Place · island

Okinawa Island

Okinawa Island is the largest island of the Ryukyu chain, between Kyushu and Taiwan, and the site of Naha, capital of Okinawa Prefecture. In the 14th century it was divided among the three kingdoms of Hokuzan, Chuzan and Nanzan, united in 1429 as the Ryukyu Kingdom with its court at Shuri. Annexed by Japan in 1879, it was the scene of the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 and remained under American administration until 1972.

Okinawa Island
Image: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA - Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 7 state histories

ChuzanNanzanHokuzanRyukyu KingdomSouth Seas MandateUnited States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu IslandsOccupied Japan

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Okinawa Island. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/okinawa-island
MLA
“Okinawa Island.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/okinawa-island. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Okinawa Island.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/okinawa-island.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Okinawa Island’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/okinawa-island (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