The Gifu, Gifu reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Gifu, Gifu

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Gifu (Hepburn) (Japanese: 岐阜市; -shi) is the capital city of Gifu prefecture in the Chubu region of central Japan.

The city\'s name is spelled Gihu according to the Nippon-shiki, Kunrei, and JSL romanization systems.

As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 404,428 and the density of 2,072.71 persons per km². The total area is 195.12 km².

The name gifu was given in Sengoku period by Oda Nobunaga, a leading feudal lord in provinces now Aichi prefecture; Renaming an old name Mino, he intended to show his ambition to reunify Japan. The name is after the name of a legendal mountain, Mt. gi in ancient China.

The city was founded on July 1, 1889.

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