:Yaeyama Islands

{{Short description|Archipelago within the Ryukyu Islands}}

{{Infobox islands

| name = Yaeyama Islands

| native_name = {{Nihongo||八重山列島|Yaeyama-rettō}}

| native_name_lang = ja

| sobriquet =

| image_name = Yaeyama map.png

| image_size =

| image_caption = Map of the Yaeyama Islands

| image_alt =

| map = Japan

| map_caption = Yaeyama Islands in Japan

| label_position = top

| location = Pacific Ocean

| coordinates = {{coord|24|21|47|N|123|44|47|E|region:JP-47_type:isle_source:dewiki_dim:100000|display=inline,title}}

| archipelago = Sakishima Islands

| waterbody = East China Sea

| total_islands = 23

| major_islands = Ishigaki Island, Iriomote Island, Yonaguni Island

| area_km2 = 587.16

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| elevation_m = 525.5

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| highest_mount = Mount Omoto

| Country_heading =

| country = Japan

| country_admin_divisions_title = Prefecture

| country_admin_divisions = Okinawa Prefecture

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| population = 53,627

| population_as_of = March 31, 2011

| density_km2 = 91

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| ethnic_groups = Ryukyuans, Japanese

| website =

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}}

The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 Yaeyama-rettō, also 八重山諸島 Yaeyama-shotō, Yaeyama: Yaima, Yonaguni: Daama, Okinawan: Yeema, Northern Ryukyuan: {{lang|ryu|やへま}} Yapema) are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and cover {{convert|591.46|km2|mi2}}. The islands are located southwest of the Miyako Islands, part of the Ryukyu Islands archipelago. The Yaeyama Islands are the most remote part of Japan from the main islands and contain Japan's southernmost (Hateruma) and westernmost (Yonaguni) inhabited islands. The city of Ishigaki serves as the political, cultural, and economic center of the Yaeyama Islands. On maps dating to the 1700s, the Yaeyama Group of Islands appears as the "Majico Sima Group",{{cite book |last1=Stanford |first1=Edward |title=Stanford's Library Map Of Asia. |date=1895 |publisher=Stanford's Geographical Establishment. |location=London |pages=26–27 |edition=New |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~200778~3000538:Map-of-Asia-?sort=pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date&qvq=w4s:/where%2FAsia%2Fwhen%2F1895;sort:pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=7&trs=8 |access-date=2 Aug 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Geographicus |title=1873 Roche-Poncié Nautical Chart Map of Taiwan / Formosa |url=https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/formose-rocheponcie-1873 |website=Geographicus: rare antique maps |publisher=Geographicus |access-date=2 Aug 2023}} "Nambu-soto Islands",{{cite book |last1=Stanford |first1=Edward |title=Stanford's Library Map Of Asia. |date=1895 |publisher=Stanford's Geographical Establishment. |location=London |pages=26–27 |edition=New |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~200778~3000538:Map-of-Asia-?sort=pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date&qvq=w4s:/where%2FAsia%2Fwhen%2F1895;sort:pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=7&trs=8 |access-date=2 Aug 2023}} "Nambu Soto",{{cite book |last1=Stanford |first1=Edward |title=Stanford's London atlas of universal geography exhibiting the physical and political divisions of the various countries of the world. |date=1904 |publisher=Edward Standford, Geographer to Her Majesty |location=London |page=57 |edition=Third Edition, revised and enlarged. |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~314703~90083577:Asia-?sort=pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date&qvq=w4s:/who%2FEdward%2BStanford%2Fwhere%2FAsia;sort:pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=0&trs=11 |access-date=2 Aug 2023 |ref=Asia}} and the "Taipin Islands".{{cite book |last1=Postlehwayt |first1=Malachy (1707–1767) |last2=Boulton |first2=S. |last3=Bolton |first3=Emanuel |last4=Seale |first4=Richard William |title=The Universal Dictionary Of Trade and Commerce Composite Map (of Asia), Second Part of Asia. |date=1755 |publisher=W.Strahan, J. & F.Rivington |location=London |page=I-VIII |edition=Fourth Edition, note: published in 1774, date on map reads 1755 in Roman Numerals |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~317088~90085854:Composite-Map--Vol--I--Asia--Part-1?sort=pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date&qvq=w4s:/where%2FAsia%2Fwhen%2F1755;sort:pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_date;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=0&trs=14 |access-date=2 Aug 2023 |ref=Series No. 31}}