is 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 Shiribeshi Subprefecture,

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 Hokkaidō 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 ...

. As of September 2016, the town has 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 4,893, and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 11 persons per km². The total area is 449.68 km².

Geography

Shiribetsu River flows through Rankoshi to the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. The town is surrounded by Niseko Volcanic Group, which belongs to Niseko-Shakotan-Otaru Kaigan Quasi-National Park. The name is derived from Ainu word "Ranko-usi", meaning "Place with many Katsura trees". *Mountains: Mount Raiden, Mount Mekunnai, Mount Chisenupuri, Mount Nitonupuri

Neighboring towns

* Iburi Subprefecture ** Toyoura * Shiribeshi Subprefecture ** Iwanai ** Kuromatsunai ** Kutchan ** Niseko ** Suttsu

Climate

History

*1909: Minamishiribeshi became a Second Class Village. *1940: Minamishiribeshi became a First Class Village. *1954: Minamishiribeshi Village became Rankoshi Town. *1955: A part of Suttsu Town was merged into Rankoshi Town.

Education

* High school ** Hokkaido Rankoshi High School * Junior high school ** Rankoshi Junior High School * Elementary schools ** Kombu Elementary School ** Rankoshi Elementary School

Transportation

Hakodate Main Line The is a railway line connecting the cities of Hakodate, Hokkaido, Hakodate and Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Asahikawa via Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan. It is one of the trunk lines that is operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The Sawa ...

Mena The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

- Rankoshi - Konbu * Route 5

Sister city

* Saalfelden,

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(since 1967)Sister city
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References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rankoshi, Hokkaido Towns in Hokkaido Australian diaspora in Asia