is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself. The island has an area of and a 2005 population of 2,347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors — over 390,000 in 2006 — arrive from Ishigaki by ferry, a ride to on Iriomote's northeast coast or on the southeast coast. Administratively the island belongs to Taketomi Town, Okinawa Prefecture. Infrastructure is limited to a single coastal road connecting the hamlets on the northern and eastern shores. Wildlife The island is famed for the Iriomote cat, a Critically Endangered wild cat found only on Iriomote. the population size is estimated to be 100–109 individuals. The island has a venomous snake—Trimeresurus elegans, known locally as the habu, a species of pitviper whose bite has a fatality rate of 3% and a permanent disability rate of 6–8%. Satakentia liukiuensis, the only species in the genus Satakentia, is a palm tree that is endemic to the two islands of Ishigaki and Iriomote in the Yaeyama Islands. Culture The Iriomote dialect of the Yaeyama language is spoken by some people on the island. History The island had few settlements of fishermen and rice growers on the coastal areas, but it never had a large population until the Iriomote Coal Mine operated between 1889 and 1959. During World War II some residents of Ishigaki were forcibly made to take refuge in Iriomote, many of whom contracted malaria. After the war, the US Forces in Japan eradicated malaria from the island, and the island has been malaria-free since then. The island, together with the rest of Okinawa Prefecture, remained a US-controlled territory until 1972. Iriomote was returned to Japan on June 17, 1972. The possibility exists that a World War II-era U.S. submarine lies in about of water off the coast of Iriomote Island. During operations with an Okinawan company using a U.S. made "SCORPIO" ROV in 1995, a group of divers encountered a sonar contact with what appeared to be a metal structure, about in girth and about in length (exposed) at an angle of roughly 20-30 degrees. The SONAR image of a large unexpected obstruction to the operations prompted the divers to command evasive maneuvers and avoid the area for the safety of the ROV. The divers, thinking they would have another opportunity to work in the area at a