Japan
Sometimes apparently western, but not so deep down completely different.
Basic information
Capital: Tokyo
Population: 128mln
Religions: Predominantly Shinto, Buddhist
Languages: Japanese
Climate: Except for the Hokkaido area and the subtropical Okinawa region, the weather is mostly temperate, with four seasons. Winters are cool and sunny in the south, cold and sunny around Tokyo (which occasionally has snow), and very cold around Hokkaido, which is covered in snow for up to four months a year. Summer, between June and September, ranges from warm to very hot, while spring and autumn are generally mild throughout the country. Rain falls throughout the year but June and early July is the main rainy season. Hokkaido, however, is much drier than the Tokyo area. Rainfall is intermittent with sunshine. Typhoons are only likely to occur in September or October but rarely last more than a day.
Currency: Yen (JPY)
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Exact population: 127,463,611 (July 2006 est.)
Literacy: Total population: 99%; male: 99%; female: 99%
Ethnicities: Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914); note: up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004)
Area: Total: 377,835 sq km; land: 374,744 sq km; water: 3,091 sq km; note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
Land boundaries: 0 km
Terrain: Mostly rugged and mountainous
Extremes: Lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m; highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Imports: China 20.7%, US 14%, South Korea 4.9%, Australia 4.3%, Indonesia 4.1%, Saudi Arabia 4.1%, UAE 4% (2004)
Exports: US 22.7%, China 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Taiwan 7.4%, Hong Kong 6.3% (2004)
Industries: Among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods
Source: CIA World Factbook
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