Main page Compare countries Index countries Index fields

Query:
Jah-Jah.pl / Index countries / World (2008) - Japan (2003) / Compare countries
##ciekawa_strona##

Compare World (2008) - Japan (2003)

Compare World (2008) z Japan (2003)

 World (2008)Japan (2003)
 WorldJapan
Administrative divisions 266 nations, dependent areas, and other entities 47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
Age structure 0-14 years: 27.4% (male 931,551,498/female 875,646,416)


15-64 years: 65.1% (male 2,174,605,518/female 2,124,494,703)


65 years and over: 7.5% (male 217,451,123/female 278,474,917) (2007 est.)
0-14 years: 14.4% (male 9,368,132; female 8,906,024)


15-64 years: 67% (male 42,852,204; female 42,368,109)


65 years and over: 18.6% (male 9,945,638; female 13,774,392) (2003 est.)
Agriculture - products - rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish
Airports total airports - 49,024


top ten by passengers: Atlanta - 84,846,639; Chicago - 77,028,134; London - 67,530,197; Tokyo - 65,810,672; Los Angeles - 61,041,066; Dallas/Fort Worth - 60,226,138; Paris - 56,849,567; Frankfurt - 52,810,683; Beijing - 48,654,770; Denver - 47,325,016


top ten by cargo (metric tons): Memphis - 3,692,081; Hong Kong - 3,609,780; Anchorage - 2,691,395; Seoul - 2,336,572; Tokyo - 2,280,830; Shanghai - 2,168,122; Paris - 2,130,724; Frankfurt - 2,127,646; Louisville (US) - 1,983,032; Singapore - 1,931,881 (2006)
172 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways - total: 141


over 3,047 m: 7


2,438 to 3,047 m: 37


1,524 to 2,437 m: 38


914 to 1,523 m: 27


under 914 m: 32 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total: 31


over 3047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 3


under 914 m: 26 (2002)
Area total: 510.072 million sq km


land: 148.94 million sq km


water: 361.132 million sq km


note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
total: 377,835 sq km


land: 374,744 sq km


water: 3,091 sq km


note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
Area - comparative land area about 16 times the size of the US slightly smaller than California
Background Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). While retaining its time-honored culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth.
Birth rate 20.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) 9.61 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget - revenues: $441 billion


expenditures: $718 billion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $0 NA (FY 01/02 est.)
Capital - Tokyo
Climate a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Coastline 356,000 km


note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan
29,751 km
Constitution - 3 May 1947
Country name - conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Japan
Currency - yen (JPY)
Death rate 8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) 8.55 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external $54.31 trillion


note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private (2004 est.)
$NA
Diplomatic representation from the US - chief of mission: Ambassador Howard H. BAKER, Jr.


embassy: 10-5 Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420


mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 258, APO AP 96337-5004


telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000


FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862


consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo


consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya
Diplomatic representation in the US - chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo KATO


chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700


FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187


consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle


consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)
Disputes - international stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 322 international land boundaries separate 194 independent states and 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) claimed by China and Taiwan
Economic aid - donor - ODA, $9.1 billion (1999)
Economic aid - recipient ODA, $106.4 billion (2005) -
Economy - overview Global output rose by 5.2% in 2007, led by China (11.4%), India (8.5%), and Russia (7.4%). The 14 other successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 8%-10% range of growth. From 2006 to 2007 growth rates slowed in all the major industrial countries except for the United Kingdom (3.0%). Analysts attribute the slowdown to uncertainties in the financial markets and lowered consumer confidence. Worldwide, nations varied widely in their growth results. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies, notably the EU. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. After the initial coalition victory, the complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continued through 2007. Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second-most-technologically-powerful economy in the world after the US and third-largest economy after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-2003 by the slowing of the US, European, and Asian economies. Japan's huge government debt, which is approaching 150% of GDP, and the ageing of the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots." Internal conflict over the proper way to reform the ailing banking system continues.
Electricity - consumption 16.78 trillion kWh (2005 est.) 964.2 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports 635.6 billion kWh (2005) 0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports 625.7 billion kWh (2005) 0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production 18.55 trillion kWh (2005 est.) 1.037 trillion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: 60%


