Tanegashima
Tanegashima | ||
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Location of Nakatane | ||
Waters | East China Sea | |
Archipelago | Ōsumi Islands | |
Geographical location | 30 ° 34 ′ N , 130 ° 59 ′ E | |
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length | 57.5 km | |
width | 12 km | |
surface | 444.3 km² | |
Highest elevation | Takamineo-yama 282 m |
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Residents | 36,000 81 inhabitants / km² |
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main place | Nishinoomote | |
Map sheet Tanegashima 1: 250,000 |
Tanegashima ( Japanese 種子 島 , German "Island of Tane " ) is an island in southern Japan . It belongs to the Kagoshima Prefecture . To the southeast is a Japanese spaceport , the Tanegashima Space Center , and the Japanese space agency is based there.
The island is 444.30 km².
The island is home to the independent city of Nishinoomote , as well as the communities of Nakatane and Minamitane of the district of Kumage .
The island gained historical importance in 1543 when a Chinese ship, which the Portuguese Antônio da Mota, Antônio Peixoto and Francisco Zeimoto had on board, ran aground at Cape Kadokura ( 門 倉 崎 , Kadokura-saki ) in the south of the island. This was the first contact between Europeans and Japanese, through which the Tanegashima rifle , the first western firearm, was introduced.
See also
literature
- Olof Lidin: Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan . NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2002, ISBN 0-7007-1674-2
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 島 面積 . (PDF; 136 kB) (No longer available online.) Kokudo Chiriin , October 1, 2015, archived from the original on June 15, 2016 ; Retrieved July 30, 2016 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.