Located in the Nara Basin, the climate is cold enough to cause frost in the winter and humid in the summer.

The villages of Shinjō and Taima in Kitakatsuragi District) were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889.

Katsuragi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 15 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Nara 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Katsuragi is basically a rural area, and the production of knitted goods and socks was popular as a home industry for farmers, but it is now in decline.