Japan, the Ryukyu Islands

The Ryukyu Islands, also called the Likey or Nansai, stretch for 1200 km in the East China Sea from Kyushu to Taiwan, separating it from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. The archipelago belongs to the country of the Rising Sun, despite the fact that it is located from it at some distance, to the southeast of Japan.

brief information

The total area of the archipelago is 4700 square meters. Km, and the last census of the population, conducted back in the distant 2005, revealed more than 1.5 million people. However, of the almost one hundred islands that make up Ryukyu, only half are suitable for living. Approximately 90% of the population lives on the largest of them, called Okinawa. This is due to the fact that it is the capital and economic center of Ryukyu - the city of Naha.

The larger islands are dominated by mountainous terrain, while on smaller islands there are more plains and low coastal terraces. The Ryukyu Islands are fraught with a certain danger to the population due to the large number of active volcanoes. This is especially true of the northern part of the archipelago, where the last major eruption occurred in 1991.

Climate

The archipelago is located in the subtropical climate zone, but the monsoon also contributes to it. However, due to the remoteness of Nansai from the continent, the winter on the islands is very mild - there is no frost and snow, and the thermometer's column does not fall below +13 ^o C. in the coldest months.

Summer in the archipelago is dominated by heat (day above +30 ^o C), reinforced by high humidity. It is only the sea wind that helps to transfer this weather.

August and September - the time of typhoons coming to the Ryukyu Islands (the photo of the archipelago is presented below), with no less periodicity than the main territory of Japan.

In summer, tourists visiting the Land of the Rising Sun need to be especially careful, since hurricanes are its main scourge. Because of the proximity to the Pacific Ocean, in the tropical part of which cyclones are often formed, going to the north, Japan is very often subjected to this natural disaster, and the Nansai archipelago is no exception. In addition, Ryukyu is in the zone of seismic activity, which leads to frequent earthquakes.

History of Ryukyu

The history of Nansai begins with the creation of the Ryukyu state at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The board in it belonged to the Se dynasty. By the end of the XV century the territory of the possessions expanded until the entire southern part of the archipelago and the islands off the coast of Kyushu were captured.

The state tried to maintain friendly relations with its neighboring countries (ties with China were particularly well established), often acting as an intermediary in the event of conflicts, so that the Ryukyu islands flourished before the 16th century. However, at the beginning of the XVII century. The cultural influence of Japan increased, and conflicts with it increased.

This led to an attack on the islands, during which a representative of the Se dynasty was seized, who later signed an agreement that the archipelago is a vassal of the country of the Rising Sun. The state was in a double feudal dependence: from Japan and China, and each power considered Nansay its property.

The case decided the incident with Formosa, in the history of the name of the Taiwan campaign. As a result of the peace agreement of 1874 in the Ryukyu Islands (a list of exact names is found in encyclopedias), they established themselves in Japan, and in 1879 the territory of the state became officially considered the prefecture of Okinawa.

During the Second World War, Okinawa became the battleground between the Japanese and American armies, thanks to which the US military bases remained on the archipelago . To date, the attitude of the indigenous population of Ryukyu to this fact remains extremely ambiguous, as well as to the Japanese metropolis.

Moreover, after 1945 the movement for Okinawa's independence arose, but by the 21st century it had greatly weakened, although a small percentage of the population still opposes ties with Japan and the United States.

Language and population

About 99% of the inhabitants of the Ryukyu Island are a special people with a slightly different physical type than the Japanese. They say the inhabitants of the archipelago in the languages of the Ryukyu group, but the familiar dialects are gradually being squeezed out through schooling, where only Japanese is used.

Due to the remoteness of the islands, dialect reading is clearly pronounced. In total there are 4-5 Ryukyu languages (dialect), partially understood by residents. In official situations and the population under the age of 60, literary Japanese is used with a peculiar reprimand, gradually replacing Ryukyusky.

A tourist visiting the Ryukyu Islands in Japan without a guide should be prepared for the fact that only the personnel of various establishments intended for visiting foreigners own English.

sights

The most rich in attractions is Okinawa, the city of Naha, which houses the same-named temples and the royal palace of Suryozo. Also on the island there are a lot of natural areas, historical and cultural reserves, open to tourists.