Yoronjima is the southernmost of the Amami Islands and is located approximately 22 kilometres (12 nmi) north of Hedo Point, the northernmost point of Okinawa Island, and 563 kilometres (304 nmi) south of the southern tip of Kyushu.

Satsuma rule was harsh, with the inhabitants of the island reduced to serfdom and forced to raise sugar cane to meet high taxation, which often resulted in famine.

Following World War II, along with the other Amami Islands, it was occupied by the United States until 1953, at which time it reverted to the control of Japan.

When Okinawa was governed by the United States, Yoronjima was the southernmost island Japanese mainlanders could go to for vacation, and it became a tourist spot.

Tourism is still a large part of the local economy, with numerous resorts offering water sports and other activities.

Brown sugar refining and the production of distilled shōchū liquor and vinegar and sea salt are also major industries.

A unique cultural practice is Yoron Kenpo, which includes formalized speeches along with the consumption of sugar-based shōchū as an offering to the gods.

Its basic grammar is similar to Japanese language, however, Yunnu Futuba has a wider range of sounds and an even stricter system of hierarchy for speech, with respectful suffixes and prefixes for elders and men being an integral part of the grammar and syntax of the language.