Kita北区

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

Kita (北区, Kita-ku) is a ward of Osaka, in Osaka Prefecture. The ward is an office of the city, not a government. Population 139,376 (2020 census), area 10.34 km². Borders 6 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 Kita on the map

Facts

Japanese name

北区

Reading

Kita-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

139,376 (2020 census)

Change since 2015

+12.7% from 123,667

Area

10.34 km²

Density

13,479 people per km²

Households

85,785

Under 15

9.3%

65 and over

18.2%

Foreign residents

5,779 (4.1%)

Code

27127 (団体コード, the municipality code)

Website

www.city.osaka.lg.jp/kita

Wikipedia

English / 日本語

Neighbouring wards and municipalities

6 places share a land border with Kita, 6 of them wards of the same city. Borders across water are not counted.

• Miyakojima Ward都島区
• Fukushima Ward福島区
• Nishi Ward西区
• Higashiyodogawa Ward東淀川区
• Yodogawa Ward淀川区
• Chūō Ward中央区

Questions about Kita

Is Kita a city?

Kita (北区) 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 Kita?

Kita 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 Kita?

139,376 at the 2020 census, up 12.7% from 123,667 in 2015. The area is 10.34 km², which is 13,479 people per km². 85,785 households. 18.2% of residents are 65 or older and 9.3% are under 15.

Which municipalities border Kita?

Six: Miyakojima Ward (都島区), Fukushima Ward (福島区), Nishi Ward (西区), Higashiyodogawa Ward (東淀川区), Yodogawa Ward (淀川区), and Chūō Ward (中央区). These are the wards and municipalities that share a land border with Kita in the boundary data. Borders across water are not counted.

How is Kita written in Japanese?

北区, read Kita-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 Kita begin?

大阪府大阪市北区… (Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Kita-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.