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

Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture ...

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 n ...

. , 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 usi ...

of 53,153 in 20,953 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 RosenberPopu ...

of 543.4 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 32.4%. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Naka is located in north-central Ibaraki Prefecture, with the Naka River and

Kuji River is a river in Fukushima Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It rises at the northern slope of Mount Yamizo, where the border of these three prefectures is located, and flows into Pacific Ocean at Hitachi and Tokai in Ib ...

flowing through the city.

Surrounding municipalities

Ibaraki Prefecture *

Mito Mito may refer to: Places *Mito, Ibaraki, capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Mito, Aichi, a Japanese town *Mito, Shimane, a Japanese town * Mitō, Yamaguchi, a Japanese town * Mito District, a district in the province of Concepción, Per ...

Hitachinaka 250px, Hitachinaka city hall is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 154,663 in 64,900 households and a population density of 1547 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 w ...

* Hitachiōta *

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...

* Hitachiōmiya * Tōkai * Shirosato

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Naka peaked around the year 2000 and has declined slightly since.

History

On March 31, 1955 the town of Sugaya and villages of Godai, Nakata, Kanzaki, Toda, Yoshino and Kizaki were merged to become the town of Naka (within Naka District). The town was the 4th largest population within the prefecture, following the town of Kamisu (from Kashima District), the town of Sōwa (from Sashima District), and the town of Ami (from Inashiki District). On January 21, 2005 Naka absorbed the town of Urizura (from Naka District) to become the city of Naka. Naka annexed the town of Urizura on January 21, 2005.

Government

Naka has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city council of 18 members. Naka contributes one member to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Ibaraki 4th district of the lower house of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

Economy

Renesas Electronics is a Japanese semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, initially incorporated in 2002 as Renesas Technology, the consolidated entity of the semiconductor units of Hitachi and Mitsubishi excluding their dynamic random-access ...

has a 300mm fab in Naka, Ibaraki prefecture. This semiconductor factory makes chips for the automotive manufacturing industry.

Education

Naka has nine public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education. The Ibaraki Women's Junior College is also located in Naka.

Transportation

Railway

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

– Suigun Line * - - - - - - JR logo (east)

– Suigun Line - Hitachi-Ōta Branch * - -

Highway

* – Naka Interchange * * *

Sister city relations

* Oak Ridge,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Local attractions

* The Japan Atomic Energy Agency operates a fusion power research facility in the town, which houses the JT-60, one of the premiere tokamak fusion reactors in the world. * Ibaraki Botanical Garden * Kiuchi Brewery * Kasamatsu Park and Stadium * Shizu Jinja * Shizumine Furusato Park

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Ibaraki Prefecture Naka, Ibaraki