Minamidaitō Village 南大東村
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Location of Minamidaitō Village in Okinawa
Minamidaitō Village
Coordinates: 25°50′N 131°14′E / 25.833°N 131.233°E / 25.833; 131.233
Country	Japan
Region	Kyūshū (Ryukyu)
Prefecture	Okinawa
District	Shimajiri
Government
- Mayor	Kenshō Nakada
Area
- Total	30.57 km2 (11.8 sq mi)
Population (July 2008)	1,417
- Density	46.4/km2 (120.2/sq mi)
Website	Minamidaitō Village
Phone number	09802-2-2001
Address 144-1 Aza Minami, Minamidaitō-son, Shimajiri-gun, Okinawa-ken 901-3895

Minamidaitō (南大東島, Minamidaitō-jima^?), also spelt as Minami Daitō or Minami-Daitō, is the largest of the Daitō Islands located in Shimajiri District, Okinawa, Japan. The municipality serving the island is the village of Minamidaitō (南大東村, Minamidaitō-son^?).

The island was originally named South Borodino Island after being discovered by the Russian marine vessel Borodino in 1820.

In 1899 a pioneering team from Hachijō Island became the first human inhabitants of the island, using the land to grow sugarcane. A freight train system was established and later dismantled in favor of contemporary transportation.^[1]

The island is in the subtropical zone and was formed out of coral reef. With the exception of neighboring Kitadaitō, there is no inhabited land within 400km of Minamidaitō.

Minami-Daito Airport serves the island.

[edit] Island groupings

• Ryukyu/Nansei Islands
  • Ryūkyū Shotō
    • Okinawa Islands
      • Daitō Islands

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Minamidaito travel guide from Wikitravel

• Media related to Minamidaito, Okinawa at Wikimedia Commons

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