To the east of continental China, the Ryukyu chain stretches out in the 1,200km between Kyushu and Taiwan. Around the middle of these southern islands is Okinawa Prefecture. The prefecture is composed of 146 islands looking across the vast East China Sea to the continent of China.
From approximately 250 million years ago to 130 million years ago the Ryukyu archipelago was still on the bottom of the ocean. About 15 to 10 million years ago it was connected to Kyushu and continental China. At that time elephants, wild cats and deer migrated across. There have been numerous discoveries such as the so-called living fossil, the Iriomote Island Yamaneko (a wild cat, Mayailurus. Iriomotensis Imaizumi) as well as fossil remains of animals that inhabited the continents of Asia and Japan.
From 10 to 2 million years ago the Ryukyus again separated from other land masses and about 1.5 million years ago, it was connected to continental China. But by 20,000 years ago it had separated completely and broke up into three island groups. By the end of the glacial period the sea level rose 100 meters and the islands became as we see them today.
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Geography 10 Million Years Ago |
| Geography 1.5 Million Years Ago | |
| Present |
