Okinawa vs. Orange County

I decided to see just how similar and dissimilar my old home and my new home are. Here are the results:

Population- The main island of Okinawa (the one we live on) has 1.15 million people living on it. Orange County boasts 3.12 million people.

Size- Orange County is 948 square miles (2455 square kilometers) and Okinawa is 489 square miles (780.5 square kilometers).

Cities- Okinawa has 11 cities, while Orange County has 34.

Highways- Orange County has 16 major highways, Okinawa 12 (although, there are 2 of some with the same name).

Orange County has 42 miles of coastline while Okinawa has about 120 miles of coastline, but I’m not sure how much of this can be accessed by civilians.

Population Density- Okinawa has an average of 606 people per square km versus Orange County’s more populated 1,392 per square km. However, much of Okinawa’s population is in Naha which has more than 8,000 people per square km.

Military Bases- Orange County’s 2 military bases are 10 square miles (about 26 square km), while the 14 bases on Okinawa are 90 square miles (233 square km, 18% of the island’s land).

Tourist Attractions- Orange County has Disneyland; Okinawa has Churaumi Aquarium (the 2nd largest aquarium in the world). Both have beaches tourists flock to, but Okinawa’s are much warmer, cleaner, and populated by sea life.

Monorails & International Airports- Orange County and Okinawa have 1 of each

Climate- The annual temperature of Okinawa is 23.7 degrees Celsius (74.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and Orange County’s is 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). Annual rainfall in Orange County is a whopping 13 inches compared to a measly (read sarcasm here folks) 71 inches. Okinawa also has a typhoon (hurricane) season from May to September, while the cold waters of California’s coast can’t produce these storms.

Income- Based on the most recent numbers I could find for Okinawa, the average salary here is 1.995 million Yen per year (approx 20,293 USD) versus Orange County’s $38,367 per person.

Family Size- Orange County has an average of 3.48 people per family (that poor .48 child) while Okinawa has 4.8 people per family. I think Okinawans start (and finish) having children much younger than Californians.

Planned Communities- Nearly 30% of Orange County has been created as such, much less of Okinawa has been created this way, but you’d be surprised. Newer housing developments on the island tend to look like American planned cities.

… And my personal opinion from my research- Both Okinawa and Orange County dislike but are reliant upon “unwelcome” foreigners inhabiting each.