Japan’s Island Nation Just Got Bigger: 7,000 New Islands Discovered

Japan has found 7,000 new islands that it did not know it had, almost doubling its island landmass.

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The Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) of Japan executed a digital mapping exercise to count the country's islands.

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Back in 1987, the Japanese Coast Guard counted 6,852 islands, but the new count shows 14,125 individual land masses.

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The previous count was incorrect because the technology used back then was not advanced enough to distinguish between large individual islands and clusters of smaller islands.

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Numerous volcanic activities since 1987 have also enabled the formation of new islands.

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Only about 400 of Japan's 14,125 islands are inhabited.

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Japan's islands are continuously transforming due to weather and volcanic activity.

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The discovery of new Japanese islands will not affect the country's territory or territorial waters.

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The GSI used aerial photography to check that the new islands were not artificially reclaimed land.

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