Gifu Prefecture facts for kids

Gifu Prefecture
	Gifu Prefecture
Japanese:	岐阜県
	Gifu-ken
Capital	Gifu
Region	Chūbu
Island	Honshū
Governor	Hajime Furuta
Area (rank)	10,621.17 km² (7th)
- % water	0.2%
	Population (August 1, 2010)
- Population	2,078,286 (18th)
- Density	196 /km²
Districts	9
Municipalities	42
ISO 3166-2	JP-21
Website	www.pref.gifu.lg.jp
	Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Chinese milk vetch; (Astragalus sinicus)
- Tree	Japanese Yew; (Taxus cuspidata)
- Bird	Rock ptarmigan; (Lagopus muta)
- Fish	{{{Fish}}}
	; Symbol of Gifu Prefecture

Gifu Prefecture (岐阜県, Gifu-ken) is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is on the island of Honshu. Its capital is the city of Gifu.

Gifu is part of the Tōkai region. Shirakawa in Gifu is a UNESCO's World Heritage Site.

History

In the Meiji period, Gifu Prefecture was created by merging several old provinces, including Hida Province and Mino Province.

"Gifu" may have been named by Oda Nobunaga.

Geography

Gifu shares borders with seven other prefectures: Aichi Prefecture, Fukui Prefecture, Ishikawa Prefecture, Mie Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture.

Landmarks

Kinkazan and Gifu Castle
Takayama
Joining hands-structure of Shirakawa-go
Gero hot springs

Special products

Ayu-cuisine
Eel
Hida beef

Cities

Ena, Gifu
Gero, Gifu
Gifu, Gifu, capital
Gujō, Gifu
Hashima, Gifu
Hida, Gifu
Kakamigahara, Gifu
Kani, Gifu
Kaizu, Gifu
Mino, Gifu
Minokama, Gifu
Mizuho, Gifu
Mizunami, Gifu
Motosu, Gifu
Nakatsugawa, Gifu
Ōgaki, Gifu
Seki, Gifu
Tajimi, Gifu
Takayama, Gifu
Toki, Gifu
Yamagata, Gifu

National parks

National parks cover about 18% of the total land area of the prefecture.

Otaki Limestone Cave

Otaki Limestone cave is one of the biggest limestone caves in Japan. There is no daylight inside, so you may feel that the air in there is very still. If you go there in summer, you may feel cool, and if you go there in winter, you may feel much warmer than outside of it. The walls are made of limestone and look milky white.