Nanpō Islands

The Nanpō Islands (南方諸島 Nanpō Shotō) is a collective term for the groups of islands that are located to the south of the Japanese archipelago. They extend from the Izu Peninsula west of Tokyo Bay southward for about 1,200 km (750 mi), to within 500 km (310 mi) of the Mariana Islands. The Nanpō Islands are all administered by Tokyo Metropolis.

Nanpō Islands

The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard defines the Nanpō Shotō as follows:^[1]

• Nanpō Shotō (Nanpō Islands)
  • Izu Shotō (Izu Islands)
  • Ogasawara Shotō (Ogasawara Islands^[2] in a wider sense)
    • Ogasawara Guntō (Bonin Islands)
      • Mukojima Rettō
      • Chichijima Rettō
      • Hahajima Rettō
    • Kazan Rettō (Volcano Islands) including Nishinoshima
      • Kita Iwo Jima (North Iwo Jima)
      • Iwo Jima
      • Minami Iwo Jima (South Iwo Jima)
    • Okinotorishima
    • Minamitorishima

The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, another government organ that is responsible for standardization of place names, does not use the term Nanpō Shotō although it has agreed with the Japan Coast Guard over the names and extents of the subgroups of the Nanpō Shotō.^[1]

See also

• Ryukyu Islands

References

1. Ajiro Tatsuhiko and Warita Ikuo, Waga kuni no kōiki na chimei oyobi sono han'i ni tsuite no chōsa kenkyū (The geographical names and those extents of the wide areas in Japan), Kaiyō Jōhōbu Gihō, Vol. 27, 2009.online edition
2. "Ogasawara Islands". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved November 19, 2011.

Coordinates: 28°00′00″N 141°00′00″E / 28.0000°N 141.0000°E