As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 361,221 and the density of 893.34 persons per km². The total area is 404.35 km².
Nine of the twelve highest mountains in Japan can be found in this inland prefecture. Nagano is also the prefecture which is bordered by the highest number of other prefectures in Japan and it contains the location which is the furthest point from the ocean anywhere in Japan. Matsumoto, Nagano was the host city to the 1998 Winter Olympics. A famous 7th century Buddhist temple, Zenkoji, is located here. The origin of Nagano was a small town around it.