Yaeyama Islands

Yaeyama Islands
Native name:
Yaeyama-rettō (八重山列島)
Map of the Yaeyama Islands
Yaeyama Islands is located in Japan
Yaeyama Islands
Yaeyama Islands
Yaeyama Islands in Japan
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates24°21′47″N 123°44′47″E / 24.36306°N 123.74639°E / 24.36306; 123.74639
ArchipelagoSakishima Islands
Adjacent toEast China Sea
Total islands23
Major islandsIshigaki Island, Iriomote Island, Yonaguni Island
Area587.16 km2 (226.70 sq mi)
Highest elevation525.5 m (1724.1 ft)
Highest pointMount Omoto
Administration
PrefectureOkinawa Prefecture
Demographics
Population53,627 (March 31, 2011[1])
Pop. density91/km2 (236/sq mi)
Ethnic groupsRyukyuans, Japanese

The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 Yaeyama-rettō, also 八重山諸島 Yaeyama-shotō, Yaeyama: Yaima, Yonaguni: Daama, Okinawan: Yeema, Northern Ryukyuan: やへま Yapema) are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and cover 591.46 square kilometres (228.36 sq mi).[1] The islands are located southwest of the Miyako Islands, part of the Ryukyu Islands archipelago.[2] The Yaeyama Islands are the remotest part of Japan from the main islands and contain Japan's most southern (Hateruma) and most western (Yonaguni) inhabited islands.[3] The city of Ishigaki serves as the political, cultural, and economic center of the Yaeyama Islands.[4] On maps dating to the 1700s, the Yaeyama Group of Islands appears as the "Majico Sima Group",[5][6] "Nambu-soto Islands",[7] "Nambu Soto",[8] and the "Taipin Islands".[9]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ritoshinko was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference e was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference c was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ishigaki was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Stanford, Edward (1895). Stanford's Library Map Of Asia (New ed.). London: Stanford's Geographical Establishment. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 2 Aug 2023.
  6. ^ Geographicus. "1873 Roche-Poncié Nautical Chart Map of Taiwan / Formosa". Geographicus: rare antique maps. Geographicus. Retrieved 2 Aug 2023.
  7. ^ Stanford, Edward (1895). Stanford's Library Map Of Asia (New ed.). London: Stanford's Geographical Establishment. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 2 Aug 2023.
  8. ^ Stanford, Edward (1904). Stanford's London atlas of universal geography exhibiting the physical and political divisions of the various countries of the world (Third Edition, revised and enlarged. ed.). London: Edward Standford, Geographer to Her Majesty. p. 57. Retrieved 2 Aug 2023.
  9. ^ Postlehwayt, Malachy (1707-1767); Boulton, S.; Bolton, Emanuel; Seale, Richard William (1755). The Universal Dictionary Of Trade and Commerce Composite Map (of Asia), Second Part of Asia (Fourth Edition, note: published in 1774, date on map reads 1755 in Roman Numerals ed.). London: W.Strahan, J. & F.Rivington. p. I-VIII. Retrieved 2 Aug 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)