Rahul Somvanshi
Japan has found 7,000 new islands that it did not know it had, almost doubling its island landmass.
The Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) of Japan executed a digital mapping exercise to count the country’s islands.
Back in 1987, the Japanese Coast Guard counted 6,852 islands, but the new count shows 14,125 individual land masses.
The previous count was incorrect because the technology used back then was not advanced enough to distinguish between large individual islands and clusters of smaller islands.
Numerous volcanic activities since 1987 have also enabled the formation of new islands.
Only about 400 of Japan’s 14,125 islands are inhabited.
Japan’s islands are continuously transforming due to weather and volcanic activity.
The discovery of new Japanese islands will not affect the country’s territory or territorial waters.
The GSI used aerial photography to check that the new islands were not artificially reclaimed land.
