Ishigaki Island
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 Ishigaki
石垣島 |
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Archipelago | Yaeyama Islands |
| Administration | |
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Japan
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| Prefecture | Okinawa Prefecture |
| Demographics | |
| Population | around 48,000 |
Ishigaki (石垣島 Ishigaki-jima?, Yaeyama: Ishanagï Okinawan: Ishigachi), also known as Ishigakijima, is a Japanese island west of Okinawa Hontō and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group. It is within the City of Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture. The city functions as the business and transport center of the archipelago. The island is served by New Ishigaki Airport, the largest airport in the Yaeyamas.
Much of the island and surrounding waters including Mount Omoto and Kabira Bay are protected as part of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park.
Ishigaki Island, like the rest of Okinawa, is culturally influenced by both Japan and Taiwan due to its location, about 300 km off the north eastern coast of Taiwan .
A tsunami of record height hit Ishigaki Island in 1771.
The island provided the scene for the arrest of one of the perpetrators of Aum Shinrikyo's sarin gas attack, Yasuo Hayashi, 21 months after and 2000 km away from where the crime took place.
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Wikipedia