Ogasawara Islands | |
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Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List | |
Location | Japan |
Type | Natural |
Criteria | ix |
Reference | 1362 |
UNESCO region | Asia-Pacific |
Inscription history | |
Inscription | 2011 (35th Session) |
The Bonin Islands, also known as the Ogasawara Islands (小笠原群島 Ogasawara Guntō?), are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some 1,000 kilometres (540 nmi; 620 mi) directly south of Tokyo, Japan. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word bunin (an archaic reading of 無人 mujin), meaning "no people" or "uninhabited". The only inhabited islands of the group are Chichi-jima (父島), the seat of the municipal government, and Haha-jima (母島), which includes Ogasawara Village.
Ogasawara Municipality (mura) and Ogasawara Subprefecture (Tokyo Metropolis) take their names from the Ogasawara Group. However, Ogasawara Archipelago (小笠原諸島 Ogasawara shotō?), may also be a wider collective term that includes other islands in Ogasawara Municipality, such as the Volcano Islands, along with other small, uninhabited and isolated islands. Geographically speaking, all of these islands are part of the Nanpō Islands.