is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in Motosu District,

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 18,410 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 3600 persons per km², in 7,449 households. The total area of the town was . It is the smallest town in Gifu Prefecture in terms of area.

Geography

Kitagata is located in the

Nōbi Plain The is a large plain in Japan that stretches from the Mino area of southwest Gifu Prefecture to the Owari area of northwest Aichi Prefecture, covering an area of approximately .

in southern Gifu Prefecture. The town has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Kitagata is 15.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1990 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around 3.9 °C.

Neighbouring municipalities

*Gifu Prefecture **

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

Motosu Usuzumizakura is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 34,453 in 12, 464 households, and a population density of 390 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Motosu is located in western Gi ...

Mizuho Mizuho () literally means "abundant rice" in Japanese and "harvest" in the figurative sense. It was also an ancient name of Japan. It might refer to: Places * Mizuho, Gifu, a city in Gifu * Mizuho, Tokyo, a town in Tokyo * Mizuho Plateau in A ...

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kitagata population statistics
/ref> the population of Kitagata has recently plateaued after decades of strong growth.

History

The area around Kitagawa was part of traditional

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, it was part of the holdings of

Kanō Domain 270px, Remnants of the walls of Kanō Castle was a '' fudai'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. The domain was centered at Kanō Castle, located in what is now part of the city of Gifu in Gifu Prefecture. History Before the Battle of Sek ...

, under by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. During the post-

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

cadastral reforms, the area was organised into Motosu District, Gifu Prefecture. The town of Kitagata was formed in 1889 with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The town was severely damaged by the 1891 Mino–Owari earthquake, which destroyed 602 homes and killed 62 inhabitants.

Education

Kitagata has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education.

Geography

Neighbouring municipalities

Demographics

History

Education

Transportation

Railway

Highway

References

External links