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Okinawa Honto

Okinawa
Native name: 沖縄
Okinawa Island-ISS042.jpg
Okinawa is located in Ryukyu Islands
Okinawa
Okinawa
Geography
Location Pacific Ocean
Coordinates 26°28′46″N 127°55′40″E / 26.47944°N 127.92778°E / 26.47944; 127.92778Coordinates: 26°28′46″N 127°55′40″E / 26.47944°N 127.92778°E / 26.47944; 127.92778
Archipelago Okinawa Islands
Area 1,206.96 km2 (466.01 sq mi)
as of 1 October 2015
Highest elevation 503 m (1,650 ft)
Highest point Mount Yonaha
Administration
Japan
Prefecture Okinawa Prefecture
Largest settlement Naha (pop. 321,077)
Demographics
Population 1,301,462 (Dec. 2014)
Pop. density 1,083.6 /km2 (2,806.5 /sq mi)

Okinawa Island (沖縄本島 Okinawa-hontō?, alternatively 沖縄島 Okinawa-jima; Okinawan: 沖縄/うちなー Uchinaa or 地下/じじ jiji;Kunigami: ふちなー Fuchináa) is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands of Japan. The island has an area of 1,206.96 square kilometers (466.01 sq mi). It is roughly 640 kilometres (400 mi) south of the rest of Japan, roughly the same distance off the coast of China, and 500 km (300 mi) north of Taiwan. The Greater Naha area, home to the capital (or more accurately—prefectural seat) of Okinawa Prefecture on the southwestern part of Okinawa Island, has roughly 800,000 of the island's 1.3 million residents, while the city itself is home to about 320,000.

Okinawa has been a critical strategic location for the United States Armed Forces since the end of World War II. The island hosts around 26,000 US military personnel, about half of the total complement of the United States Forces Japan, spread among 32 bases and 48 training sites. US bases in Okinawa played critical roles in the Korean War, Vietnam War, War in Afghanistan and Iraq War. The presence of the US military in Okinawa has caused political controversy both on the island and elsewhere in Japan.


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