Chūō中央区

Chūō-ku. The name ends in 区 (ku), the word for ward.

Chūō (中央区, Chūō-ku) is a ward of Osaka, in Osaka Prefecture. The ward is an office of the city, not a government. Population 103,726 (2020 census), area 8.87 km². Borders 7 places.

An administrative ward of a designated city. It has a ward office that handles residence registration and other counter services, but no mayor and no assembly of its own: it is part of the city, and the city's mayor and assembly govern it.

Postal addresses put this ward in the same slot as a Tokyo special ward, which makes the two look equivalent. They are not: you vote for a ward mayor in Tokyo's Kita-ku, and for the city mayor in Osaka's Kita-ku.

Open Chūō on the map

Facts

Japanese name

中央区

Reading

Chūō-ku

Kind

Ward of a designated city (行政区): an office of the city, not a government

City

Osaka City 大阪市

Prefecture

Osaka 大阪府

Region

Kansai / Kinki 関西・近畿

Population

103,726 (2020 census)

Change since 2015

+11.5% from 93,069

Area

8.87 km²

Density

11,694 people per km²

Households

67,139

Under 15

9.3%

65 and over

15.5%

Foreign residents

8,108 (7.8%)

Code

27128 (団体コード, the municipality code)

Website

www.city.osaka.lg.jp/chuo

Wikipedia

English / 日本語

Neighbouring wards and municipalities

7 places share a land border with Chūō, 7 of them wards of the same city. Borders across water are not counted.

• Miyakojima Ward都島区
• Nishi Ward西区
• Tennōji Ward天王寺区
• Naniwa Ward浪速区
• Higashinari Ward東成区
• Jōtō Ward城東区
• Kita Ward北区

Questions about Chūō

Is Chūō a city?

Chūō (中央区) is a ward of Osaka (大阪市), a designated city. It is not a government. The ward office handles counter services such as residence registration, but the ward has no mayor and no assembly of its own: the city's mayor and assembly govern it. Tokyo's 23 special wards are written with the same character, 区, and those are governments.

Where is Chūō?

Chūō is inside Osaka (大阪市), in Osaka Prefecture (大阪府), in the Kansai region of Japan. The prefecture is a government; the region is a customary grouping of prefectures and elects nothing.

What is the population of Chūō?

103,726 at the 2020 census, up 11.5% from 93,069 in 2015. The area is 8.87 km², which is 11,694 people per km². 67,139 households. 15.5% of residents are 65 or older and 9.3% are under 15.

Which municipalities border Chūō?

Seven: Miyakojima Ward (都島区), Nishi Ward (西区), Tennōji Ward (天王寺区), Naniwa Ward (浪速区), Higashinari Ward (東成区), Jōtō Ward (城東区), and Kita Ward (北区). These are the wards and municipalities that share a land border with Chūō in the boundary data. Borders across water are not counted.

How is Chūō written in Japanese?

中央区, read Chūō-ku. The last character, 区 (ku), is the word for ward, and the name is often used without it in English.

How does an address in Chūō begin?

大阪府大阪市中央区… (Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, …). The prefecture name is written first, then the city name, then the ward name. After that are written the named area, the chōme, the block, and the building number.