Hateruma is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the Yaeyama District

Yaeyama District, Okinawa

is a district located in Okinawa, Japan. The district covers all of the Yaeyama Islands except Ishigaki and the disputed Senkaku Islands.As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 5,579 and the density of 15.37 persons per km²...

 of Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Part of the town Taketomi

Taketomi, Okinawa

is a town located in Yaeyama District, Okinawa, Japan. The town includes all of the islands in the Yaeyama District excluding Ishigaki, Yonaguni, and the Senkaku Islands. This includes the islands of Iriomote, Taketomi, Kohama, Kuroshima, Hateruma, and Hatoma...

, it is the southern-most inhabited island in Japan at 24°2’25” north latitude

Latitude

In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

, 123°47’16” east longitude

Longitude

Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....

. Hateruma, composed of coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

s, which has 12.7 km² of area and approximate 600 inhabitants.

The primary products of the island include sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

, refined sugar, and Awanami, a highly-prized type of the alcoholic beverage awamori

Awamori

Awamori is an alcoholic beverage indigenous to and unique to Okinawa, Japan. It is made from rice, and is not a direct product of brewing but of distillation ....

. Its southern location makes it one of the few places in Japan where the Southern Cross

Crux

Crux is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross.-Visibility:...

 can be observed.

Hateruma Airport

Hateruma Airport

is located on Hateruma island in Taketomi, Yaeyama District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The prefecture operates the airport, which is classified as a third class airport....

 serves the island.

See also

• Extreme points of Japan
  Extreme points of Japan
  The extreme points of Japan include the coordinates that are farthest north, south, east and west in Japan, and the ones that are at the highest and the lowest elevations in the country. Japan's northern-most point is disputed, as both Japan and Russia have claimed Iturup, the island on which the...