Chiba Prefecture

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**Chiba Prefecture (千葉県 *Chiba-ken*)**

Capital	Chiba
Region	Kantō
Island	Honshū
Governor	Akiko Domoto
Area	5,156.15 km² (27^th)
- % water	0.8%
Population (2000)
- Population	6,006,185 (6^th)
- Density	1,165 /km²
Districts	6
Municipalities	57
ISO 3166-2	JP-12
Website	http://www.pref.chiba.jp/ english/index.html
Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Rape blossom (Brassica rapa var. amplexicaulis)
- Tree	Kusamaki (Podocarpus macrophyllus)
- Bird	Hoojiro (Meadow Bunting, Emberiza cioides)
Symbol of Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture (千葉県, Chiba-ken^?) is located in the Greater Tokyo Area of Honshū Island, Japan. Its capital is Chiba City.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Demographics
5 Culture
6 Tourism
7 Prefectural symbols
8 External links

[edit] History

Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture. Historically, the prefecture constituted three provinces of Awa, Kazusa, and Shimousa.

[edit] Geography

Boso Peninsula.

Map of Chiba Prefecture.

Chiba borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north at the Tone River, Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture to the west at the Edo River, the Pacific Ocean to the east and Tokyo Bay around its southern boundary. Most of Chiba lies on the hilly Boso Peninsula, a rice farming region: the east coast, known as the Ninety-Nine League Plain, is an especially productive area. The most populous zone, in the northwest of the prefecture, is part of the Kantō region that extends into the urban agglomeration of Tokyo and Saitama. The Kuroshio Current flows near Chiba, which keep it relatively warm in winter and cooler in summer than neighbouring Tokyo.

[edit] Cities

Thirty-six cities are located in Chiba Prefecture:

Abikoǂ
Asahi
Chiba (capital)

Chūō-ku

Hanamigawa-ku

Inage-ku

Midori-ku

Mihama-ku

Wakaba-ku

ǂ Scheduled to be dissolved after mergers.

[edit] Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district:

Awa District

Kyonan

Chosei District

Inba District

Isumi District

Onjuku

Otaki

Katori District

Kozaki

Tako

Tonosho

Sanbu District

[edit] Mergers

(as of March 27, 2006)

Main article: Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan

On June 6, 2003, the town of Sekiyado from Higashikatsushika District merged into the city of Noda. (Merger information page)

On February 11, 2005, the new city of Kamogawa was created by the mergers of the town of Amatsukominato from Awa District and the old city of Kamogawa.

On March 28, 2005, the town of Shonan from Higashikatsushika District merged into the city of Kashiwa. Higashikatsushika District was dissolved as a result of this merger. (Merger information page)

On July 1, 2005, the town of Hikata from Katori District and the towns of Iioka and Unakami from Kaijo District merged with the old city of Asahi to form the new city of Asahi. Kaijo District was dissolved as a result of this merger. (Merger information page)

On December 5, 2005, the towns of Isumi, Misaki and Ohara from Isumi District merged to form the new city of Isumi.

On January 23, 2006, the city of Yokaichiba and the town of Nosaka from Sousa District merged to form the new city of Sosa.

On March 20, 2006, the municipalities of Tomiura, Tomiyama, Miyoshi, Shirahama, Chikura, Maruyama and Wada (all from Awa District) merged to form the new city of Minamiboso.

On March 27, 2006, the city of Sawara and the towns of Omigawa, Yamada and Kurimoto from Katori District merged to form the new city of Katori.

On March 27, 2006, the towns of Shimofusa and Taiei from Katori District merged into the city of Narita.

On March 27, 2006, the towns of Hikari from Sousa District and Yokoshiba from Sanbu District merged to form the new town of Yokoshibahikari in Sanbu District. Sousa District was dissolved with this merger.

On March 27, 2006, the towns of Sanbu, Naruto, Hasunuma and Matsuo from Sanbu District merged to form the new city of Sanmu.

[edit] Future mergers

Recently, NHK has reported that the cities of Abiko, Kamagaya, Kashiwa, Matsudo, Nagareyama, and Noda have all announced that they will merge together to create a new designated city in the future. The total population will be 1,403,116 (combined data as of May 2005 to July 1, 2006) if the merger is successful.

[edit] Defunct districts

[edit] Economy

Chiba is one of Japan's largest industrial areas, thanks to its long coastline on Tokyo Bay. After Chiba was chosen as the site for a major Kawasaki Steel factory in 1950, the prefectural government embarked on a large-scale land reclamation program that dredged up large plots of waterfront property for factories, warehouses, and docks. Chemical production, petrochemical refining, and machine production are the three main industries in Chiba today: together, they account for forty-five percent of the prefecture's exports. In recent years, the government has funded more than eighty industrial parks to bring development further inland as well.

The prefecture also boasts Japan's second-highest agricultural output: among all the prefectures, only Hokkaido produces more agricultural products, and Chiba leads Hokkaido in vegetable production. Chiba's fisheries are also productive, catching many of Japan's flatfish, halibut, and lobster. Seaweed is harvested in large quantities from Tokyo Bay.

[edit] Demographics

Chiba's population is one of the wealthiest in Japan due to the prefecture's strong commercial and industrial sectors. Per capita GDP is ¥3.1 million (US$28,600), the fifth-highest in the country. 70% of the population is employed in the service sector, with 25% in industry and 5% in agriculture.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Tourism

Most Tokyo-bound visitors land in Narita International Airport, which is situated in Narita in the north of the prefecture, and connected to Tokyo by the JR Narita Express and the private Keisei Electric Railway.

The Tokyo Disney Resort is located in Urayasu near the western border of the prefecture.

Chiba is linked to Tokyo by several railway lines: the main trunk lines are the Keiyo Line and Sobu Line. The Musashino Line connects Chiba to Saitama and northern Tokyo. Southern Chiba is connected to Kanagawa Prefecture by the Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line bridge-tunnel.