Environment:
current issues: air pollution from power plant emissions results in
acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water
quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan's appetite for fish and
tropical timber is contributing to the depletion of these resources
in Asia and elsewhere
natural hazards: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500
seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis
international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Tropical Timber 94
Geographic note: strategic location in northeast Asia
People ———
Population: 125,449,703 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 16% (male 10,121,414; female 9,644,243)
15-64 years: 69% (male 43,624,464; female 43,359,249)
65 years and over: 15% (male 7,737,781; female 10,962,552) (July
1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.21% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 10.19 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 7.71 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)