Okinawa Honto (沖縄本島, "the main island of Okinawa") is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands at the edge of the East China Sea, helping to define the sea's boundary with the open Pacific Ocean. Some one-hundred kilometers long and varying in width from only a few kilometers at the neck to sixteen or so at the thickest, it lies in a north-south orientation. It has an area of 1201.03km2 and a population of 1 200 000.
Okinawa Honto from Space Shuttle Mission STS-43 (Earth Sciences and Image Analysis, NASA-Johnson Space Center)
Okinawa Prefecture has its capital on Okinawa Honto (at Naha). The city of Okinawa is also located on this island. Thus, Okinawa is the name of a prefecture, an island and a city.
The southern end of the island consists of uplifted coral reef, whereas the northern half has proportionally more igneous rock. The easily eroded limestone of the south has many caves, and Gyokusendo is the most famous.
The island's climate is sub-tropical, with a rainy season in and around May. The north is heavily forested, while the south has patches of forest amid the farms and cities.
Gusuku Ruins
The typical Okinawan castle, or gusuku, is found on Okinawa Honto.
The city of Nago and the urbanized corridor from Okinawa to Naha are in the south.
Air and sea lines connect Okinawa Honto to East Asia. Naha International Airport brings air traffic to the outlying islands, the major airports of Japan, and foreign countries. Ocean-going ships carry passengers and freight to similar destinations.
Okinawa Island (沖縄本島 Okinawa-hontō) is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture.
In 1990, the total population of Okinawa Island was an estimated 1.22 million people, comprising Ryūkyūans (especially native Okinawans), Japanese people, and expatriates, as well as American military personnel and their families.
Whereas northern Okinawa Island is largely unpopulated, the south is markedly urbanized—particularly the city of Naha, and the urban corridor stretching from Okinawa City through Naha.
Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of the largest and most populous island, Okinawa Island, which is approximately half-way between Kyūshū and Taiwan.
Okinawa also has the highest life expectancy rate in the world, with native men living on average to 90.1 years and native women living to an average of 93.2 years.
Okinawa is one of a number of Japanese islands which has been used by the United States to host nuclear arms, according to Robert S. Norris, William M. Arkin, and William Burr writing for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in early 2000.
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