 It is also the main city of the Gifu region of the prefecture.Much of Gifu's land area has been gained as the result of mergers, but the city's size grew the most through mergers with the neighboring towns of Kanō (in 1940) and Yanaizu (in 2006).As a result, Gifu's geography is very diverse, ranging from the built-up city center to persimmon orchards and strawberry patches in the outlying areas.