Editing Kyoto (section)

===Terrain===
Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro (or Kyoto) Basin, in the eastern part of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands. The Yamashiro Basin is surrounded on three sides by mountains known as Higashiyama, Kitayama and Nishiyama (literally "east mountain", "north mountain" and "west mountain" respectively), with a maximum height of approximately {{convert|1000|m|0|sp=us}} [[above mean sea level|above sea level]]. This interior positioning results in hot summers and cold winters. There are three rivers in the basin, the [[Uji River]] to the south, the [[Katsura River]] to the west, and the [[Kamo River]] to the east. Kyoto City takes up 17.9% of the land in Kyoto Prefecture and has a total area of {{convert|827.9|km²|1|abbr=out|sp=us}}.

Kyoto sits atop a large natural water table that provides the city with ample freshwater wells. Due to large-scale urbanization, the amount of rain draining into the table is dwindling and wells across the area are drying at an increasing rate.