The prefectural capital is an ootsu city.
There is Shiga Prefecture in the center in Japan. And it is in contact with Fukui, Gifu, Mie, and Kyoto.
The circumferences of Shiga Prefecture are a mountain range and mountain land. And the biwa lake of the central part occupies the area 1/6 of Shiga Prefecture. It is the biggest lake in Japan. There is the 120 or more number of Kawa which flows into a biwa lake. The pondage of a biwa lake is about 27,500 million m3. The water is used for Shiga Prefecture and its surrounding area. And it is used for 14 million people's drinking water, a factory, and agriculture.
Industry is prosperous in Shiga Prefecture. It makes the product of Japanese top class. Moreover, Shiga Prefecture is famous also for medical supplies.
A cities, towns and villages list is here.
| Ranking of Shiga | ||
| Item | National ranking | Outline |
| Area (2009) | The 38st place | 3,767 square kilometers |
| The number of cities, wards, towns, and villages (2010) | The 41st place | 19 cities, towns and villages |
| Population (2008) | The 31th place | 1,377,886 persons |
| Number of households (2008) | The336th place | 496305 households |
| People-of-the-prefecture gross product (substance) (2007) | The 23th place | 6,943,672 (unit: 1 million yen) |