The Chiba prefecture reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Chiba prefecture

Chiba prefecture (Japanese: 千葉県; Hepburn: Chiba-ken) is located on the east side of the main Honshu island, Japan. The capital is Chiba city. This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.

The prefecture's name is spelled Tiba in the Nippon-shiki, Kunrei, and JSL romanization systems.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Cities 2.2 Districts 3 Economy 4 Demographics 5 Culture 6 Tourism 7 Prefectural symbols 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External links

History

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

Geography

Chiba borders Ibaraki prefecture to the north at the Tone River, Tokyo and Saitama prefecture to the west at the Edo River, and the Pacific Ocean 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 Ri Plain, is an especially productive area. The most populous zone, in the northwest of the prefecture, is part of the Kanto Plain that extends into the urban agglomeration of Tokyo and Saitama.

Cities

Abiko Asahi Chiba (capital) Chuo-ku Hanamigawa-ku Inage-ku Midori-ku Mihama-ku Wakaba-ku Choshi Funabashi Futtsu Ichihara Ichikawa Inzai Kamagaya Kamogawa Kashiwa Katsuura Kimitsu

Kisarazu Matsudo Mobara Nagareyama Narashino Narita Noda Sakura Sawara Shiroi Sodegaura Tateyama Tomisato Togane Urayasu Yachimata Yachiyo Yotsukaido Yokaichiba

Districts

Awa Amatsukominato Awagun Chikura Kyonan Maruyama Miyoshi Shirahama Tomiura Tomiyama Wada Chosei Chounan Chosei Choseigun Ichinomiya Mutsuzawa Nagara Shirako Higashikatsushika Shounan

Inba Inba Inbagun Motono Sakae Shisui Isumi Isumi Isumigun Misaki Onjuku Ohara Otaki Kaijo Iioka Kaijogun Unakami Katori Hikata Katorigun Kozaki Kurimoto Omigawa Shimofusa Taiei Tako Tonosho Yamada

Sanbu Hasunuma Kujukuri Matsuo Naruto Oamishirasato Sanbu Sanbugun Shibayama Yokoshiba Sosa Hikari Nosaka Sosagun

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.

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.

Culture

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 Line.

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 Bay Aqualine road tunnel.

Prefectural symbols

Chiba's Meibutsu (名物 lit: famous thing) is peanuts. Most of Japan's peanuts are harvested here and are also processed into peanut oils.

Miscellaneous topics

External links

• Official Chiba prefecture homepage

Prefectures of Japan

Aichi | Akita | Aomori | Chiba | Ehime | Fukui | Fukuoka | Fukushima | Gifu | Gunma | Hiroshima | Hokkaido | Hyogo | Ibaraki | Ishikawa | Iwate | Kagawa | Kagoshima | Kanagawa | Kochi | Kumamoto | Kyoto | Mie | Miyagi | Miyazaki | Nagano | Nagasaki | Nara | Niigata | Oita | Okayama | Okinawa | Osaka | Saga | Saitama | Shiga | Shimane | Shizuoka | Tochigi | Tokushima | Tokyo | Tottori | Toyama | Wakayama | Yamagata | Yamaguchi | Yamanashi

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