was a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
located in
Monbetsu District, Abashiri Subprefecture (now
Okhotsk Subprefecture
is a Subprefectures of Hokkaido, subprefecture of Hokkaido, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was renamed from the earlier Abashiri Subprefecture on April 1, 2010. Abashiri Subprefecture was established in 1897.
Etymology
Abashiri Prefecture was n ...
),
Hokkaido
is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates HokkaidÅ fr ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. The town's name comes from a word in the
Ainu language
Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu (), is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isola ...
which means "a wide area where three rivers gather".
As of April 1, 2005, the town had an estimated
population
Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
of 2,032, with 1,042 households. The total area was 510.13 km
2. Over 95 percent of the town is covered with forests. The town's economy relies upon
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
.
On October 1, 2005, Maruseppu, along with the town of
Ikutahara, and the village of
Shirataki (all from
Monbetsu District), was merged into the expanded town of
Engaru.
References
Dissolved municipalities of Hokkaido
{{Hokkaido-geo-stub