Miyako Islands

Miyako Islands
Yonaha mae bay
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Ryūkyū Islands
Geographical location	24 ° 43 ′  N , 125 ° 1 ′  E Coordinates: 24 ° 43 ′  N , 125 ° 1 ′  E
Number of islands	12 (≥ 1 ha)
Main island	Miyako-jima
Total land area	255.77 km²
Residents	53,289 (October 1, 2019)
Map of the Sakishima Islands, with the Miyako Islands to the east

The Miyako Islands ( Japanese 宮 古 列島 Miyako-rettō , German 'Miyako-Inselkette' , also: 宮 古 諸島 Miyako-shotō , German 'Miyako-Inselgruppe' ) are an island group of the Japanese prefecture Okinawa .

geography

The Miyako Islands are 240 km southwest of the main island of Okinawa Hontō in Okinawa Prefecture and 34 km northeast of Ishigaki-jima Island in the Yaeyama Islands . With the latter group of islands, the Miyako Islands together form the Sakishima Islands .

Islands

The archipelago consists of the following 12 islands with an area of ​​at least one hectare, the largest 8 of which are inhabited:

Surname	Japanese	Area [km²]	Height [m]	local community	Coordinates
Miyako-jima	宮 古 島	159.26	114.8	Miyakojima	24 ° 47 '  N , 125 ° 19'  E
Irabu-jima	伊 良 部 島	29.08	89.0	Miyakojima	24 ° 50 ′ 10 "  N , 125 ° 11 ′ 20"  E
Tarama-shima	多 良 間 島	19.75	34.2	Tarama	24 ° 39 ′ 26 "  N , 124 ° 41 ′ 58"  E
Shimoji-jima	下地 島	9.54	21.6	Miyakojima	24 ° 49 ′ 10 "  N , 125 ° 9 ′ 15"  E
Kurima-jima	来 間 島	2.84	47.3	Miyakojima	24 ° 43 ′ 17 "  N , 125 ° 14 ′ 51"  E
Ikema-jima	池 間 島	2.83	28, 0	Miyakojima	24 ° 55 ′ 50 "  N , 125 ° 14 ′ 38"  E
Minna-shima	水 納 島	2.15	13.2	Tarama	24 ° 45 ′ 11 "  N , 124 ° 41 ′ 48"  E
Ōgami-jima	大 神 島	0.24	74.4	Miyakojima	24 ° 54 ′ 59 "  N , 125 ° 18 ′ 28"  E
Suidō-kojima	水道 小島	0.05		Miyakojima	Coordinates are missing! Help.
Island (north of Yonaha Bay)	シ マ (与 那覇 湾 北)	0.01		Miyakojima	24 ° 47 '  N , 125 ° 16'  E
Island (in Yonaha Bay)	シ マ (与 那覇 湾 奥)	0.01		Miyakojima	24 ° 46 '  N , 125 ° 16'  E
Island (north of the Irabu waterway)	シ マ (伊 良 部 水道 北)	0.01		Miyakojima	Coordinates are missing! Help.
Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The total land area of all islands is 256 km².

Administrative division

Tarama-jima and Minna-jima form the district of Miyako with the village of Tarama as the only place with 1113 inhabitants (as of October 1, 2019) on 22 km² and thus a density of 51 people / km² .

All the other islands in the group form the city of Miyakojima since October 2005 . It has 52,176 inhabitants (as of October 1, 2019) on 205 km² of land and thus has a population density of 255 people / km².

The total number of inhabitants is 53,289 inhabitants with a population density of 208 people / km².

Culture

The Miyako language or dialect of the archipelago belongs to the Ryūkyū languages . A distinction is made between the dialect groups Irabu and Miyako and most closely resembles the Yaeyama language or dialect. A special feature within the Japanese language family are consonants at the end of syllables.

Economy and tourism

Mainly sugar cane is grown , the fishing mainly brings Katsuo ( Bonito ) ashore.

Miyako-jima in particular is a popular holiday destination; From Ikema-jima diving trips to the coral reef Yabuji (also Yabushi or Yaebushi ) are offered. The coral reef measures 15 km in north-south direction and 10 km in east-west direction.

traffic

There are airfields on Miyako-jima, Tarama-shima and Shimoji-jima. The latter, however, no longer offers regular services. There are regular ferry connections from Hirara on Miyako-jima to Irabu-jima, Tarama-shima, Ishigaki-jima and Naha .

Web links

• Miyako Islands Part on Okinawa Island Web (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 指定 離島 ・ 指定 離島 一 覧 . (PDF) In: 離島 関係 資料 (平 成 28 年 1 月) . 沖 縄 県 企 画 部 地域 ・ 離島 課 ("Land and Islands Unit, Planning Department, Okinawa Prefecture"), January 2016, p. 1 , accessed on 4. August 2016 (Japanese).