Japan Fast Facts

(CNN) -- Here's a look at what you need to know about Japan, a country of islands located off the eastern coast of Asia.

About Japan: (from the CIA World Fact Book)
Land area: 377,915 sq km

Population: 127,253,075 (July 2013 est.)

Median age: 45.8 years (2013 est.)

Capital: Tokyo

Ethnic groups: Japanese 98.5%, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%

Religion: Shintoism 83.9%, Buddhism 71.4%, Christianity 2%, other 7.8%

GDP: $4.525 trillion (2012 est.)

GDP per capita: $36,200 (2012 est.)

Unemployment: 4.4% (2012 est.)

Other Facts:
Japan is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy.

Four large islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, account for about 98% of the country's land area.

Following an economic boom after World War II, Japan has been stuck in stagnation and deflation since the 1980s.

Timeline:
December 7, 1941 - Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, hoping to destroy the U.S. Pacific fleet.

August 6, 1945 - The first atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.

August 9, 1945 - A second atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.

August 14, 1945 - V-J Day. Japan agrees to end the war.

September 2, 1945 - Japan signs the formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

1952 - Japan regains independence.

1956 - Joins the United Nations.

January 7, 1989 - Akihito becomes emperor after the death of Hirohito.

January 1995 - The 6.9 magnitude Kobe earthquake, where 5,502 people were killed and 36,896 people were injured.

March 1995 - A religious cult spreads sarin, a nerve gas, in the Tokyo subway. Twelve people are killed and more than 5,000 are sickened.

2006 - The first defense ministry since World War II is approved by the parliament.

March 11, 2011 - A 9.0 magnitude earthquake takes place 231 miles northeast of Tokyo. The earthquake causes a tsunami with 30 ft waves that damage several nuclear reactors in the area. The confirmed death toll is 15,883 as of July 10, 2013.

September 15, 2013 - Japan's only operating nuclear reactor is shut down for maintenance. All 50 of the country's reactors are now offline. The government hasn't said when or if any of them will come back on.