hydro: 8.4%


nuclear: 29.8%


other: 1.8% (2001)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m


note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean


highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m


highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Environment - current issues large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; global warming becoming a greater concern air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere
Environment - international agreements - party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
Ethnic groups - Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914) (2000)
Exchange rates - yen per US dollar - 125.39 (2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998)
Executive branch - chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)


head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI (since 26 April 2001)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister


elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the Diet designates the prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must command a parliamentary majority; therefore, following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister


note: following the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro MORI, Junichiro KOIZUMI was elected as the new president of the majority Liberal Democratic Party and soon thereafter designated by the Diet to become the next prime minister
Exports 63.76 million bbl/day (2004) 93,360 bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services


top ten - share of world trade: electrical machinery, including computers 14.8%; mineral fuels, including oil, coal, gas, and refined products 14.4%; nuclear reactors, boilers, and parts 14.2%; cars, trucks, and buses 8.9%; scientific and precision instruments 3.5%; plastics 3.4%; iron and steel 2.7%; organic chemicals 2.6%; pharmaceutical products 2.6%; diamonds, pearls, and precious stones 1.9% (2006 est.)
motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals
Exports - partners US 15.1%, Germany 7.4%, China 5.9%, France 4.6%, UK 4.5%, Japan 4.4% (2006) US 28.8%, China 9.6%, South Korea 6.9%, Taiwan 6.2%, Hong Kong 6.1% (2002)
Fiscal year - 1 April - 31 March
Flag description - white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center
GDP - purchasing power parity - $3.651 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 4%


industry: 32%


services: 64% (2007 est.)
agriculture: 1.4%


industry: 30.9%


services: 67.7% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $28,700 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 5.2% (2007 est.) 0.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates - 36 00 N, 138 00 E
Geography - note the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the universe strategic location in northeast Asia
Heliports 1,359 (2007) 15 (2002)
Highways - total: 1,161,894 km


paved: 534,471 km (including 6,455 km of expressways)


unpaved: 627,423 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 2.5%


highest 10%: 29.8% (2002 est.)
lowest 10%: 4.8%


highest 10%: 21.7% (1993)
Illicit drugs cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2005 amounted to 208,500 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production rose to 900 from 645 metric tons in 2005 - partially due to improved methodologies used to calculate levels of production; Colombia conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure) is documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in excess of 380 metric tons



opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation reached 208,500 hectares in 2005; potential opium production of 4,990 metric tons was only a 9% decrease over 2004's highest total recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 90% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 577 metric tons of heroin in 2005
-
Imports 63.18 million bbl/day (2004) 5.449 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services


top ten - share of world trade: see listing for exports
machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials (2001)
Imports - partners China 9.8%, Germany 8.8%, US 8.6%, Japan 5.6% (2006) China 18.3%, US 17.4%, South Korea 4.6%, Indonesia 4.2%, Australia 4.1% (2002)
Independence - 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)
Industrial production growth rate 5% (2007 est.) -1.4% (2002 est.)
Industries dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals; textiles, processed foods
Infant mortality rate total: 43.52 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 46.32 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 40.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total: 3.3 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 3.56 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 3.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in one Third World countries (Zimbabwe); inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries (2005 est.) -0.9% (2002 est.)
International organization participation - ABEDA, AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMISET, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 73 (2000)
Irrigated land 2,770,980 sq km (2003) 26,790 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch - Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)
Labor force 3.001 billion (2007 est.) 67.7 million (December 2001)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 40%


industry: 20.5%


services: 39.4% (2007 est.)
services 70%, industry 25%, agriculture 5% (2002 est.)
Land boundaries the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries


note: 45 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
0 km
Land use arable land: 13.31%


permanent crops: 4.71%


other: 81.98% (2005)
arable land: 12.13%


permanent crops: 1.01%


other: 86.86% (1998 est.)
Languages Mandarin Chinese 13.22%, Spanish 4.88%, English 4.68%, Arabic 3.12%, Hindi 2.74%, Portuguese 2.69%, Bengali 2.59%, Russian 2.2%, Japanese 1.85%, Standard German 1.44%, Wu Chinese 1.17% (2005 est.)


