Japan discovers thousands of islands that were not in its records

Latest island count in Japan was in 1987. Officially, the country of the rising sun has 6,852 islands. But a recount through a computer program has located… 14,125 islands. From March, Japan will have twice as many islands. Where have they come from?

Japan is an island country, which has 4 large islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. But all around you there thousands of smaller islands.

For a rock that protrudes from the sea to be considered a islandthe United Nations Convention, which Japan abides by, indicates that it should be “a naturally formed area of ​​land, surrounded by water, which is above the water at high tide”.

In addition, Japan only considers islands those that have more than 100 meters in circumference. That is, you must travel more than 100 meters to surround it.

Japan will have more than 14,000 islands in March

Latest official count It was carried out in 1987 by the Urban Coast Guard. they accounted for 6,852 islands.

Last year they decided to count them again, but this time using a digital map created by the Japan Geospatial Information Authority (GSI), which they crossed with aerial photographsto exclude artificial islands, which do not count.

The computer program found… more than 100,000 islands. Those with less than 100 meters in circumference were eliminated, and the final count remains at 14,125 islands, more than double the official figure. The data is not yet fixed, since they are in the final counts and the figure will not be communicated until March, according to the outlet. Kyodo News.

How can they exist thousands of islands apart? It is true that Japan is a volcanic country, and from time to time an island arises after an underwater eruption. Since 1987 a few may have emerged from the sea, but not thousands.

The previous recount was carried out by the Coastal City Guard… manually. coast guards they counted the islands by eye with a circumference of 100 meters or more that appeared on a map of Japan. The map did not seem to be very complete. Besides they did not count islands in lakes or river shoalsand it has been found that groups of islands counted as one.

The new count doubles the number of islands in Japan, to 14,125 islands. Despite this, the official measurement of the Japanese territory will not change, since they are very small pieces of land, and uninhabitable. But it will force to change the educational books that are used in the school.