(2000 est. pop. 2,000). Iriomotejima is located approximately 440 kilometers southwest of Okinawa. It is the largest island of the Yaeyama group, with an area of 289 square kilometers. Mountains average 400 meters and cover 70 percent of the island. The highest mountain is Komidake (470 meters). About 90 percent of the island is covered with tropical rain forests and mangroves flourish at the estuaries of the Urauchi and Nakama rivers. Because of repeated cases of malaria since 1637, people were forced to leave the island. The crested serpent eagle and the Iriomote wildcat are found in the island's forests. The latter, a species of mountain cat, was discovered in 1965 and was designated an endangered species by the Japanese government in 1994. The Iriomote National Park, which occupies several of the Yaeyama islands, is primarily located on Iriomotejima. The park has subtropical forests and vegetation, poisonous snakes, rare butterflies, and mangrove swamps. The island's economy depends mainly on farming and tourism, which began to flourish in the 1970s. The main agricultural products are wetland rice, sugarcane, and pineapples.
