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Japan

Japan is an island nation situated off the east coast of the Asian continent. The nation's roughly 7,000 islands extend in an arc of about 3,000 km northeast to southwest. Total land area, if the Northern Territories are included, is 377,864 km2.

Fast Facts Population (July 2003): 127,214,499 Age structure: (2003 est.) 0-14 years: 14.4% (male 9,368,132; female 8,906,024) 15-64 years: 67% (male 42,852,204; female 42,368,109) 65 years and over: 18.6% (male 9,945,638; female 13,774,392) Official Language: Japanese Capital: Tokyo Currency: Yen (JPY, ¥, 円) Political System: Parliamentary Democracy Gross Domestic Product (PPP, 2002 est.) 3.55 Trillion US Dollars; per capita $28,000 Official Unemployment Rate (2000) 5.4% (NB: If calculated by western methods, could be double) Number of Households (2000): 46,376,000 Legal Age of Adulthood: 20 years old Legal age for Driving: 18 years for cars/motorcycles, 16 for 50cc scooters Life Expectancy (2003) Men: 77.63 years; Women: 84.41 years Marriage and Divorce Rates (2000): Marriages: 7.1/1000 persons, total 762,028; Divorces: 2/1000 persons, total 250,529 National Suicide Rate (2000): 14.2/100,000 persons Number of Non-Japanese Residents (2000) 1,686,444 Religion: Shintoism49% Buddhism45% Christianity1% Other religions5% Total Primary Energy Supply (FY1995; 588 million kl crude oil equivalent) Petroleum55.8% Coal16.5% Nuclear12% Natural Gas 10.8% Hydro3.5% Geothermal0.2% Others1.1% Time Zone: GMT+9 (JST) International Country Code: +81 Internet top-level domain name: jp