forests most densely populated country Honshu reclaimed land Lake Biwa ancient lake cultural Japanese archipelago Japanese Hokkaido most densely populated
The Japanese archipelago is 67% forests and 14% agricultural. The primarily rugged and mountainous terrain is restricted for habitation. Thus the habitable zones, mainly in the coastal areas, have very high population densities: Japan is the 40th most densely populated country. Honshu has the highest population density at 450 persons/km (1200/sq mi) as of 2010, while Hokkaido has the lowest density of 64.5 persons/km as of 2016. As of 2014, approximately 0.5% of Japan's total area is reclaimed land (umetatechi). Lake Biwa is an ancient lake and the country's largest freshwater lake.
