader; Katsuya OKADA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman; Tadayoshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president; Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president; Shinzo ABE, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, chairperson; Seiji MATAICHI, secretary general]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
International organization participation:
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo KATO
FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187
consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)
chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Howard H. BAKER, Jr.
telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000
FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862
consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya
Flag description:
Economy Japan
Economy - overview:
purchasing power parity - $3.651 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
0.2% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $28,700 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 30.9%
services: 67.7% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line:
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.8%
highest 10%: 21.7% (1993)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
24.9 (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
-0.9% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
67.7 million (December 2001)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 70%, industry 25%, agriculture 5% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate:
5.4% (2002)
revenues: $441 billion
expenditures: $718 billion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $0 NA (FY 01/02 est.)
Industrial production growth rate:
-1.4% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
1.037 trillion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 60%
hydro: 8.4%
other: 1.8% (2001)
nuclear: 29.8%
Electricity - consumption:
964.2 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
17,330 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
5.29 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
93,360 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
5.449 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
29.29 million bbl (37257)
Natural gas - production:
2.519 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
80.42 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
77.73 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
20.02 billion cu m (37257)
Agriculture - products:
$383.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals
Exports - partners:
US 28.8%, China 9.6%, South Korea 6.9%, Taiwan 6.2%, Hong Kong 6.1% (2002)
$292.1 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
Imports - partners:
China 18.3%, US 17.4%, South Korea 4.6%, Indonesia 4.2%, Australia 4.1% (2002)
Debt - external:
Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $9.1 billion (1999)
yen (JPY)
Currency code:
Exchange rates:
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
Communications Japan
Telephones - main lines in use:
60.381 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
63.88 million (2000)
Telephone system:
general assessment: excellent domestic and international service
Radio broadcast stations:
120.5 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
211 plus 7,341 repeaters
86.5 million (1997)
Internet country code:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
73 (2000)
Internet users:
56 million (2002)
Transportation Japan
total: 23,168 km (15,995 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (77 km electrified); 19,855 km 1.067-m gauge (12,683 km electrified); 31 km 0.762-m gauge (31 km electrified) (2002)
total: 1,161,894 km
paved: 534,471 km (including 6,455 km of expressways)
unpaved: 627,423 km (1999)
1,770 km approximately
note: seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas
gas 2,719 km; oil 170 km; oil/gas/water 60 km (2003)
Ports and harbors:
Merchant marine:
total: 594 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 10,467,142 GRT/13,335,833 DWT
ships by type: bulk 120, cargo 45, chemical tanker 18, combination bulk 28, combination ore/oil 1, container 18, liquefied gas 52, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 179, refrigerated cargo 9, roll on/roll off 59, short-sea passenger 6, vehicle carrier 49
172 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 141
over 3,047 m: 7
2,438 to 3,047 m: 37
914 to 1,523 m: 27
under 914 m: 32 (2002)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 38
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 31
over 3047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 26 (2002)
914 to 1,523 m: 3
15 (2002)
Military Japan
Military branches:
Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force), Coast Guard
Military manpower - military age:
18 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 29,392,559 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 25,405,779 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 725,281 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$39.52 billion (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Japan
Disputes - international:
islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) claimed by China and Taiwan