Inland sea of Seto

The inland sea of Seto (瀬戸内海, Seto Naikai ) is the stretch of water separating the islands from Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū, three of the four principal islands of the Japan. It thus is not about a Inland sea in a strict sense since it is directly connected to a oceanic extent.

This sea covers a surface of 23 203 km ²; its average depth is of 38 meters. The population living on its 7000 kilometers of east coasts estimated at approximately 35 million inhabitants, is approximately 27% of the population of Japan.

There exists a great number of islands in the inland sea of Seto (more than 1000), for the majority covered with pines. Largest of them is the island of Awaji, in the North-East.

This sea is delimited by four straits:

the Strait of Kanmon , in the west, separates it from the Mer of Japan;
the Strait of Hôyo , in south-west, separates it from the Pacific Ocean;
in north, the Strait of Akashi and the Détroit of Naruto (in the south of the island of Awaji) close again the sea in the Baie of Ōsaka. The latter is often attached to the inland sea of Seto, by thus pushing back the limit with the Détroit of Kitan, in the south of bay.

Geography

The major part of the sea belongs to the National park of Setonaikai; this park, one of the first national parks of Japan, was created in 1934.

The area of the inland sea of Seto is re-elected for the softness of its climate, the weak variation of the temperatures throughout the year and its weak precipitations. The area is thus called “the country of the good weather” (晴れの国, Hare No kuni ). The inland sea is also famous for its red tides, or efflorescences algales (赤潮, Akashio ), which occurs occasionally. Those are caused by the proliferation of certain species of Phytoplancton; these phenomena generally cause the death of a great number of fish.

The prefectures having a maritime outlet on the inland sea of Seto are the following ones:

On Honshū : Wakayama, Ōsaka, Hyōgo, Okayama, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi;
On Kyūshū : Fukuoka and Oita;
On Shikoku : Ehime, Kagawa and Tokushima.

The coastal main cities giving on the inland sea are Kōbe, Ube, Okayama, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Iwakuni, and Matsuyama.

Transport

The maritime transport

Before the construction of the line of Shinkansen of Sanyo, the inland sea of Seto was the principal bond of transport between the area of the Kansai and the island of Kyûshû; it was in particular used for the carriage of the raw materials and the goods. This area is, in fact, very industrialisée.
The climate which reign also supports the fishing there - that it is the industrial Pêche or the Aquaculture - as well as the Agriculture on its shores.

Bridges

The islands of Honshū and Shikoku are connected between them by four bridges, those of the Projet Honshū-Skikoku:

the Pont Akashi-Kaikyō spans the Détroit of Akashi to Kōbe; it is longest Suspended bridge world.
More in the south, the junction is done by the three Ponts Kurushima-Kaikyō.

Bonds

The official site of the sea of Seto

The page of the sea of Seto on the site of the EMECS ('' Environmental Management off Enclosed Coastal Seas '')

Zh-classical: 瀨戶內海

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