Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 700,931 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$42,488.1 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1% (2003)
Transnational Issues Japan
Disputes - international:
The sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and
Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern
Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril Islands", occupied
by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia and claimed
by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace
treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; intensified media
coverage and protests highlight dispute over the fishing-rich
Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima) also claimed by South Korea;
China and Taiwan have intensified their claims to the Senkaku
Islands (Diaoyu Tai) administered by Japan
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
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@Jarvis Island
Introduction Jarvis Island
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.