Informazioni sul Giappone (Fonte: CIA -- The World Factbook 1999) |
[Top] Location: Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula Geographic coordinates: 36 00 N, 138 00 E Map references: Asia Area: Areacomparative: slightly smaller than California Land boundaries: 0 km Coastline: 29,751 km Maritime claims: Climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous Elevation extremes:
Natural resources: negligible mineral resources, fish Land use: Irrigated land: 27,820 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis Environmentcurrent issues: air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere Environmentinternational
agreements: Geographynote: strategic location in northeast Asia |
[Top] Population: 126,182,077 (July 1999 est.) Age structure: Population growth rate: 0.2% (1999 est.) Birth rate: 10.48 births/1,000 population (1999 est.) Death rate: 8.12 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.) Net migration rate: -0.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.) Sex ratio: Infant mortality rate: 4.07 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.) Life expectancy at
birth: Total fertility rate: 1.48 children born/woman (1999 est.) Nationality: Ethnic groups: Japanese 99.4%, other 0.6% (mostly Korean) Religions: observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%) Languages: Japanese Literacy: |
[Top] Country name: Data code: JA Government type: constitutional monarchy Capital: Tokyo Administrative divisions: 47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi Independence: 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu) National holiday: Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December (1933) Constitution: 3 May 1947 Legal system: modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal Executive branch:
Legislative branch:
bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of
Councillors or Sangi-in (252 seats; one-half of the
members elected every three years76 seats of which
are elected from the 47 multi-seat prefectural districts
and 50 of which are elected from a single nationwide list
with voters casting ballots by party; members elected by
popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of
Representatives or Shugi-in (500 seats200 of which
are elected from 11 regional blocks on a proportional
representation basis and 300 of which are elected from
300 single-seat districts; members elected by popular
vote to serve four-year terms) Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet, all other justices are appointed by the cabinet Political parties and
leaders: Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Keizo
OBUCHI, president, Yoshiro MORI, secretary general];
Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Naoto KAN, leader,
Tsutomu HATA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori
KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general];
Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president, Hirohisa FUJII,
secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Tetsuzo
FUWA, chairman, Kazuo SHII, secretary general]; Social
Democratic Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Sadao
FUCHIGAMI, secretary general]; Reform Club [Tatsuo OZAWA,
leader, Katsuyuki ISHIDA, secretary general] International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC Diplomatic
representation in the US: Diplomatic
representation from the US: Flag description: white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center |
[Top] Economyoverview: Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most powerful economy in the world. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force; this guarantee is eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in 1992-95 largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Growth picked up to 3.9% in 1996, largely a reflection of stimulative fiscal and monetary policies as well as low rates of inflation. But in 1997-98 Japan experienced a wrenching recession, centered about financial difficulties in the banking system and real estate markets and exacerbated by rigidities in corporate structures and labor markets. In early 1999 output has started to stabilize as emergency government spending begins to take hold. The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. GDP: purchasing power parity$2.903 trillion (1998 est.) GDPreal growth rate: -2.6% (1998 est.) GDPper capita: purchasing power parity$23,100 (1998 est.) GDPcomposition
by sector: Population below poverty line: NA% Household income or
consumption by percentage share: Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.9% (1998 est.) Labor force: 67.72 million (November 1998) Labor forceby occupation: trade and services 50%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 33%, utilities and communication 7%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 6%, government 3% (1994) Unemployment rate: 4.4% (November 1998) Budget: Industries: among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of steel and nonferrous metallurgy, heavy electrical equipment, construction and mining equipment, motor vehicles and parts, electronic and telecommunication equipment, machine tools, automated production systems, locomotives and railroad rolling stock, ships, chemicals; textiles, processed foods Industrial production growth rate: -6.9% (1998) Electricityproduction: 948.559 billion kWh (1996) Electricityproduction
by source: Electricityconsumption: 948.559 billion kWh (1996) Electricityexports: 0 kWh (1996) Electricityimports: 0 kWh (1996) Agricultureproducts: rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish Exports: $440 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Exportscommodities: manufactures 96% (including machinery 50%, motor vehicles 19%, consumer electronics 3%) Exportspartners: US 30%, EU 18%, Southeast Asia 12%, China 5% Imports: $319 billion (c.i.f., 1998) Importscommodities: manufactures 54%, foodstuffs and raw materials 28%, fossil fuels 16% Importspartners: US 24%, Southeast Asia 14%, EU 14%, China 13% Debtexternal: $NA Economic aiddonor: ODA, $9.1 billion (1999) Currency: yen (¥) Exchange rates: yen (¥) per US$1113.18 (January 1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997), 108.78 (1996), 94.06 (1995), 102.21 (1994) Fiscal year: 1 April31 March |
[Top] Telephones: 64 million (1987 est.) Telephone system:
excellent domestic and international service Radio broadcast stations: AM 318, FM 58, shortwave 0 Radios: 97 million (1993 est.) Television broadcast stations: 7,549 (consisting of 6,995 non-government and non-commercial stations, of which 95 are main stations of 1 kW or greater power and 6,900 are low-power stations, and 554 commercial stations of which 113 are main stations and 441 are repeaters); notein addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable stations (1997) Televisions: 100 million (1993 est.) |
[Top] Railways: Highways: Waterways: about 1,770 km; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas Pipelines: crude oil 84 km; petroleum products 322 km; natural gas 1,800 km Ports and harbors: Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe, Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe, Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo, Tomakomai Merchant marine: Airports: 170 (1998 est.) Airportswith
paved runways: Airportswith
unpaved runways: Heliports: 14 (1998 est.) |
[Top] Military branches: Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force) Military manpowermilitary age: 18 years of age Military manpoweravailability:
Military manpowerfit
for military service: Military manpowerreaching
military age annually: Military expendituresdollar figure: $42.9 billion (FY98/99) Military expenditurespercent of GDP: 0.9% (FY98/99) |
[Top] Disputesinternational:
islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai
group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now
administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks
(Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto
(Senkaku Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan |
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