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Describe the ways in which the mountains and islands of Japan influenced its development as a nation.

User Seedg
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Answer:Today, this chain of almost 7,000 large and small islands, collectively called the Japanese archipelago, sweeps down from the eastern tip of Siberia in the north to the northern edge of Taiwan in the south.

Comparing this impressive stretch to the lengthy eastern coast of the United States, Japan would extend from Maine to Miami. With a total land area that is slightly smaller than California, Japan is a very long but also very skinny country.

The largest and most notable parts of the island chain are the vast agricultural island of Hokkaidô, the main island of Honshû, the small but spirited island of Shikoku, the historically significant island of Kyûshû, and the tropical paradise of Okinawa.

As part of the volcanic Ring of Fire that encircles the Pacific Ocean, Japan has its share of volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunami. Mountains define the lay of the land: 80 percent of the country is too mountainous to be suitable for agriculture.

Japan's rocky terrain impeded smooth transportation and easy communication among different parts of the land, especially in earlier times. These difficulties contributed to a sense of regionalism that later played a significant role in Japan's feudal period.

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