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Japan is the 19th most densely populated country in the world. About 70 to 80% of the country is forested, mountainous and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use. This is generally due to the steep slopes with the risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground and heavy rain.

Japan is the 62nd largest country by area at 377,873 square kilometres, It encompasses over 3,000 islands, the largest of which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Most of Japan's islands are mountainous and many are volcanic, including the highest peak, Mount Fuji.

It is 10th in the world by population size with nearly 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area with over 30 million residents, is the largest metropolitan area in the world.

Japanese society is linguistically, though not ethnically, homogeneous with small proportion of foreigners. Japan has indigenous minority groups such as the Ainu and Ryukyuans, and social minority group like the burakumin.

Since it adopted its constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament, the Diet, which is one of the oldest legislative bodies in Asia.

The Emperor is defined by the Constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people" and is the head of the Imperial family and he is the head of state. He is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy and does not wield even emergency reserve powers.

Japan had the world's second largest economy and was the sixth largest exporter and importer and is a member of the G8, G4, and APEC. In recent years there have been economic problems allowing other countries to overtake.

Japan has a free-market economy with government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology and a comparatively small defence allocation. This enabled Japan to advance with extraordinary speed to become the second largest economy in the world.

For three decades the overall economic growth was spectacular with a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s and a 4% average in the 1980s.

Then growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely due to the over-investment during the late 1980s and domestic policies intended to curb speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets.

Japan's official language is Japanese with 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. 84% of Japanese people profess to have religious beliefs.

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan with Buddhism being the other main religion.

Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture which combines influences from Asia, Europe, and North America.

Traditional Japanese arts and crafts include ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e, dolls, lacquerware and pottery and the performances of bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo,

Japanese traditions which include games, the tea ceremony, budo, architecture, gardens and swords.

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