News: Recently, North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan disturbing the already sensitive region.
About Sea of Japan
- The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea located in the western Pacific Ocean.
- Boundaries: It is bounded by Russia and Sakhalin Island in the north, by North Korea in the west, South Korea in the southwest, and by the Japanese archipelago in the east and south.
- Straits: It is connected with the:
- East China Sea in the south via the Tsushima and Korea straits
- Okhotsk Sea in the north by the La Perouse and Tatar straits.
- Inland Sea of Japan in the east via the Kanmon Strait and Pacific Ocean by the Tsugaru Strait.
- Deepest Point: Dohoku Seamount, an underwater volcano
- Geography:
- Width: 1,070 km wide and about 2,255 km in length
- Depth: It has a maximum depth of 3,742 m.
- Three major deep-water basins: Japan Basin in the north, the Yamato Basin in the southeast, and the Tsushima Basin in the southwest.
- It serves as the meeting point of the cold currents from the north and the warm currents from the south.
- There are no large islands in the Sea of Japan.
- Largest River: Tumen or Dooman river is the largest river draining into the Sea of Japan.
- Ports:
- Main Russian ports: Vladivostok, Sovetskaya Gavan, Nakhodka, Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, and Kholmsk.
- Major North Korean ports: Hamhung, Chongjin, and Wonsan.
- Notable Japanese ports: Niigata, Tsuruta and Maizuru.
- Flora: The Sea of Japan supports rich marine biodiversity with over 800 species of aquatic flora and around 3,500 species of aquatic species.
