Exclusive economic zone of Japan
Japan has the eighth largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world. The total area of Japan is about 377,973.89 km². Japan's EEZ area is vast and the territorial waters (including: the Seto Inland Sea) and EEZ together is about 4.48 million km².
Digital divide by country
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is aiming to improve broadband penetration in remote areas of Japan, but businesses aren’t exactly queuing up to provide expensive infrastructure to hook up remote islands and mountain villages. Japan has more than 4000 islands, 260 of which are inhabited. Japan's land is also 73% mountainous or hilly, and whilst the population is concentrated mainly in the alluvial plains and coastal areas, there are significant populations living in remote valleys deep in the mountains mainly engaged in agriculture or forestry. It is difficult to justify building out a fiber-based infrastructure to a remote island, or to a dead end mountain ravine community miles from anywhere.