Ryukyu Islands

Southernmost island group of Japan, stretching towards Taiwan and including Okinawa, Miyako, and Ishigaki; area 2,254 sq km/870 sq mi; population (2000 est) 1,318,000. Most of the larger islands are composed of volcanic rock, while the smaller islands are formed from coral. The capital is Naha (on Okinawa). Produce includes sugar, pineapples, and fish.

There are 73 islands, some uninhabited. The groups of islands are, from north to south, Osumi Islands (Yakushima, Tanegashima); Tokara Islands and Amami Islands (Amami Oshima, Tokunoshima, Okinoerabujima), which together constitute the Satsunan Islands and are part of Kagoshima prefecture; Okinawa Islands; and Miyako Islands and Yaeyama Islands, which together constitute the Sakishima Islands and with Okinawa Islands constitute Okinawa prefecture. There are about 60 large islands. It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

The islands are inhabited by people with the same features as the Japanese, and although the Ryukyu dialects are related to Japanese, they are unintelligible to speakers of the standard language. Ryukyu music is also distinctive.

Originally an independent kingdom, the islands were ruled by China from 1372 until seized by the Japanese in 1609. Okinawa island was unified under a single local ruler in 1429. The islands were controlled by Satsuma feudal lords from 1611, but this was concealed from the Chinese in order to maintain valuable trade. In 1868, the Japanese government took over and Chinese tribute finally discontinued in 1875. Okinawa was established as a prefecture in 1879. Chinese claims to the islands were finally relinquished in 1895. In 1945, during World War II, the islands were taken by the USA. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, the USA occupied the entire archipelago. In 1953 the Tokara and Amami groups were returned to Japan, and became part of Kagoshima prefecture. The southern Ryukyus were returned to Japan in 1972, and are now collectively administered as Okinawa prefecture.

The islands, like the coast of mainland Japan, are subject to typhoons and tsunamis (giant ocean waves), one of which, over 12 m/ 39.4 ft high, came ashore in 1771, killing nearly 12,000 people. The martial art of karate was developed in Okinawa, the main island of the group in the 17th century. The Iriomote cat, one of the rarest in the world and not scientifically recorded until 1967, survives in the rain forests of the westernmost island of the same name.