is a volcanic Japanese island administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. It is one of the Izu Seven Islands group of the seven northern islands of the Izu archipelago, and is located approximately south of Tōkyō and south of Shimoda Shizuoka Prefecture. The island is the larger inhabited component of the village of Niijima Village, Ōshima Subprefecture of Tokyo Metropolis, which also contains the neighboring island of Shikine-jima and the smaller, uninhabited Jinai-tō. Nii-jima is also within the boundaries of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. On the southern tip of Nii-jima, there was formerly a launch site for experimental and sounding rockets. Geography Nii-jima is unusual amongst the Izu Islands in that it has an elongated shape. Measuring approximately long by wide, it has a land area of 23.87 km2. The island is made of eight rhyolitic lava domes in two groups at the northern and southern ends of the island, separated by a low, flat isthmus. The complex in the southern portion of the island and the Achiyama lava dome at the northern end were formed during Nii-jima's only historical eruptions in the 9th century AD. The northern end also contains , the island's highest point, at . The Atchiyama rhyolitic lava dome and neighboring Wakago basaltic pyroclastic deposit contain rare xenoliths composed of gabbro. These gabbroic rock fragments originated from magma bodies that were located beneath the rhyolitic volcano. Shikine-jima and Jinnai-to are part of the same complex, and form separate islands to the southwest and west of Nii-jima. Rhyolite lava gives the island its famed white cliffs and white sandy beaches Nii-jima is prone to earthquake swarms. According to the US Geological Survey map, the area around Nii-jima averages 10–20 earthquakes, with a magnitude of 5 or greater, each year. However, the often repeated legend that Nii-jima and Shikine-jima were once a single island that was separated by huge tsunami caused by the 1703 Genroku earthquake has no basis in geology. Climate Nature Even though Nii-jima is located relatively close to Honshu, the small population and lower exploitation has allowed the island's natural wildlife to be well preserved, and many varieties can be seen. Riding on the Kuroshio current, many oceanic species and birds migrate thorough the island, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins that have seemingly moved to here, and other areas, from Mikurajima inhabit the near shores; along with nesting sea turtles, and the occasional visiting manta ray. Almost