Official Name: Nippon (Japan)

Area: Asia

Size: 377,873 km² 

Coastline: 29,751 km

Independence: formation Feb 11, 660 BC

Form of Govt.: Constitutional monarchy

Head of Govt.: Prime Minister

Capital: Tokyo

Largest City: Tokyo

Demographics (2005): 128,085,000.   337 /km²

99.4% Japanese and 0.6% other,

GDP per Capita (2005): $33,100

Languages: Japanese, French, Vietnamese and Korean

Geography: mostly rugged and mountainous. Japan is composed of over 3.000 islands, the largest of which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku: 95 percent of Japan's territory. About 40 of the country's 188 volcanoes are active. Japan lies in a zone of extreme geological instability, where four tectonic plates-the Pacific plate, the Eurasian plate, the North American plate, and the Philippine plate-come together

Climate: The climate of Japan is quite distinct for each region, but it is generally of two major types. (1.) A marine or oceanic climate that is influenced by the Kuroshio or Black Current and the Oyashio or Parent Current. (2.) A tropical climate that is regulated by the Asian monsoons while the Asian mainland climate also controls the temperature and precipitation in Japan. Two periods of heavy rains occur, the Plum Rains in June and the other in September. Between these two periods the country is hot, humid and rainless with typhoons occurring from the end of summer through to October. The cycle and length of the seasons also varies depending on each region. Average temperature ranges in Tokyo are from -2 to 8 degrees in January to 22 to 30 degrees in August.