However, due to the influence of the Tsushima Current, it does not get extremely cold even in winter, and because the altitude is not so high, the number of snowy days is not so many.

After the Meiji restoration, the area was divided into eight villages within Ōtsu District, Yamaguchi with the creation of the modern municipalities system.

The city of Nagato was established on March 31, 1954 by the merger of Fukawa and Senzaki, with the villages of Kayoi and Tawarayama.

On March 22, 2005 the city annexed the villages of Yuya, Heki and Misumi with the district of Ōtsu dissolved by this merger.

Nagato has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 18 members.

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

[5] Between 1993 and 2022, Nagato was represented by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the lower house of the diet.