Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.96% (FY01)
Japan Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and
Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in
1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks
(Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku
Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan
======================================================================
@Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island Introduction
Background: First discovered by the British in 1821, the uninhabited island was annexed by the US in 1858, but abandoned in 1879 after tons of guano had been removed. The UK annexed the island in 1889, but never carried out plans for further exploitation. The US occupied and reclaimed the island in 1935. Abandoned after World War II, the island is currently a National Wildlife Refuge administered by the US Department of the Interior; a day beacon is situated near the middle of the west coast.
Jarvis Island Geography
Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to the Cook Islands
Geographic coordinates: 0 22 S, 160 03 W