, (
Miyako: ''Pїsara'') was a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
located in
Okinawa Prefecture
is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...
,
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 ...
on the island of
Miyako. As of 2003, the city 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 33,861 and a
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...
of 521.58 persons per km
2. The total area was 64.92 km
2.
History
Hirara was founded on March 7, 1947.
On October 1, 2005, Hirara, along with the towns of
Gusukube,
Irabu and
Shimoji, and the village of
Ueno
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo. The area extending from Ueno to Asakusa is part of the historical Shitamachi (literally "low city") district of Tokyo, which is often associated with working-class traditions and culture as well as their dist ...
(all from
Miyako District), was merged to create the city of
Miyakojima
is the largest and the most populous island among the Miyako Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Miyako Island is administered as part of the City of Miyako Island, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other islands.
Geogr ...
. This merger was one of a large number of mergers that was conducted in 2005, which was nicknamed "the great
Heisei
The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, when hi ...
mergers".
The merger was conducted by the "Miyako District Municipal Merger Council", which was responsible for planning mergers in
Miyako District. Before the merger, the district consisted of all of the
Miyako Islands
The (also Miyako Jima group) are a group of islands in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, belonging to the Ryukyu Islands. They are situated between Okinawa Island and the Yaeyama Islands.
In the early 1870s, the population of the islands was estim ...
, but now (after the merger) it only consists of
Tarama Village.
Points of interest
*
Miyakojima City Tropical Plant Garden
References
External links
City of Miyakojima
Dissolved municipalities of Okinawa Prefecture
{{Okinawa-geo-stub