Kantō region
Kantō region
関東地方 | |
|---|---|
The Kantō region in comparison to the rest of Japan | |
| Country | Japan |
| Area | |
• Total | 32,423.9 km2 (12,518.9 sq mi) |
| Population (October 1, 2020) | |
• Total | 43,653,441 |
| • Density | 1,300/km2 (3,500/sq mi) |
| GDP | |
| • Total | JP¥218.563 trillion US$2.044 trillion |
| Time zone | UTC+09:00 (JST) |
The Kantō region (関東地方, Kantō Chihō; IPA: [kaꜜn.toː, kan.toː tɕiꜜ.hoː, kan.toː tɕi̥.hoꜜː]) is a geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, and Tokyo. Slightly more than 45 percent of the land area within its boundaries is the Kantō Plain. The rest consists of the hills and mountains that form land borders with other regions of Japan.
As the Kantō region contains Tokyo, the capital and largest city of Japan, the region is considered the center of Japan's politics and economy. According to the official census on October 1, 2010 by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the population was 42,607,376, amounting to approximately one third of the total population of Japan.