Country - Japan
Japan Country Information
Japan is a country in East Asia, geographically located in the North Pacific Ocean. The country is bordered on the north by the Sea of Okhotsk, southwest by East China Sea and China. Country is made up of group of islands close to the east coast of Korea, China and Russia. Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku are four major Iceland’s and many people live on these islands. Out of the four, Honshu is the largest island and it is also 7th biggest island in the world. Tokyo is the capital of Japan and is its biggest city. It is the world’s eleventh largest populous country with over 127 million people. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8 and the G2.
Japanese is called "Nihon" or "Nippon", which means "the origin of the Sun" in Japanese. National anthem is "Kimi Ga Yo". “Japanese” is the official language and more than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. Country has two main religions Shinto and Buddhist. Very less numbers of Christians, Muslims, and a few Jews are found here.
Japanese, who place high value on education, make education compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. As of 2008, there were 87 national universities, 89 public universities and 580 private universities. The University of Tokyo and the Kyoto University are the two top-ranking universities in Japan. Coming to Economy, Japan has the 3rdlargest economy in the world. Industrial sector plays a major role for their economic growth in the world and it makes up approximately 27.5% of its GDP. Japan's important industries are motor vehicles, electronics, machine tools, metals, ships, chemicals and processed foods. Some of the most famous Japanese industrial companies include Toyota, Canon Inc., Toshiba and Nippon Steel.
Coming to the science and technology, Japan is the leading nation in the field of chemical engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics. The country is a world leader in fundamental scientific research. It had spent about 3.584% of its GDP in 2010 on research and development. Country has had overall 28 Nobel Prize winners in the area of literature, medicine, physics, peace, chemistry. Japan is well known for the electronics and automotive manufacturing industry. There are many technological companies and these companies make products for export. Some of the most famous international brands are Fuji film, Sony, Nintendo, Panasonic, Toyota, Nissan and Honda. The JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) is Japan's space agency. It conducts the research on space, planetary, and aviation and leads development of rockets and satellites.
Japan is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. Every year this country attracts approximately 20 million international people. It is home to a wide array of popular tourist destinations like historic monuments, natural wonders, largest cities, historic landmarks, many temples and entertainment venues. Some of the most popular tourist destinations are Golden Pavilion, Mount Fuji, Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, Todaiji Temple, Great Buddha of Kamakura, Himeji Castle, Kiyomizu-dera, Jigokudani Monkey Park and Hiroshima Peace Memorial.