Japan > Hokkaido
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(Location: around 42 - 46th parallel, south of Sakhalin, north of Honshu.)
Hokkaido is 1) an island in
Japan, 2) a group of islands, and 3) the prefecture that is the group of islands. Many locations of
Hokkaido have names originating from the
Ainu language. While the general area was historically inhabited by
Ainus, the
majority of citizens now are of the Japanese majority race. Furthermore, in many locations cows outnumber humans. Other
inhabitants include
sea otters and
seals. Visited by tourists,
whales and
iceburgs.
Rural houses in the winters are often buried up to second floor window in snow.
Most populated cities
City Pop. Node status
Sapporo 1,837,646 (nn) ← capital of Hokkaido prefecture
Asahikawa 363,238 (.)
Hakodate 286,399 (N)
Kushiro 190,896 ()
"()" = nodeshell
"." = brief writeup
"n" = medium-sized writeup
"N" = large writeup
Islands with Greatest Area
Island(s) km²
hokkaido 78,422
etorofu-to * 3,184
kunashiri-to * 1,500
shikotan-to * 255
rishiri-to 183
okushiri-to 143
habomai-shoto * 100
rebun-to 82
* Japan-Russia Northern Territory Issue
The islands with * have been recognized as Japanese territory during the period of
1854 -
1946.
Japanese inhabitants were forced out by the Soviets in 1946.
Today, they are inhabited by Russian border patrols, despite the fact that
Russia acknowledges there is no internationally recognized border here.
Japan argues that the
1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty did not include the return of the four islands,
and wishes cooperation with
Russia in a
peaceful return of the islands.
The United States government also states in its official document that the phrase "Kurile Islands" in the San Francisco Peace Treaty "does not include and was not intended to include the Habomai islands, or Shikotan, or the islands of Kunashiri and Etorofu which have always been part of Japan proper and should, therefore, in justice be acknowledged as under Japanese sovereignty."
~ Official homepage for the Japan-Russia Territorial Issue, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/territory/index.html