- Iriomote
Iriomote (西表島 "Iriomote-jima"; Yaeyama: "Irimutī" Okinawan: "Iriumuti") is the largest of the
Yaeyama Islands and the second largest inOkinawa Prefecture afterOkinawa Island itself.Despite its having an area of 289 km² the island's total population is less than 2,000, and infrastructure is limited to a single coastal road connecting the hamlets on the northern and eastern shores. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors — over 150,000 in 2003 — arrive from
Ishigaki by ferry. Administratively the island belongs to Taketomi Town,Okinawa Prefecture ,Japan .Geography and climate
Iriomote has a subtropical marine climate. The average yearly temperature is 23.4°C (74.1°F), and the average monthly temperature ranges from 17.6°C (63.7°F) in January to 28.4°C (83.1°F) in July. Iriomote has a typhoon season that, on average, runs from June to September.
Most of the island is covered by dense
subtropical jungle andmangrove swamps. 80% of the island is protected state land, and 34.3% of the island forms theIriomote National Park .The highest point on the island isMt. Komi (古見岳 "Komidake") at 470 meters.The island is famed for the
Iriomote Cat ("Prionailurus iriomotensis"; Japanese: 西表山猫 "Iriomote-yamaneko"), an endangered nocturnal wildcat found only on Iriomote and considered by some to be its own species. There are estimated to be only about 100 Iriomote cats left in the wild.Culture
The Iriomote dialect of the
Yaeyama language is spoken by some on the island.History
Until the end of
World War II , Iriomote was largely uninhabited due to its infestation bymalaria . It was used primarily as agricultural land to grow rice. Additionally, during the war some residents ofIshigaki were forcibly made to take refuge in Iriomote, some of whom contracted malaria.After the war, the US Forces in Japan eradicated malaria from the island, and the island has been malaria free since. Apart from tourism, the island economy is sustained by agricultural production, primarily of
pineapple , and fishing.ee also
*
Iriomote Cat Gallery
External links
*wikitravel
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
