is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

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 city 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 116,043 in 46858 households 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 120 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Nagahama is located on the northern shore of

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th ol ...

and occupies most of the northern portion of Shiga Prefecture. It is generally bounded by the

Ibuki Mountains The are a mountain range straddling the border between Gifu and Shiga prefectures in Japan. After lowering and nearly disappearing in Shiga Prefecture, the range continues as the Suzuka Mountains. During the winter, the winds from the Ibuki M ...

to the east, the Nosaka Mountains to the north and Lake Biwa to the south. The city is the second largest in the prefecture in terms of land area, after Takashima. The inland areas of the city are noted for very heavy snow accumulation in winter

Neighboring municipalities

Shiga Prefecture * Maibara * Takashima Gifu Prefecture *

Ibigawa is a town located in Ibi District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 21,319 in 8,015 households and a population density of 27 persons per km2, in 8,032 households. The total area of the town was . Geography Ib ...

Fukui Prefecture * Tsuruga * Echizen

Climate

Nagahama has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Nagahama is 12.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2052 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 0.3 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Nagahama has remained relatively stable over the past 70 years.

History

Nagahama is part of ancient

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countrie ...

and has been settled since at least the

Yayoi period The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

. During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, the area was contested between the

Kyogoku clan Kyogoku may refer to: * Kyōgoku, Hokkaidō, a town on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō * Kyōgoku clan, a Japanese clan * Aya Kyōgoku, a video game developer currently working at Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company h ...

Azai clan The , also rendered as Asai, was a Japanese clan during the Sengoku period. History The Azai was a line of ''daimyōs'' (feudal lords) seated at Odani Castle in northeastern Ōmi Province, located within present day Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture. ...

and

Asakura clan The is a Japanese kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 7 of 80">"Asakura", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 3 DF_7_of_80">"Asa_...

._The_city_center_was_developed_and_renamed_by_Toyotomi_Hideyoshi.html" ;"title="DF 7 of 80/nowiki>">DF 7 of 80">"Asa ...