SEA OF JAPAN - GEOGRAPHY
News: North Korea fires ballistic
missile into the sea of Japan, claims Seoul
What's in the news?
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North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile,
Seoul's military said, the latest in a spate of banned weapons tests by Kim
Jong Un's regime this year.
Key takeaways:
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It also comes less than two weeks after Kim
supervised an engine test for a "new-type intermediate-range hypersonic
missile", according to North Korean state media, which has also said he
oversaw "super large" rocket launcher drills and tank exercises this
year.
Sea of Japan:
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The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean.
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It is situated in Eastern Asia and bordered by Japan and Sakhalin Island to the east,
and by Russia and Korea on the Asian
mainland to the west.
Features:
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Covering an area of 978,000 square kilometers, it
boasts an average depth of 1,667 meters, with its deepest point reaching 3,742
meters at the Dohoku Seamount, an
underwater volcano.
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Geographically, the sea lies in a deep basin,
separated from the East China Sea to the south by the Tsushima and Korea straits, and from the Sea of Okhotsk to the north by the La Perouse (or Sōya) and Tatar straits.
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It is connected to the Inland Sea of Japan to the
east via the Kanmon Strait, and to
the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru
Strait.
Climate:
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The Sea of Japan's relatively warm waters
significantly influence the climate of Japan, serving as a convergence point for cold currents from the north and warm
currents from the south.
Islands:
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With the exception of the South Korean Island of Ulleungdo, there are no large islands in the
Sea of Japan.
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Most small islands are located near the eastern
coast.
Porte:
● Major ports in the region include Vladivostok, Sovetskaya Gavan, Nakhodka, Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, and Kholmsk in Russia; Hamhung, Chongjin, and Wonsan in North Korea; and Niigata, Tsuruta, and Maizuru in Japan.