Gifu岐阜県
Gifu-ken, ぎふけん. The name ends in 県 (ken), prefecture.
Gifu is landlocked and reaches from the Nōbi plain up into the Hida mountains and the Shirakawa-gō villages.
Facts
- Japanese name
- 岐阜県
- Reading
- Gifu-ken / ぎふけん
- Region
- Chūbu 中部
- Capital
- Gifu 岐阜市
- Population
- 1,978,742 (2020 census)
- Area
- 10,621 km²
- Density
- 186 people per km²
- Municipalities
- 42: 21 cities, 19 towns, and 2 villages
- Designated cities
- None
- Districts (郡)
- 9
- Codes
- JIS 21, ISO 3166-2 JP-21
- Website
- www.pref.gifu.lg.jp
- Tree
- Japanese yew イチイ
- Flower
- Chinese milk vetch レンゲソウ
- Bird
- rock ptarmigan ライチョウ
The tree, flower, and bird are the prefectural symbols, chosen by ordinance. Every prefecture has all three.
The most populous municipalities
| Municipality | Population | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gifu City岐阜市 | 402,557 | 203.6 | 20.3% |
| Ogaki City大垣市 | 158,286 | 206.57 | 8.0% |
| Kakamigahara City各務原市 | 144,521 | 87.81 | 7.3% |
| Tajimi City多治見市 | 106,732 | 91.25 | 5.4% |
| Kani City可児市 | 99,968 | 87.57 | 5.1% |
| Seki City関市 | 85,283 | 472.33 | 4.3% |
| Takayama City高山市 | 84,419 | 2,177.61 | 4.3% |
| Nakatsugawa City中津川市 | 76,570 | 676.45 | 3.9% |
| Hashima City羽島市 | 65,649 | 53.66 | 3.3% |
| Minokamo City美濃加茂市 | 56,689 | 74.81 | 2.9% |
2020 census. Share is the municipality's part of the prefecture's population. The other 32 are listed below.
How an address here begins
岐阜県岐阜市…
Gifu-ken, Gifu-shi, …
The prefecture name is written first, then the municipality name. The guide explains the rest of the address, and the map finds any address you paste into it.
Neighbouring prefectures
Every municipality in Gifu市区町村
42 local governments, each with its own mayor and assembly. Each has a page with its population, area, neighbours, and boundary on the map.
Cities市
Districts, with their towns and villages郡 町 村
A district is a name that groups towns and villages in an address. It has no office and no election. Each town and village in it is a government.
Questions about Gifu
- Is Gifu a city or a prefecture?
- Gifu (岐阜県) is a prefecture, one of Japan's 47. Gifu City (岐阜市) is a municipality inside it and its capital. On its own, the name usually means the city. With 県 on the end it means the prefecture.
- What is the capital of Gifu?
- Gifu City (岐阜市). The prefectural office is there. It is also the largest municipality in the prefecture.
- What does 県 mean in 岐阜県?
- 県 (ken) means prefecture. It is the ordinary word for prefecture, used by 43 of the 47. The other four are Tokyo (都), Hokkaidō (道), Osaka, and Kyoto (府), which are the same kind of government with a different word at the end of the name.
- How many municipalities are in Gifu?
- 42: 21 cities, 19 towns, and 2 villages. Each is a local government with its own mayor and assembly. The towns and villages are grouped into nine districts (郡), names used in addresses, not governments.
- What is the population of Gifu?
- 1,978,742 at the 2020 census, on 10,621 km², which is 186 people per km². Gifu is the 17th most populous of the 47 prefectures and the 7th largest by area.
- Which prefectures border Gifu?
- Seven prefectures: Toyama (富山県), Ishikawa (石川県), Fukui (福井県), Nagano (長野県), Aichi (愛知県), Mie (三重県), and Shiga (滋賀県). Borders across water are not counted.
- What region is Gifu in?
- Chūbu (中部). A region is a customary grouping of prefectures, not a government, so Gifu elects a governor and an assembly but the region elects nothing.
- How is Gifu written in Japanese?
- 岐阜県, read Gifu-ken and written ぎふけん in hiragana. The last character, 県, is the word for prefecture, and the name is often used without it in English.
- How does an address in Gifu begin?
- With the prefecture name, then the municipality name: 岐阜県岐阜市… (Gifu-ken, Gifu-shi, …). After that are written the named area, the chōme, the block, and the building number.
- What is the largest city in Gifu?
- Gifu City (岐阜市), with 402,557 people at the 2020 census. It is also the capital. The three most populous municipalities are Gifu City (岐阜市, 402,557), Ogaki City (大垣市, 158,286), and Kakamigahara City (各務原市, 144,521).
- What are the symbols of Gifu?
- The prefectural tree is the Japanese yew (イチイ), the flower the Chinese milk vetch (レンゲソウ), and the bird the rock ptarmigan (ライチョウ). Gifu chose them by ordinance, as every prefecture has.
Boundaries: MLIT 国土数値情報. Population: 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査). Area: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (全国都道府県市区町村別面積調, 2020). Municipality counts are from the boundary data on the map. Website and symbols: the prefecture's Japanese Wikipedia article, read in September 2026.