and reservoirs degrading water quality and
threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of
fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these
resources in Asia and elsewhere

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

Geography - note:

strategic location in northeast Asia

People
Japan

Population:

127,288,416 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 13.7% (male 8,926,439/female 8,460,629)
15-64 years: 64.7% (male 41,513,061/female 40,894,057)
65 years and over: 21.6% (male 11,643,845/female 15,850,388) (2008
est.)

Median age:

total: 43.8 years
male: 42.1 years
female: 45.7 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.139% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

7.87 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

9.26 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 2.8 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 3 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 2.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 82.07 years
male: 78.73 years
female: 85.59 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.22 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

less than 0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

12,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

500 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Japanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Japanese

Ethnic groups:

Japanese 98.5%, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%
note: up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan
in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil
(2004)

Religions:

observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian
0.7%)

Languages:

Japanese

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read an