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You are here: Home / Geography / How Many Islands Make Up the Country of Japan and What Are the Four Largest Islands In the Archipelago?

How Many Islands Make Up the Country of Japan and What Are the Four Largest Islands In the Archipelago?

March 26, 2020 by Karen Hill

Japan consists of 3,000 islands, called an archipelago, that extend over 1,500 miles (2,415 km) in the central and south Pacific.

In total land area, Japan is about the size of the state of Montana.

Most of the country’s 127 million people live on one of its four main islands.

The majority live on Honshu, the largest island.

The other three large islands are Shikoku, Kyushu, and Hokkaido.

About 80 percent of Japan’s land area is mountainous, so most people live in the valleys and coastal areas.

As a result, Japan’s population density is one of the highest in the world, about 869 people per square mile.

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Filed Under: Geography

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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