Geography
The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano, Mt Aso at 1,591 metres (5,220 ft), is on Kyushu. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, on the east shore, and around Mt. Aso, in central Kyushu.
The name Kyūshū comes from the nine ancient provinces of Saikaidō situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyūga, Osumi, and Satsuma.
Today's Kyushu Region (九州地方, Kyūshū-chihō?) is a politically defined region that consists of the seven prefectures on the island of Kyushu and also Okinawa Prefecture to the south:
- Northern Kyushu
- Fukuoka Prefecture
- Saga Prefecture
- Kumamoto Prefecture
- Nagasaki Prefecture
- Ōita Prefecture
- Kagoshima Prefecture
- Miyazaki Prefecture
- Okinawa Prefecture
The world's 37th largest island by area, Kyushu is smaller than Spitsbergen but larger than New Britain and Taiwan. By population, it ranks 13th, having fewer inhabitants than Borneo or Sulawesi, but more than Salsette (Mumbai) or Cuba.
Read more about this topic: Kyushu
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