Chiba Prefecture capital Chiba
Chiba Prefecture (千葉県, Chiba-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,157 km2 (1,991 sq mi). Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the northwest, and Tokyo to the west.
Chiba is the capital and largest city of Chiba Prefecture, with other major cities including Funabashi, Matsudo, Ichikawa and Kashiwa. Chiba Prefecture is located on Japan's eastern Pacific coast to the east of Tokyo, and is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Chiba Prefecture largely consists of the Boso Peninsula, which encloses the eastern side of Tokyo Bay and separates it from Kanagawa Prefecture. Chiba Prefecture is home to Narita International Airport, the Tokyo Disney Resort, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone.Local government
As of 2014, Chiba is divided into 54 contiguous municipalities (see list above): 37 cities, 16 towns and one village, as in all of postwar Japan each with a directly elected mayor and assembly. The most populous and Chiba's only designated major city is the capital Chiba City. Two cities, Funabashi and Kashiwa, are core cities. After late 20th century mergers, much of the rest of the prefecture is also organized in independent cities: Of the (today purely geographical) counties, only six remain, four of which have only one or two remaining towns or villages. – After the reorganization of county and municipal governments in all prefectures in 1889/1890, there had initially been 12 counties and no city in Chiba; Chiba town in Chiba county became the first municipality in Chiba to be elevated to city status in 1921.
seat of government administrative center headquarters main city principal city