The geographical location of Hokkaido, Japan: located in the northernmost part of the Japanese archipelago.

Hokkaido (Hokkaido) is the only prefecture among Japan's 47 prefectures. It belongs to the Hokkaido region in Japan's regional concept. It is also the northernmost first-level administrative region. It is the largest island in Japan except Honshu. It is also the 21st largest island in the world, slightly smaller than the island of Ireland. It is bounded by Tsugaru Strait to the south and Sakhalin Island to the north by Soya Strait. Sapporo is the administrative center and largest city of Hokkaido. With Sapporo as the center, Hokkaido forms The famous Sapporo metropolitan area is outside Japan's three major metropolitan areas.

Hokkaido was formerly known as Ezo, and was once inhabited by the Ainu people. At the end of the 16th century, the Matsumae clan crossed the sea and built Fukuyama Castle and occupied the land. Later, the Russians went south and launched an attack on Hokkaido for national defense needs. , Thousand Islands, Sakhalin Island and other places for exploration activities, and soon Hokkaido became a place directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate.

Geographical environment

Hokkaido consists of Hokkaido Island, the second largest island in Japan (the 21st largest island in the world), and Rishiri Island, Rebun Island, Tenmai Island, Yakijima Island, and Okushiri Island The island and other small islands constitute the "road" of Japan's administrative unit, which is between 40 degrees 33' and 45 degrees 33' north latitude, and between 139 degrees 20' and 148 degrees 53' east longitude; it is 420 kilometers wide from north to south, 540 kilometers long from east to west, and borders on the west Sea of ??Japan, the Pacific Ocean to the south, and the Sea of ??Okhotsk to the northeast.

It is adjacent to Honshu by the Tsugaru Strait to the southwest, and faces Sakhalin Island (Sakhalin Island) across the La Perouse Strait (Soya Strait) to the north. It is a strategic location to control the two gorges. Japan's northern border outpost, known as the "Key to Japan's North Gate", is located between the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia and Hokkaido, Japan. It is located on the four islands of Kunashir Island, Etoru Island, Habomai Island, and Shikotan Island. Japan calls them the Northern Four Islands. , Russia calls it the Southern Kuril Islands. For a long time, Russia and Japan have had serious disputes over the ownership of the four islands.

Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia—Hokkaido