The Senkaku Islands: Location, Area, and Other Geographical Data

The Senkaku Islands are an uninhabited group of islands situated in the East China Sea, approximately 90 nautical miles north from the Yaeyama Islands in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture and 120 nautical miles northeast of the island of Taiwan. The islands comprise Uotsuri Island, Kuba Island, Taisho Island (also called Kumeakashima Island), Kitakojima Island, Minamikojima Island, Tobise Island, Okinokitaiwa Island, and Okinominamiiwa Island. The total land area of all the islands is roughly 6.3 square kilometers, with the largest, Uotsuri Island, being some 3.6 square kilometers in size. (Ref. 1)

The Senkakus consist of conglomerate sandstone (alternate layers of sandstone and conglomerate in some parts), tuff, andesite, andesitic lava, coral outcroppings elevated above sea level during the Holocene era, and other rocky material. The surrounding area is highly volcanic and features faults associated with this volcanic activity, and this affects land formation. (Ref. 2)

Before World War II, as a result of development by private citizens, there were people living in the Senkakus, principally on Uotsuri Island and Kuba Island. However, the islands are now uninhabited.

 

Senkaku Islands

Geographical Data on the Senkaku Islands

IslandLatitude*1Longitude*1Elevation (m)*1Area (km2)*2
Uotsuri Island25.44123.283623.6
Kitakojima Island25.43123.321250.26
Minamikojima Island25.43123.331390.32
Kuba Island25.55123.401170.87
Taisho Island25.55124.33750.04
Okinokitaiwa Island25.46123.32280.05
Okinominamiiwa Island25.45123.34100.01
Tobise Island25.44123.3020.02

Notes:
*1 Calculated by OPRF based on the Digital Japan Basic Map produced by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.
*2 Based on data from the island area list published on the website of the Okinawa Prefectural Government Land Policy Division.

 

 

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Ref.1 :(Latitude, longitude, and elevation) The Okinawa Prefectural Government Land Policy Division website.

Ref.2 :(Area) Nohara Tomohide, "Senkaku Retto no chishitsu (yoho)" (Preliminary Report on Geology of the Senkaku Islands), in Senkaku Retto gakujutsu chosa hokoku (Report on the Senkaku Islands Scientific Expedition), based on a survey carried out by the University of the Ryukyus Scientific Expedition Team (Nishihara, Okinawa: University of the Ryukyus, 1971).

 

 

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