Kyūshū

Kyushu (九州 Kyūshū? ,[needs IPA]  lit. "Nine Provinces") is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands.[2]  Its alternate ancient names include Kyūkoku (九国[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Installing_Japanese_character_sets ? ], "Nine States"), Chinzei (鎮西[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Installing_Japanese_character_sets ? ], "West of the Pacified Area"), and Tsukushi-no-shima (筑紫島[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Installing_Japanese_character_sets ? ], "Island of Tsukushi"). The historical regional nameSaikaidō (西海道[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Installing_Japanese_character_sets ? ], lit. West Sea Circuit) referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands.

In the 8th century Taihō Code reforms, Dazaifu was established as a special administrative term for the region.[3]

As of 2006, Kyushu has a population of 13,231,995 and covers 35,640 square kilometres (13,760 sq mi).

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Contents
[hide]  *1 Geography <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;"> ==Geography<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano, Mt Aso at 1,591 metres (5,220 ft), is on Kyushu. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, on the east shore, and around Mt. Aso, in central Kyushu. The island is separated from Honshuby the Kanmon Straits.
 * 2 Economy and environment
 * 3 Education
 * 4 Transportation
 * 5 See also
 * 6 Notes
 * 7 References

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">The name Kyūshū comes from the nine ancient provinces of Saikaidō situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyūga, Osumi, andSatsuma.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Today's Kyushu Region (九州地方 Kyūshū-chihō<sup class="t_nihongo_help noprint" style="line-height:1;"><span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color:rgb(0,0,238);font-weight:bold;font-stretch:normal;font-size:9px;line-height:normal;padding-right:0.1em;padding-left:0.1em;">? ) is a politically defined region that consists of the seven prefectures on the island of Kyushu (which also includes the former Tsushima and Iki as part of Nagasaki), and also Okinawa Prefecture to the south:

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">The world's 37th largest island by area, Kyushu is smaller than Spitsbergen but larger than New Britain and nearby Taiwan. By population, it ranks 13th, having fewer inhabitants than Borneo or Sulawesi, but more than Salsette (Mumbai) or Cuba. ==Economy and environment<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == Map of Kyushu region with prefectures<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Parts of Kyushu have a subtropical climate, particularly Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures. Major agricultural products are rice, tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soy; silk is also widely produced. The island is noted for various types of porcelain, including Arita, Imari, Satsuma, and Karatsu. Heavy industry is concentrated in the north around Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Nagasaki, and Oita and includes chemicals, automobiles, semiconductors, and metal processing.
 * Northern Kyushu
 * Fukuoka Prefecture
 * Saga Prefecture
 * Kumamoto Prefecture
 * Nagasaki Prefecture
 * Ōita Prefecture
 * Southern Kyushu
 * Kagoshima Prefecture
 * Miyazaki Prefecture
 * Okinawa Prefecture

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Most of Kyushu's population is concentrated along the northwest, in the cities of Fukuoka and Kitakyushu, with population corridors stretching southwest into Sasebo and Nagasaki and south into Kumamoto and Kagoshima. Excepting Oita and Miyazaki cities, the eastern seaboard shows a general decline in population.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">In 2010, the graduate employment rate in the region was the lowest nationwide, at 88.9%.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Besides the volcanic area of the south, there are significant mud hot springs in the northern part of the island, around Beppu. These springs are the site of occurrence of certain extremophile micro-organisms, that are capable of surviving in extremely hot environments.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5] ==Education<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">Major universities and colleges in Kyushu:

==Transportation<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.3999996185303px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;">The island is linked to the larger island of Honshu by the Kanmon Tunnels, which carry both the Sanyo Shinkansen and non-Shinkansen trains of the Kyushu Railway Company, as well as vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic. The Kanmon Bridge also connects the island with Honshu. Railways on the island are operated by the Kyushu Railway Company, and Nishitetsu Railway. ==See also<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * National universities
 * Kyushu University - One of seven former "Imperial Universities"
 * Kyushu Institute of Technology
 * Saga University
 * Nagasaki University
 * Kumamoto University
 * Fukuoka University of Education
 * Oita University
 * Miyazaki University
 * Kagoshima University
 * National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya
 * University of the Ryukyus
 * Universities run by local governments
 * University of Kitakyushu
 * Kyushu Dental College
 * Fukuoka Women's University
 * Fukuoka Prefectural University
 * Siebold University of Nagasaki
 * Nagasaki Prefectural University
 * Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences
 * Prefectural University of Kumamoto
 * Miyazaki Municipal University
 * Miyazaki Prefectural Nursing University
 * Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts
 * Major private universities
 * Fukuoka University - University with the largest number of students in Kyushu
 * Kumamoto Gakuen University
 * Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
 * Seinan Gakuin University
 * Kyushu Sangyo University - Baseball Team won the National Championship in 2005
 * University of Occupational and Environmental Health
 * Kurume University
 * Azumi people, an ancient group of people who inhabited parts of northern Kyūshū
 * Geography of Japan
 * Group Kyushu
 * Hoenn, a fictional region in the Pokémon franchise which is based on Kyushu
 * Kanmonkyo Bridge, that connects Kyūshū with Honshū
 * Kyushu National Museum
 * List of regions in Japan
 * Kyushu dialects
 * Hichiku dialect, Hōnichi dialect and Kagoshima dialect