The Geospatial Information Service of Japan found that the Asian archipelago country has 14,125 islands in total.
This number is more than double the number that was known earlier, which is 6,852, according to what was recorded in the latest report of the Japanese Coast Guard issued in 1987.
The Japanese authority considered the new figure as an indication of technological progress in monitoring, but this change did not have any effect on the land area owned by the country.
The Japanese authorities explained that “in the absence of international agreement on the method of calculating the islands, the Commission relied on the same standard that was applied in the 1987 report.”
The applicable criterion requires that any naturally formed area in the sea, with a circumference of more than 100 meters, be considered an island.
The announcement of this new figure comes as countries in the region dispute over sovereignty over some of the islands.
Japan asserts its adherence to the southern Kuril Islands, which are under the control of Russia, which Tokyo describes as the “northern territories”, in the framework of a dispute dating back to the end of World War II.
In the same vein, Japan affirms its right to the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the eastern South China Sea, which are islands under Tokyo’s control, while Beijing claims them.
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