Keihanshin

Keihanshin Kyoto–Osaka–Kobe Kinki MMA
Major metropolitan area of Japan
Osaka Kyoto Kobe
Keihanshin Major Metropolitan Area
Coordinates: 34°50′N 135°30′E / 34.833°N 135.500°E / 34.833; 135.500
Country	Japan
Prefectures	Kyoto Osaka Hyōgo
Area
• Metro	13,228 km2 (5,107 sq mi)
Population  (October 1, 2015)[1]
• Metro	19,302,746
• Metro density	1,459/km2 (3,780/sq mi)
GDP [2]
• Metro	US$ 699.474 billion

Keihanshin (京阪神, "Kyoto–Osaka–Kobe") is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population (as of 2015^[update]) of 19,302,746 over an area of 13,228 km² (5,107 sq mi).^[3] It is the second-most-populated urban region in Japan (after the Greater Tokyo area), containing approximately 15% of Japan's population.

The GDP in Osaka–Kobe is $681 billion as measured by PPP as of 2015^[update], making it one of the world's most productive regions, a match with Paris and London.^[4] MasterCard Worldwide reported that Osaka is the 19th ranking city of the world's leading global cities and has an instrumental role in driving the global economy.^[5] If Keihanshin were a country, it would be the 16th-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of nearly $953.9 billion in 2012.^[6]

The name Keihanshin is constructed by extracting a representative kanji from Kyoto (京都), Osaka (大阪), and Kobe (神戸), but using the Chinese reading instead of the corresponding native reading for each of the characters taken from Osaka and Kobe, and the Kan-on Chinese reading of the character for Kyoto instead of the usual Go-on Chinese reading.