| Japan is an archipelago,
or a group of islands, about 100 miles
east of the Asian mainland. The Japanese call their land
Nippon, meaning "Land of the Rising
Sun." The Europeans learned of
Japan from the Chinese, who
mispronounced the name as Zipango. That
word eventually evolved into Japan.
Japan
consists of thousands of islands, many
of which are too small for people to
live. Most people live on four islands:
Honshu is the largest, and and most
populated island. Shikoku and Kyushu are
smaller islands south of Honshu, and
Hokkaido is north of Honshu. The northernmost part
of Hokkaido is at the same latitude as
Montreal, while the southernmost tip of
Kyushu is parallel to Pensacola,
Florida.
Japan
is smaller than California, but is home
to more than 120 million people, making
it more than four times as crowded as
California. Additionally, three-quarters
of the Japanese people are crowded into
the narrow plain on the southeast coast
of Honshu between Tokyo and Hiroshima.
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