Yonaguni
Yonaguni | ||
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Agarizaki lighthouse in the east of the island | ||
Waters | East China Sea | |
Archipelago | Yaeyama Islands | |
Geographical location | 24 ° 27 ' N , 122 ° 59' E | |
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length | 11 km | |
width | 4 km | |
surface | 28.95 km² | |
Highest elevation | Urabu-dake 231.4 m |
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Residents | 1491 (January 1, 2015) 52 inhabitants / km² |
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main place | Kubura | |
Yonaguni |
Yonaguni ( Japanese 与那国島 , -jima ) is in the far southwest of Japan in the East China Sea located island , just 110 km from Taiwan away. The western tip of the island, Cape Irizaki, is the westernmost point of Japan.
Not far from Yonaguni, a terraced monolith was found in front of the island in the 1980s , which, due to its geometry and shape, gives the appearance of being made by human hands and which has become known as the Yonaguni Monument .
geography
Yonaguni is counted among the Yaeyama Islands and has an area of 28.95 km². As of January 1, 2015, the population of the island was 1491 people in 773 households. The annual average temperature is approx. 23.9 ° C and the annual rainfall approx. 3,000 mm.
On the island, the small town (located chō ) Yonaguni to the district Yaeyama the prefecture of Okinawa belongs.
history
Trade relations with Okinawa Hontō are documented for the 14th century . Yonaguni was independent until 1522 under the controversial, gigantic leader San'ai Isoba. It then belonged to the Ryūkyū Kingdom and was also included in Japan in 1879 with its incorporation. From 1945 to 1972 it was occupied by the USA . This resulted in the peculiarity that the US occupation authorities put the border between the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) of Taiwan and Japan on the 123rd east longitude and thus the western half of the island with the Yonaguni airport were part of the ADIZ of Taiwan. Because of this, on June 25, 2010, Japan adapted its own ADIZ to the expansion of its territorial waters by expanding it locally by 12 nautical miles .
Underwater pyramids
see main article: Yonaguni Monument
In 1985 the Japanese diver Kihachiro Aratake discovered large-scale structures with traces of flora, fauna and stalactites on the sea floor off Yonaguni . The structure of the monolith is rectangular throughout. It seems as if stairs and steps have been carefully carved into the rock. It is debatable whether the monolith, which resembles a pyramid , was formed by natural erosion over thousands of years, or whether an early culture carved the rock.
See also
Web links
Japan's island off Taiwan. In: Asienspiegel , April 21, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b 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 3. August 2016 (Japanese).
- ↑ Shih Hsiu-chuan: Japan extends ADIZ into Taiwan space. In: Taipei Times. June 26, 2010, accessed November 25, 2013 .