[2] Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi).

The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded animals such As Fukuiraptor, Fukuisaurus, Nipponosaurus, Koshisaurus, Fukuivenator, Fukuititan, and Tambatitanis, as well as an unnamed dromaeosaurid.

Fukui originally consisted of the old provinces of Wakasa and Echizen, before the prefecture was formed in 1871.

[4] During the Edo period, the daimyō of the region was surnamed Matsudaira, and was a descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Fukui faces the Sea of Japan, and has a western part (formerly Wakasa) which is a narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, and a larger eastern part (formerly Echizen) with wider plains including the capital and most of the population.