Miyako Islands

The Miyako Islands (宮古列島, Miyako-rettō, Miyako: Myaaku, Tarama dialect: Meeku, Okinawan: Naaku) (also Miyako Jima group[1]) are a group of islands in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, belonging to the Ryukyu Islands. They are situated between the Okinawa Island and Yaeyama Islands.

Miyako Islands
Native name:
Miyako-rettō (宮古列島)
Map of the Miyako Islands
Miyako Islands
Location of Miyako Islands within Okinawa Predecture
Miyako Islands
Location of Miyako Islands within the East China Sea
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
ArchipelagoSakishima Islands
Adjacent bodies of waterEast China Sea
Total islands12
Major islandsMiyako Island, Irabu Island, Tarama Island
Area226.20 km2 (87.34 sq mi)
Administration
PrefectureOkinawa Prefecture
Demographics
Population55,522 (January 2018)
Pop. density246.2/km2 (637.7/sq mi)
Ethnic groupsRyukyuan, Japanese
Location of the Miyako Islands
Location of the Miyako Islands in Okinawa Prefecture

In the early 1870s, the population of the islands was estimated to number approximately 10,000.[1] Miyako island has 55,914 people, most of whom are ethnic Ryukyuans. A bridge connects Miyako Island to Ikema Island, which has 801 people. Tarama village has 1,214 people, between the two islands of Minna and Tarama.

Important Bird Area

The islands have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support populations of the resident Ryukyu or whistling green pigeons, as well as migrating whimbrels.[2]

Inhabited islands

See also

References
  1. William Campbell (1915). "Sketches from Formosa". p. 47. I was in some hope that, on one of our long tacks, we might have come within view of Kumi, the westernmost island of the Miyako Sima group. It lies about sixty miles east from Dome Point, and has four villages. Two or three of the islands lying further east have a much larger area than Botel Tobago, and the population of the entire group is estimated to number about ten thousand. They are said to be a poor but contented and unarmed race, in appearance similar to the Luchuans (to whom they are subject), but resembling the Japanese more in manners, customs, and language.
  2. "Miyako islands". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.

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