If Japan were in Europe

Many people think that Japan is small, but Japan is not a small country in any way. If it were in Europe, Japan would actually be a giant.

At the east and west ends of the Eurasian continent, there are the British Isles in the west and the Japanese Islands in the east, which are very symmetrical; each of them has also given birth to the two strongest island countries in the world – Britain and Japan.

The countries on the European continent are scattered and relatively balanced (excluding Russia, which is often not regarded as the same by Europeans). With its offshore geopolitical security advantages, as well as its population and economic volume, Britain has historically had a huge impact on bulk Europe and has thrived in Western Europe.

But the current land area of ​​Britain is only 244,100 square kilometers, while Japan has 378,000 square kilometers, which is half the size of Britain. Even if the British Isles were complete in history, plus Ireland today, the area is only more than 310,000 square kilometers, which is not as large as Japan. Land areas like Japan and Britain are classified as medium-sized countries (100,000-500,000 square kilometers).

Japan’s population of 120 million exceeds that of all Western European countries, and the Japanese population is equal to the sum of the British and French populations. Although Japan is mountainous, its population has always been denser than that of Europe, which lacks heat. The reason is that most of Japan has a subtropical monsoon climate, which is mild and humid, with rain and heat occurring at the same time. There are also many volcanic activities on the archipelago, and the soil formed by volcanic ash is very fertile, suitable for planting, and has a high rice yield. Among the 200 or so countries in the world, only 16 countries have a population of over 100 million to this day, and Japan is a populous country.

Europe’s population has grown rapidly since the introduction of potatoes during the Age of Exploration and the improvement of industrial technology; today, there is still no country in Europe with a population of over 100 million, except Russia.

The map of Japan looks a bit like a ferocious mantis. If Japan’s size were replaced by the position of Britain, it might have unified Europe long ago in history. Japan is said to be small in comparison with the unified China on the East Asian continent. China’s area is equivalent to the unified European continent (including the European part of Russia), and its population is much larger than all the people in Europe combined.