Earth from Space - Image Description

STS043-608-037 Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Islands August, 1991
One of the southernmost of the Ryukyu Islands, Iriomote Island can be seen in this near-nadir view. As with all of the Ryukyu Islands, Iriomote Island is the exposed top of a submarine mountain range and is volcanic in origin. The island is fringed by coral reefs and has a hilly, and tropical vegetation covered interior. Iriomote Island is not heavily populated. The city of Ishigaki on Ishigaki Island is visible in the upper right portion of the image. The small island near the bottom center of the image is Hateruma.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.