 Ryukyu Islands, in Japanese called the Nansei
Islands (南西諸島, Nansei-shotō) (literally Southwest Islands)
- A chain of Japanese islands in the western Pacific Ocean
at the eastern limit of the East China Sea. They stretch
southwest from the island of Kyūshū to the island of Taiwan.
The islands are administratively divided into Satsunan
Islands to the north, belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, and
Ryukyu Shotō to the south, belonging to Okinawa Prefecture,
Japan (Yoron Island is the southernmost island of the
Satsunan Islands and Yonaguni the southernmost of the Ryukyu
Islands). The largest of the islands is Okinawa Island.
The islands have a subtropical climate with warm winters and
hot summers. Precipitation is very high, and is affected by
the rainy season and typhoons.
The archipelago is home to the Ryukyuan languages. The
original dialects are native to each island and distinct
from one another.
In Japanese, the definition of the Ryūkyū Shotō (琉球諸島,
Ryūkyū Shotō), literally meaning "Ryukyu Islands", is
somewhat different from the English definition of the word.
In Japanese, the term Ryūkyū Shotō is used to refer to the
part of the Nansei Islands which is in Okinawa Prefecture
(the southern half), as opposed to islands of the same group
located in Kagoshima Prefecture (the northern half).
Modern usage of the word Ryūkyū (琉球, Ryūkyū) in Japanese,
however, is usually replaced by the word Okinawa (沖縄,
Okinawa), which is considered its synonym. And when
referring to the region in the broad (and imprecise) sense,
the Nansei Islands is sometimes referred to as Amami-Okinawa
Chihō (奄美・沖縄地方, Amami-Okinawa Chihō), literally "Amami-Okinawa
Region", or variations thereof. For example, the Japanese
train timetables JR Jikokuhyō (JR時刻表, JR Jikokuhyō) uses
variations of Nansei Shotō, Okinawa, Amami, etc., but
completely avoids using the word Ryūkyū.
In English, until well into the late 1800s (Meiji period in
Japan), the word "Ryukyu" was spelled Luchu, Loo-choo, or
Lewchew. These spellings were based on the Chinese
pronunciation of the characters for "Ryukyu" (which is "Liúqiú"
in modern Mandarin).
The Ryukyuans are known for their longevity. The Okinawa
Centenarian Study attributes this phenomenon to a
combination of diet, exercise, and lifestyle practices.
Traditionally, the people of the Ryukyus speak a chain of
languages related to Japanese as members of the Japonic
language family. Since the latest Japanese invasion in 1879,
Japanese has become the main language of public life on the
Ryukyus, especially on Uchinā (Okinawa). Younger and
middle-aged people tend not to speak a Ryukyuan language as
fluently as Japanese, if at all.
Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests
The Ryukyu Islands are recognized by ecologists as a
distinct subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion. The
flora and fauna of the islands have much in common with
Taiwan, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia, and are part of
the Indomalaya ecozone.
Coral reefs
The coral reefs of the Ryukyus are one of the World Wildlife
Fund's Global 200 ecoregions. The reefs are endangered by
sedimentation and eutrophication, mostly a result of
agriculture, as well as damage from fishing.
Information source: “Ryukyu Islands.” wikipedia.org. Article
date: 21 Feb. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 4 Mar. 2008 <Ryukyu Islands>. |
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