is the largest of the
Okinawa Islands and the
Ryukyu (
Nansei) Islands of
Japan. The island has an area of . It is roughly south of the rest of Japan, roughly the same distance off the coast of China, and north of Taiwan. The Greater
Naha area, home to the capital (or more accurately—prefectural seat) of
Okinawa Prefecture on the southwestern part of Okinawa Island, has roughly 800,000 of the island's 1.3 million residents, while the city itself is home to about 320,000. The island hosts the majority of the US troops stationed in Japan. Over the last 70 years, there have been periods of conflict and distrust between the US troops and the local Japanese population.