Head of state: Emperor AKIHITO
Head of government: Yoshihiko NODA
Type of state: parliamentary monarchy
Land area: 377,835 km2
Capital: Tokyo
Population: 127.38m
Ethnic groups: ethnically homogeneous Japanese with small minorities of Koreans and Ainu
Religions: 80% of the Japanese are adherents of more than one religion: Shintoism (107m), Buddhism (91m), Christianity (1.4 million), other (11.3m)
Language: Japanese
Currency: Yen (JPY)
Gross domestic product (GDP) 2010: USD 5,497.81bn
Change over previous year: +5.1%
Per capita GDP: USD 43,161
Swiss colony: 1,517 persons
Swiss exports 2010: CHF 6,734.62m
Change over previous year: -5.8%
Swiss imports 2010: CHF 3,680.91m
Change over previous year: +2.3%