Japan Has Twice as Many Islands as It Said Decades Ago

Tokyo, Feb. 28 (Jiji Press)--Japan has 14,125 islands, about twice as many as it said decades ago, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan said Tuesday.

The latest figure covered naturally formed islands with a coastline of 100 meters or more, based on the country's digital basic map.

In 1987, the Japan Coast Guard said that there were 6,852 islands in the country.

The sharp increase was largely attributed to advances in surveying technology including aerial photography, which made it possible to measure the complicated coastlines of small islands.

There is no change in Japan' national land area, however, because the new islands have already been counted as land.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]