СЭГ Мира / 1 семестр / ПРАКТИКУМ СЭГ мира,часть 1 / ХРЕСТОМАТИЯ электронная / 09 Страны / ЯПОНИЯ

127,078,679 (July 2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 10

Age structure:

0-14 years: 13.5% (male 8,804,465/female 8,344,800)

15-64 years: 64.3% (male 41,187,425/female 40,533,876)

65 years and over: 22.2% (male 11,964,694/female 16,243,419) (2009 est.)

Median age:

total: 44.2 years

male: 42.4 years

female: 46.1 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.191% (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 217

Birth rate:

7.64 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 222

Death rate:

9.54 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 69

Net migration rate:

NA (2009 est.)

Urbanization:

urban population: 66% of total population (2008)

rate of urbanization: 0.2% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

male: 2.99 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 2.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 82.12 years

country comparison to the world: 3

male: 78.8 years

female: 85.62 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.21 children born/woman (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 218

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:

Shintoism 83.9%, Buddhism 71.4%, Christianity 2%, other 7.8%

note: total adherents exceeds 100% because many people belong to both Shintoism and Buddhism (2005)

20 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)

head of government: Prime Minister Yukio HATOYAMA (since 16 September 2009); Deputy Prime Minister Naoto KAN (since 16 September 2009)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister

elections: Diet designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; monarch is hereditary

Legislative branch:

bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for fixed six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 146 members in multi-seat constituencies and 96 by proportional representation) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for maximum four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs); the prime minister has the right to dissolve the House of Representatives at any time with the concurrence of the cabinet.

elections: House of Councillors - last held 29 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2010); House of Representatives - last held 30 August 2009 (next to be held by August 2013)

election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - DPJ 109, LDP 83, Komeito 20, JCP 7, SDP 5, others 18

House of Representatives - percent of vote by party (by proportional representation) - DPJ 42.4%, LDP 26.7%, Komeito 11.5%, JCP 7.0%, SDP 4.3%, others 8.1%; seats by party - DPJ 308, LDP 119, Komeito 21, JCP 9, SDP 7, others 16 (2009)

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)

Political parties and leaders:

Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII]; Komeito [Natsuo YAMAGUCHI]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Sadakazu TANIGAKI]; People's New Party or PNP [Shizuka KAMEI]; Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio HATOYAMA]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

other: business groups; trade unions

International organization participation:

ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, G-20, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA, MIGA, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

In the years following World War II, government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan develop a technologically advanced economy. Today, measured on a purchasing power parity basis, Japan is the third-largest economy in the world after the US and China; measured by official exchange rates, however, Japan is the second largest economy in the world behind the US. Two notable characteristics of the post-war economy were the close interlocking structures of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors, known as keiretsu, and the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding under the dual pressures of global competition and domestic demographic change. Japan's industrial sector is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. A tiny agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self sufficient in rice, Japan imports about 60% of its food on a caloric basis. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades, overall real economic growth had been spectacular - a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the after effects of inefficient investment and an asset price bubble in the late 1980s that required a protracted period of time for firms to reduce excess debt, capital, and labor. In October 2007 Japan's longest post-war period of economic expansion ended after 69 months and Japan entered into recession in 2008, with 2009 marking a return to near 0% interest rates. The Japanese financial sector was not heavily exposed to sub-prime mortgages or their derivative instruments and weathered the initial effect of the global credit crunch, but a sharp downturn in business investment and global demand for Japan's exports in late 2008 pushed Japan further into a recession. The 10-year privatization of Japan Post, which has functioned not only as the national postal delivery system but also, through its banking and insurance facilities, as Japan's largest financial institution, began in October 2007, marking a major milestone in the process of structural reform; however, in December 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan-led government passed a law to freeze future sales of Japan Post shares, halting the privatization process begun by Liberal Democratic Party governments. Debate continues on the role of and effects of reform in restructuring the economy. Japan's huge government debt, projected to have reached 192.1% of GDP in 2009, and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$4.141 trillion (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 4

$4.392 trillion (2008 est.)

$4.423 trillion (2007 est.)

note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):

$5.049 trillion (2009 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

-5.7% (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 195

-0.7% (2008 est.)

2.3% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$32,600 (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 40

$34,500 (2008 est.)

$34,700 (2007 est.)

note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 1.6%

industry: 23.1%

services: 75.4% (2009 est.)

Labor force:

65.97 million (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 9

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 4.4%

industry: 27.9%

services: 66.4% (2005)

Unemployment rate:

5.6% (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 52

3.992% (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line:

NA%

$4.726 trillion (31 December 2006)

Agriculture - products:

rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish

Industries:

among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods

Industrial production growth rate:

-17% (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 161

Electricity - production:

1.058 trillion kWh (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 4

Electricity - consumption:

1.007 trillion kWh (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: 5

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2008 est.)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2008 est.)

Oil - production:

133,100 bbl/day (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 47

Oil - consumption:

4.785 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 4

Oil - exports:

268,300 bbl/day (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 45

Oil - imports:

5.263 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 3

Oil - proved reserves:

44.12 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 78

Natural gas - production:

5.36 billion cu m (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 49

Natural gas - consumption:

101.1 billion cu m (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 5

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 167

Natural gas - imports:

95.39 billion cu m (2008 est.)

country comparison to the world: 2

Natural gas - proved reserves:

20.9 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 76

Current account balance:

$131.2 billion (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 2

$156.6 billion (2008 est.)

Exports:

$516.3 billion (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 5

$746.5 billion (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities:

transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, chemicals

Exports - partners:

US 17.8%, China 16%, South Korea 7.6%, Hong Kong 5.1% (2008)

Imports:

$490.6 billion (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 6

$708.3 billion (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials

Imports - partners:

China 18.9%, US 10.4%, Saudi Arabia 6.7%, Australia 6.2%, UAE 6.1%, Indonesia 4.3% (2008)

gas 3,862 km; oil 167 km; oil/gas/water 53 km (2008)

Railways:

total: 23,506 km

country comparison to the world: 11

standard gauge: 3,437 km 1.435-m gauge (3,319 km electrified)

narrow gauge: 20,059 km 1.067-m gauge (11,842 km electrified); 11 km 0.762-m gauge (11 km electrified) (2008)

Roadways:

total: 1,196,999 km

country comparison to the world: 5

paved: 949,101 km (includes 7,383 km of expressways)

unpaved: 247,898 km (2006)

Waterways:

1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2007)

country comparison to the world: 47