Kyushu

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Kyūshū

Native name: 九州
October 2009 NASA satellite image of Kyushu
Kyushu region of Japan and the current prefectures on the island of Kyushu
Geography
Location	East Asia
Coordinates	33°N 131°E / 33°N 131°E / 33; 131
Archipelago	Japanese Archipelago
Area	36,782.37[1] km2 (14,201.75 sq mi)
Area rank	37th
Coastline	12,221 km (7593.8 mi)
Highest elevation	1,791 m (5876 ft)
Highest point	Mount Kujū[2]
Administration
Japan
Prefectures	Fukuoka Prefecture  Kagoshima Prefecture  Kumamoto Prefecture  Miyazaki Prefecture  Nagasaki Prefecture  Ōita Prefecture  Okinawa Prefecture  Saga Prefecture
Largest settlement	Fukuoka
Demographics
Population	12,650,847 (as of June 2022)
Pop. density	307.13/km2 (795.46/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Japanese, Ryukyuan
Additional information
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Kyūshū (九州, Kyūshū, pronounced [kʲɯꜜːɕɯː] ^ⓘ, lit. 'Nine Provinces') is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa).^[3][4] In the past, it has been known as Kyūkoku (九国, "Nine Countries"), Chinzei (鎮西, "West of the Pacified Area") and Tsukushi-no-shima (筑紫島, "Island of Tsukushi"). The historical regional name Saikaidō (西海道, lit. West Sea Circuit) referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands. Kyushu has a land area of 36,782 square kilometres (14,202 sq mi) and a population of 14,311,224 in 2018.^[5]

In the 8th-century Taihō Code reforms, Dazaifu was established as a special administrative term for the region.^[6]