note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Japanese
Legal system all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Legislative branch - bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (247 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 149 members in multi-seat constituencies and 98 by proportional representation); House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs)


elections: House of Councillors - last held 29 July 2001 (next to be held in July 2004); House of Representatives - last held 9 November 2003 (next election has not been scheduled)


election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 110, DPJ 59, Komeito 23, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8, Conservative Party 5, independents 14; distribution of seats as of July 2001 was: LDP 115, DPJ 60, Komeito 24, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8 (merged with DPJ in 2003), independents 6, others 6; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - LDP 49.38%, DPJ 36.88%, Komeito 7.09%, JCP 1.88%, SDP 1.25%, NCP .84%; seats by party - LDP 237, DPJ 177, Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, NCP 4, others 13; distribution of seats as of 13 November 2003 was: LDP 244, DPJ 177, Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, others 10
Life expectancy at birth total population: 65.82 years


male: 63.89 years


female: 67.84 years (2007 est.)
total population: 80.93 years


male: 77.63 years


female: 84.41 years (2003 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 82%


male: 87%


female: 77%


note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 99% (1995 est.)


male: NA%


female: NA%
Location - Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Map references Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World Asia
Maritime claims a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm contiguous zone: 24 NM


exclusive economic zone: 200 NM


territorial sea: 12 NM; between 3 NM and 12 NM in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait
Merchant marine - total: 594 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 10,467,142 GRT/13,335,833 DWT


ships by type: bulk 120, cargo 45, chemical tanker 18, combination bulk 28, combination ore/oil 1, container 18, liquefied gas 52, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 179, refrigerated cargo 9, roll on/roll off 59, short-sea passenger 6, vehicle carrier 49


note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: China 1, Panama 1, Singapore 1 (2002 est.)
Military branches - Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force), Coast Guard
Military expenditures - dollar figure - $39.52 billion (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP roughly 2% of gross world product (2005 est.) 1% (FY02)
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49: 29,392,559 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49: 25,405,779 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males: 725,281 (2003 est.)
National holiday - Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
Nationality - noun: Japanese (singular and plural)


adjective: Japanese
Natural hazards large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons
Natural resources the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address negligible mineral resources, fish
Net migration rate - 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Pipelines - gas 2,719 km; oil 170 km; oil/gas/water 60 km (2003)
Political parties and leaders - Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Naoto KAN, leader; Katsuya OKADA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman; Tadayoshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president; Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president; Shinzo ABE, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, chairperson; Seiji MATAICHI, secretary general]
Political pressure groups and leaders - NA
Population 6,602,224,175 (July 2007 est.) 127,214,499 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line - NA%
Population growth rate 1.167% (2007 est.) 0.11% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors - Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe, Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe, Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo, Tomakomai
Radio broadcast stations AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA AM 215 plus 370 repeaters, FM 89 plus 485 repeaters, shortwave 21 (2001)
Railways total: 1,370,782 km (2006) total: 23,168 km (15,995 km electrified)


standard gauge: 3,204 km 1.435-m gauge (3,204 km electrified)


narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (77 km electrified); 19,855 km 1.067-m gauge (12,683 km electrified); 31 km 0.762-m gauge (31 km electrified) (2002)
Religions Christians 33.32% (of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants 5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%), Muslims 21.01%, Hindus 13.26%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.35%, Jews 0.23%, Baha'is 0.12%, other religions 11.78%, non-religious 11.77%, atheists 2.32% (2007 est.) observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
Sex ratio at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.064 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.781 male(s)/female


total population: 1.014 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female


total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Suffrage - 20 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment: NA


domestic: NA


international: NA
general assessment: excellent domestic and international service


domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind


international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999)
Telephones - main lines in use 1,263,367,600 (2005) 60.381 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular 2,168,433,600 (2005) 63.88 million (2000)
Television broadcast stations NA 211 plus 7,341 repeaters


note: in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services (1999)
Terrain the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean mostly rugged and mountainous
Total fertility rate 2.59 children born/woman (2007 est.) 1.38 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2007 est.) 5.4% (2002)
Waterways 671,886 km (2004) 1,770 km approximately


note: seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas
Sitemap: Compare countries listing (map site) | Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.