Okinawa Island

Okinawa Island (沖縄本島 Okinawa-hontoo) is the largest island of the Japanese Ryukyu Islands (南西諸島 Nansai Shotoo 'Southwest Islands') chain. It is therefore also the largest of the Okinawa Islands (沖縄諸島 Okinawa-shotoo) and Okinawa prefecture (沖縄県 Okinawa-ken), with Naha (那覇市 Naha-shi) the capital. Previously, the capital was Shuri (首里), now the site of Okinawa's reconstructed castle.

Okinawa Island was the site of the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, during the U.S. invasion of Japan during World War II. The castle was destroyed by the U.S. bombardment of the island.

Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands are home to the Ryukyuan languages (琉球語 Ryuukyugo) and people (ウチナンチュ Uchinanchu, written in the Japanese script), who are a separate ethnic group within Japan. The eleven languages of this group are not mutually comprehensible with modern Japanese.

See also

• Naha
• Shuri, Okinawa
• Shuri Castle
• Okinawa Islands
• Okinawa prefecture
• Ryukyu Islands
• Ryukyuan languages
• Battle of Okinawa
• Japan