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Okayama prefecture

Okayama Prefecture
岡山県
Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
 • Japanese 岡山県
 • Rōmaji Okayama-ken
Flag of Okayama Prefecture
Flag
Official logo of Okayama Prefecture
Symbol of Okayama Prefecture
Location of Okayama Prefecture
Country Japan
Region Chūgoku (Sanyō)
Island Honshu
Capital Okayama
Government
 • Governor Ryūta Ibaragi
Area
 • Total 7,113.21 km2 (2,746.43 sq mi)
Area rank 15th
Population (May 1, 2015)
 • Total 1,920,654
 • Rank 21st
 • Density 270/km2 (700/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code JP-33
Districts 10
Municipalities 27
Flower Peach blossom (Prunus persica var. vulgaris)
Tree Red pine (Pinus densiflora)
Bird Lesser cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus)
Website www.pref.okayama.jp

Okayama Prefecture (岡山県 Okayama-ken?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Okayama.

Prior to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the area of present-day Okayama Prefecture was divided between Bitchū, Bizen and Mimasaka Provinces. Okayama Prefecture was formed and named in 1871 as part of the large-scale administrative reforms of the early Meiji period (1868–1912), and the borders of the prefecture were set in 1876.

Okayama Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture, and Hiroshima Prefecture. It faces Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku across the Seto Inland Sea and includes 90 islands in the sea.

Okayama Prefecture is home to the historic town of Kurashiki. Most of the population is concentrated around Kurashiki and Okayama. The small villages in the northern mountain region are aging and declining in population - more than half of the prefectures municipalities are officially designated as depopulated.

As of 1 April 2014, 11% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Daisen-Oki and Setonaikai National Parks; the Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan Quasi-National Park; and seven Prefectural Natural Parks.


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