Japan counts its islands again – and suddenly discovers twice as many as before

East Asia
Japan checks the number of its islands – and suddenly has twice as many as before

The number of islands belonging to Japan has changed significantly due to a new census.

In Japan, geologists have discovered 7,000 previously unknown islands through modern mapping. This does not mean that the Asian state is expanding its territory, but the newly added islands can certainly change the country’s educational and administrative sectors. After all, many of the newly added areas are neither listed in atlases nor in cadastral inventories.

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So far, the responsible authorities have assumed that Japan consists of almost 7,000 islands, as the “Guardian” reports. Every now and then, some are added and others are lost due to earth changes. But over the last 35 years, the total number has remained relatively the same. But now, with the help of digital mapping technology, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) set out to determine an exact figure. Lo and behold: a total of 14,125 islands were counted. That’s 7273 more than previously believed.

Japan’s government plans to publish the new number of islands soon

Incidentally, the number of islands is not yet completely certain: the Japanese government is now planning to publish the new number of islands in March of this year. Until then, the GSI should make final adjustments, so that the specific number could change a little.

At the last survey in 1987, paper charts and maps were used to count the islands, resulting in the number of 6,852. At that time, an island was considered to be a landmass surrounded by water with a circumference of at least 100 meters, as the Guardian summarizes.

In the new study, the geologists used the same size criterion, but counted the islands using digitized maps and compared the information with aerial photographs to rule out man-made land, for example. Islands in lakes or on sandbanks in rivers were also not counted, adds the “Sumikai” portal, which specializes in Japan.

Sources: “Guardians”“Sumikai“

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