Editing Shiga Prefecture (section)

== Geography ==
[[File:Lake biwa.jpg|thumb|Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture viewed from space]]

Shiga borders [[Fukui Prefecture]] in the north, [[Gifu Prefecture]] in the east, [[Mie Prefecture]] in the southeast, and [[Kyoto Prefecture]] in the west.

Lake Biwa, Japan's largest, is located at the center of this prefecture. It occupies one-sixth of its area. The [[Seta River]] flows from Lake Biwa to [[Osaka Bay]] through [[Kyoto]]. This is the only natural river that flows out from the lake. Most other natural rivers flow into the lake. There were many lagoons around Lake Biwa, but most of them were reclaimed in 1940s. One of the preserved lagoons is the {{nihongo|wetland|水郷|suigō}} in Omihachiman, and it was selected as the first [[Cultural Landscapes of Japan|Important Cultural Landscapes]] in 2006.

The lake divides the prefecture into four different areas: ''Kohoku'' (湖北, north of lake) centered Nagahama, ''Kosei'' (湖西, west of lake) centered [[Imazu, Shiga|Imazu]], ''Kotō'' (湖東, east of lake) centered Hikone and ''Konan'' (湖南, south of lake) centered Otsu.

Plains stretch to the eastern shore of Lake Biwa. The prefecture is enclosed by mountain ranges with the [[Hira Mountains]] and [[Mount Hiei]] in the west, the [[Ibuki Mountains]] in the northeast, and the [[Suzuka Mountains]] in the southeast. [[Mount Ibuki]] is the highest mountain in Shiga. In [[Yogo, Shiga|Yogo]], a small lake known for the legend of {{nihongo|the heavenly robe of an angel|天女の羽衣|[[tennin|tennyo]] no hagoromo}}, which is similar to a western [[Swan maiden]].<ref>{{cite web | author = Shiga Prefecture | script-title=ja:余呉湖・天女の衣掛柳 | trans-title = Lake Yogo - a willow hung a celestial robe | url = http://www.pref.shiga.lg.jp/minwa/41/41-movie.html | access-date = 2011-05-13 | language = ja}}</ref>

Shiga's climate sharply varies between north and south. Southern Shiga is usually warm, but northern Shiga is typically cold with high snowfall and hosts many skiing grounds. In Nakanokawachi, the northernmost village of Shiga, snow reached a depth of {{convert|5.6|m}} in 1936.<ref>Encyclopedia Shiga. p436.</ref>

As of 1 April 2014, 37% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as [[List of national parks of Japan#History|Natural Parks]] (the highest total of any prefecture), namely the [[Biwako Quasi-National Park|Biwako]] and [[Suzuka Quasi-National Park|Suzuka]] Quasi-National Parks; and [[Kotō Prefectural Natural Park|Kotō]], [[Kutsuki-Katsuragawa Prefectural Natural Park|Kutsuki-Katsuragawa]], and [[Mikami-Tanakami-Shigaraki Prefectural Natural Park|Mikami-Tanakami-Shigaraki]] Prefectural Natural Parks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/nps/park/doc/files/np_6.pdf |title=General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture |publisher=[[Ministry of the Environment (Japan)|Ministry of the Environment]] |date=1 April 2014 |access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref>