Gifu-ken has a population of 1,979,516, including about 49,649 foreign citizens, approximately 13,687 Brazilians, 685 Peruvians, 297 Americans, 9,996 Chinese, 5,238 Koreans and others (Data Prefecture).

It is the 7th largest Japanese prefecture with approximately 10,621 square kilometers, surrounded by 7 other prefectures Aichi, Fukui, Ishikawa, Mie, Nagano, Shiga e Toyamae, being one of the few where there is no coastline.

It consists of the former provinces of Hida and Mino, plus smaller parts of Echizen and Shinano. The name of the province derives from its capital Gifu, during his campaign to unify all of Japan in 1567. The first character used comes from Qishan (岐山), a legendary mountain from which most of China was unified, while the second character comes from Qufu (曲阜), the place of Confucius’ birth. Nobunaga chose this name because he wanted to unify all of Japan and wanted to be seen as a great mind.

Historically, the prefecture served as the center of sword making throughout Japan, with Seki being known for making the best swords in Japan. More recently, his strengths are in fashion (mostly in Gifu City) and aerospace engineering (Kakamigahara).

Gifu City is known as a historic town with Ukai (cormorant fishing) on the pristine Nagara River, a tradition with nearly 1300 years of history. Agriculture is also an important industry because of Gifu’s vast arable plains. It is also famous for Gifu Castle, a central landmark in the history of the 16th-century Daimyo general Oda Nobunaga.