Okinotori Island

Okinotori Island Latest News

A Chinese navy destroyer, alongside Russian vessels, recently conducted live-fire drills near Japan’s Okinotori Island, marking the first such disclosure by Japan.

About Okinotori Island

• Okinotori, also known as Parece Vela, is a tiny, uninhabited island that belongs to Japan.  
• It’s located far out in the Philippine Sea, which is part of the big Pacific Ocean.
• It’s actually an atoll, which is a ring-shaped coral reef with a lagoon in the middle. 
• At high tide, only two tiny rocky outcrops remain above sea level. 
• This atoll is part of a long underwater mountain range called the Palau-Kyushu Ridge. 
• Okinotori is part of a group called the Ogasawara Islands governed by Japan. 
• It is Japan’s southernmost island located about 1,700 kilometers south of Tokyo.  
• It is the only Japanese territory south of the Tropic of Cancer and lies to the south of Hong Kong and Taiwan. 
• Japan says that the waters around Okinotori are its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).  
• However, some other countries, like China, do not agree with Japan’s claim over this specific EEZ. 
• It is in a very important spot for military and shipping routes. 
  • It sits about halfway between Taiwan and Guam (island territory of the United States). 
  • This makes its location strategic in the Pacific Ocean.

News: DEVD

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