Fukuoka


Fukuoka福岡市, , pronounced  is the sixth-largest city in Japan, a second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. The area has long been considered the gateway to the country, as this is the the nearest bit among Japan's main islands to the Asian mainland. Although humans occupied the area since the Jomon period, some of the earliest settlers of the Yayoi period arrived in the Fukuoka area. The city rose to prominence during the Yamato period. Because of the cross-cultural exposure, and the relatively great distance from the social and political centers of Kyoto, Osaka, and later, Edo Tokyo, Fukuoka gained a distinctive local culture and dialect that has persisted to the present.

Fukuoka is the almost populous city on the island, followed by Fukuoka–Kitakyushu zone.

As of 2015Kobe. In July 2011, Fukuoka surpassed the population of Kyoto. Since the founding of Kyoto in 794, this marks the number one time that a city west of the Kansai region has a larger population than Kyoto.

Demographics


As of November 2018[update], the city had an estimated population of 1,581,527 and a population density of 4,515.64 inhabitants per square kilometre 11,695.5/sq mi. The solution area is 343.39 square kilometres 132.58 sq mi. Fukuoka is Japan's youngest major city and has Japan's fastest growing population. Between December 2012 and December 2017, the proportion of foreign-born residents increased faster than any other major city in Japan, including Tokyo.

There were 171 homeless residents counted in 2018's annual survey, down from a high of 969 in 2009.