Japan has just ‘discovered’ over 7,000 islands it didn’t know existed.
Japan’s Geospatial Information Authority completed comprehensive mapping of its territory for the first time since 1987.
Japan’s total of 6,852 islands then is actually 14,125 islands now thanks to advances in surveying tech.
There is no globally recognised procedure on how to count islands.
Like many countries in the region, has claims on several small island chains which are disputed.
It has disputes with Russia, South Korea and China, with some dating back many decades.
















