Kyoto

() is a ceety locatit in the central pairt o the island o Honshu, Japan. It haes a population close tae 1.5 million. Umwhile the Imperial caipital o Japan for mair nor ane thoosan years, it is nou the caipital ceety o Kyoto Prefectur locatit in the Kansai region, as well as a major pairt o the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan aurie. Kyoto is kent as the *thoosan-year caipital* an aw.

## Name
In Japanese, the ceety haes been cried **Kyō** (京), **Miyako** (都) or **Kyō no Miyako** (京の都). In the 11t century, the ceety wis renamed Kyoto ("caipital ceety"), efter the Cheenese wird for caipital ceety, *jingdu* (京都).  Efter Edo wis renamed Tokyo (meanin "Eastren Caipital") in 1868, Kyoto wis kent for a short time as **Saikyō** (西京, meanin "Wastren Capital").

An obsolete spellin for the ceety's name is **Kioto**; it wis umwhile kent tae the Wast as **Meaco** or **Miako** (; miyako, meanin "the seat of Imperial palace" or "capital".). Anither term commonly uised tae refer tae the ceety in the pre-modren period wis **Keishi** (), meanin "metropolis" or "caipital".

## Geografie

Kyoto is locatit in a valley, pairt o the Yamashiro (or Kyoto) Basin, in the eastren pairt o the muntainous region kent as the Tamba hielands. The Yamashiro Basin is surroondit on three sides bi muntains kent as Higashiyama, Kitayama an Nishiyama, wi a heicht juist abuin 1,000 metres (3,281&nbsp;ft) abuin sea level. This interior positionin results in het simmers an cauld winters. Thare are three rivers in the basin, the Ujigawa tae the sooth, the Katsuragawa tae the wast, an the Kamogawa tae the east. Kyoto Ceety takes up 17.9% o the land in the prefecture wi an aurie o 827.9&nbsp;km²

The oreeginal ceety wis arranged in accordance wi traditional Cheenese feng shui follaein the model o the auncient Cheenese caipital o Chang'an (present-day Xi'an). The Imperial Palace faced sooth, resultin in Ukyō (the richt sector o the caipital) bein on the wast while Sakyō (the left sector) is on the east. The streets in the modren-day wards o Nakagyō, Shimogyō, an Kamigyō still follae a grid pattern.

The day, the main business destrict is locatit tae the sooth o the auld Imperial Palace, wi the less-populatit northren aurie retainin a far greener feel. Surroondin auries dae no follae the same grid pattern as the centre o the ceety, tho streets throughoot Kyoto share the distinction o haein names.

Kyoto sits atop a muckle naitural watter table that provides the ceety wi ample freshwater wells. Due tae muckle scale urbanization, the amunt o rain drainin intae the table is dwindlin an wells athort the aurie are dryin at an increasin rate.

## Internaitional relations

### Twin touns — Sister ceeties
The ceety o Kyoto haes a sister ceety relationship wi:

*  Boston, Unitit States
*  Paris, Fraunce (Friendship Pledge ceety)
*  Cologne, Germany
*  Cuzco, Peru
*  Konya, Turkey
*  Prague, Czech Republic
*  Florence, Italy
*  Kiev, Ukraine
*  Xi'an, Fowkrepublic o Cheenae (Friendship ceety)
*  Guadalajara, Mexico
*  Zagreb, Croatie

## References

## Freemit airtins

* Kyoto Travel Guide — Ceety o Kyoto an Kyoto Tourism Cooncil
* Kyoto Ceety Local Govrenment 
* Kyoto  Guide includin interactive cairt & ower 1,300 pictures.
* Kyoto's temples & shrines — Information on 26 temples an shrines.