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The Japanese archipelago (日本列島, Nihon Rettō) are the islands that form the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean. It consists of islands from the Sakhalin island arc and the Northeastern Japan arc. The main island is Honshu.

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The term Home Islands was used at the end of World War II to define the area of Japan to which its sovereignty and the constitutional rule of the Emperor would be restricted. The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japan's colonies and other territories in the first half of the 20th century, but is not used in reference to the country as it exists today.

Island components

The archipelago consists of 6,852 islands ("island" defined as land more than 100 m in circumference), of which 430 are inhabited. The four main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.

Palaeogeography

Changes to the Japanese archipelago over time:

See also

• Geography of Japan
• List of islands of Japan

References

1. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Japanese+Archipelago
2. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NHi6AAAAIAAJ&q=%226%2C852+islands%22

External links

• 37°30′52″N 137°42′44″E / 37.514444°N 137.712222°E / 37.514444; 137.712222, center of mass

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