Hatoma
| Hatoma | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Waters | East China Sea | |
| Archipelago | Ryūkyū Islands | |
| Geographical location | 24 ° 28 ′ N , 123 ° 49 ′ E | |
|
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| length | 1.4 km | |
| width | 1.0 | |
| surface | 96 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 31.4 m | |
| Residents | 41 (March 31, 2011) 43 inhabitants / km² |
|
| main place | Hatoma, Taketomi | |
Hatoma ( Japanese 鳩 間 島 , -jima ) is a Japanese island . It is the smallest of the Yaeyama archipelago and measures barely a kilometer in diameter. Administratively, it belongs to the Taketomi Township in Okinawa Prefecture . The island name Patuma is pronounced in the local dialect .
geography
Hatoma is located about four kilometers north of the island of Iriomote . It is a small island, which has an area of 0.96 km² and a circumference of 3.8 km. As of March 31, 2011, 41 people in 30 households lived on it.
history
Hatoma has been continuously inhabited for several centuries, if not longer. Earthworks on the island have shown that until recently, the residents mainly ate crabs collected in the coastal waters and vegetables.
In contrast to the nearby island of Irimote, there was no malaria on Hatoma, which explains the long history of settlement.
The early 19th century flourished as a fishing port and processing center for tuna fishing. At that time there was a population of several hundred people.
In 1968 the facilities for processing the tuna were closed due to the decreasing fish catch. However, a decrease in the population began before that. With the decline of the only industry on the island, a rapid decline in population began.
Due to its remote location, the modern infrastructure came to Hatoma very late. So there was electricity only from the 1960s.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b 第 1 指定 離島 ・ 島 し ょ ・ 人口 . (PDF) In: 離島 関係 資料 (平 成 24 年 １ 月) . 沖 縄 県 企 画 部 地域 ・ 離島 課 (“Land and Islands Unit, Planning Department, Okinawa Prefecture”), January 2012, p. 2 , accessed on 13. December 2012 (Japanese).