Japan has counted its islands – and found it has 7,000 more than previously thought.
Digital mapping by the Japan Geospatial Information Authority recently found that there are 14,125 islands in Japanese territory, more than double the 6,852 that are in official use since a 1987 report by the Japan Coast Guard.
However, the Japanese Geospatial Information Authority emphasized that the new number reflects advances in survey technology and the detailing of the maps used for the count – which did not change the total area of land in Japan’s possession.
The agency said that while there was no international agreement on how to count islands, it used the same size criteria as the previous survey 35 years ago.
This involved counting all natural land areas with a circumference of at least 100 meters.
The new number does not include any artificially reclaimed land.
The islands surrounding Japan have been at the center of several territorial disputes.
Japan claims the Russian-controlled Southern Kuril Islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a dispute that dates back to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan.
Japan also says it has a historic claim to the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which it currently administers, but China has repeatedly disputed that claim.
Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea remain locked in a more than 70-year dispute over sovereignty over a group of islets known as Dokdo by Seoul and Takeshima by Tokyo in the Sea of Japan, which Korea calls the East Sea. .
CNN’s Junko Ogura contributed to this report.
Source: CNN Brasil

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