Honshu

Honshū

Native name: 本州
A May 2003 satellite image of Honshu
Geography
Location	Japanese archipelago
Coordinates	36°N 138°E / 36°N 138°E / 36; 138
Archipelago	Japanese archipelago
Area	227,960[1] km2 (88,020 sq mi)
Area rank	7th
Length	1,300 km (810 mi)
Width	50–230 km (31–143 mi)
Coastline	10,084 km (6265.9 mi)
Highest elevation	3,776 m (12388 ft)
Highest point	Mount Fuji
Administration
Japan
Prefectures	Tōhoku  Akita Prefecture  Aomori Prefecture  Fukushima Prefecture  Iwate Prefecture  Miyagi Prefecture  Yamagata Prefecture Kantō  Chiba Prefecture  Gunma Prefecture  Ibaraki Prefecture  Kanagawa Prefecture  Saitama Prefecture  Tochigi Prefecture  Tokyo Chūbu  Aichi Prefecture  Fukui Prefecture  Gifu Prefecture  Ishikawa Prefecture  Nagano Prefecture  Niigata Prefecture  Shizuoka Prefecture  Toyama Prefecture  Yamanashi Prefecture Kansai  Hyōgo Prefecture  Kyoto Prefecture  Mie Prefecture  Nara Prefecture  Osaka Prefecture  Shiga Prefecture  Wakayama Prefecture Chūgoku  Hiroshima Prefecture  Okayama Prefecture  Shimane Prefecture  Tottori Prefecture  Yamaguchi Prefecture
Largest settlement	Tokyo (pop. 14,043,239)
Demographics
Population	104,000,000[2] (2017)
Pop. density	447/km2 (1158/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Japanese
Additional information
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Honshu (本州, Honshū, pronounced [hoꜜɰ̃ɕɯː] ^ⓘ; lit. 'main island'), historically called Akitsushima (秋津島, lit. 'Dragonfly island'),^[3][4][5] is the largest and most populous island of Japan.^[6][7] It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to the south and east. It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java.^[8][9][10]

Honshu had a population of 104 million as of 2017^[update], constituting 81.3% of the entire population of Japan,^[11] and mostly concentrated in the coastal areas and plains. Approximately 30% of the total population resides in the Greater Tokyo Area on the Kantō Plain. As the historical center of Japanese cultural and political power,^[12] the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyōto, Nara, and Kamakura. Much of the island's southern shore forms part of the Taiheiyō Belt, a megalopolis that spans several of the Japanese islands.^[12] Honshu contains Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji, and its largest lake, Lake Biwa.^[13]

Most of Japan's industry is located in a belt running along Honshu's southern coast, from Tokyo to Nagoya, Kyōto, Osaka, Kobe, and Hiroshima;^[12] by contrast, the economy along the northwestern Sea of Japan coast is largely based on fishing and agriculture.^[14] The island is linked to the other three major Japanese islands by a number of bridges and tunnels. The island primarily shares two climates, with Northern Honshu having a mainly humid continental climate while the south has a humid subtropical climate.^[15]