is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 26,267 in 10,382 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of 840 persons per km². The total area of the town is .

Geography

Ōra is located in the extreme southern corner Gunma prefecture, bordered by

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

to the north.

Surrounding municipalities

* Chiyoda * Meiwa * Ōizumi * Ōta * Tatebayashi

* Ashikaga

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Ōra population statistics
/ref> the population of Ōra peaked around the year 2000 and has declined since.

History

The villages of Nakano, Takashima and Nagae were created within Ōra District, Gunma Prefecture on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system after the

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. On March 1, 1955, Nakano and Takashima merged to form the village of Nakajima. Nakae merged with neighboring Tominaga and Eiraku to form the village of Chiyoda. However, on September 30, 1956 the former Nakae village was transferred from Chiyoda to Nakajima, and Nakajma was renamed Ōra on January 1, 1957. Ōra was elevated to town status on April 1, 1968.

Government

Ōra 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

town council of 14 members. Ōra, together with the other municipalities in Ōra District contributes three members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Gunma 3rd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Education

Ōra has four public elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Gunma prefecture Board of Education.

Geography

Surrounding municipalities

Demographics

History

Government

Economy

Education

Transportation

Railway

Highway

Local attractions

References

External links