The refers to a 1,600 km² area of flat land, the largest plain in the Kinki region, including a large part of

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

and a southeastern portion of

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

. It is bordered on the north by the Hokusetsu Mount Range, on the east by the Ikoma Mount Range and

Kongō Range The is a mountain range on the borders of Nara Prefecture, Nara and Osaka Prefectures on the island of Honshū in the southwest of central Japan. The range separates the Osaka Plain and the Nara Basin, and forms a natural place for the boundary ...

, on the south by the

Izumi Mount Range , meaning "Spring (hydrology), spring" or "source of water", is a Japanese given name and surname. It is sometimes translated as "fountain" in reference to natural springs and should not be confused with architectural Fountain, fountains, which ar ...

, and on the west by

Osaka Bay Osaka Bay (大阪湾 ''Ōsaka-wan'' ) is a bay in western Japan. As an eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea, it is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Kii Channel and from the neighbor western part of the Inland Sea by the Akashi Strait. I ...

. On occasion, it is called the after the names of former

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

Kawachi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in th ...

and

Izumi Province :''The characters ''泉州'' are also used for the name of the Chinese city of Quanzhou''. was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of southern Osaka Prefecture. It bordered on Kii Province, Kii to the south, Yamato Province, Ya ...

.Nihon Daihyakka Zenshū, Shōgakkan Geologically, the plain is considered to be an alluvial plain mainly consisting of hills and plateaus created during

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

and deltas created during

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

by current rivers such as the

Yodo River The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...

and

Yamato River The is a river that flows through Nara Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is designated Classification of rivers in Japan, Class A by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The river flows via towns: *Nara ...

. Prominent hills and plateaus include the Senri Hills, Toyonaka Plateau, and Itami Plateau to the north; the Hirakata Hills and Katano Plateau to the northeast; and the Kasen Hills, Shinodayama Plateau, Mikunigaoka Plateau, and Uemachi Plateau to the south. Major streams are the

Muko River The is a river in the south-eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture. This river was selected as the second most important river in the region by the prefecture governor. Its total length is 66 kilometers, and the drainage area is 496 square kilometers. ...

, Ina River, Ibaraki River, and Akuta River located in the northern portion; and the

and

in the eastern section; and the Ishizu River, Ōtsu River, and Onosato River in the southwestern part of the plain.

References

Plains of Japan Landforms of Osaka Prefecture Landforms of Hyōgo Prefecture {{osaka-geo-stub