Iriomote

Iriomote Island

Native name: 西表島
Iriomote from space, August 1991
Map of Iriomote Islands in relation to the other Yaeyama Islands
Geography
Location	Bordering the Pacific Ocean and East China Sea, southwest of mainland Japan and east of Taiwan
Coordinates	24°17′33″N 123°51′43″E / 24.29250°N 123.86194°E / 24.29250; 123.86194
Archipelago	Yaeyama Islands
Area	289.27 km2 (111.69 sq mi)
Coastline	130.0 km (80.78 mi)
Highest elevation	469.5 m (1,540.4 ft)
Highest point	Mt. Komi (古見岳, Komi-dake?)
Administration
Japan
Prefecture	Okinawa Prefecture
Town	Taketomi, Okinawa
Demographics
Population	2347 (2005)

Iriomote Island (西表島, Iriomote-jima^?, Yaeyama: Irïmutii; Okinawan: Iriumuti) is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself.

The island has an area of 289.27 km² and a 2005 population of 2347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors—over 390,000 in 2006—arrive from Ishigaki by ferry, a 31.4 km ride to Uwahara Port (上原港) on Iriomote's northeast coast or Ōhara Port (大原港) on the southeast coast. Administratively the island belongs to Taketomi Town, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Infrastructure is limited to a single coastal road connecting the hamlets on the northern and eastern shores.

The island is famed for the Iriomote cat, a Critically Endangered wild cat found only on Iriomote. As of 2007^[update] the population size is estimated to be 100–109 individuals.

The island has a venomous snake—Trimeresurus elegans, known locally as the habu, is a species of pitviper whose bite has a fatality rate of 3% and a permanent disability rate of 6–8%.