Kokusai-dōri (国際通り, "International Avenue") boasts a 1.6 kilometer (1 mile) long stretch of stores, restaurants and bars.

Just outside the market area is the neighborhood of Tsuboya (壺屋, "pot/jar shop"), which was once a major center of ceramic production (see Tsuboya-yaki).

Pottery found by archaeologists indicates that the area was an active site of trade with the Japanese archipelago and Korean peninsula at least as early as the 11th century.

Though it is not known just when the area first became organized as a functioning port city, it was active as such by the time of the unification of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in the early 15th century.

The main port area for international trade, Naha proper, was divided into the East (東, higashi) and West (西, nishi) districts and was on the southwestern portion of Ukishima.

A large open-air marketplace was active in front of the royal government trading center, or oyamise (親見世).

A number of Japanese temples and shrines were located here, along with a residence and embassy, known as the Tenshikan (天使館), for visiting Chinese officials.

On the northwest side of Ukishima lay Wakasamachi (若狭町, "Wakasa town"), a community traditionally said to have been founded by Japanese settlers.

It was organized around Wakasamachi-Ōdōri, an avenue which intersected with Kume-Ōdōri and ran across tidal mudflats to the east of Ukishima, connecting the community to the port of Tomari on the Okinawan mainland.

Izumizaki had no notable or major port facilities and is believed to have been simply an extension of the residential community of Naha proper, which thus spread onto the mainland as the population and according demand for land grew.

[8] At some point, the tidal mudflats and Kumoji River separating Ukishima, that is, Naha, from Okinawa Island were filled in.

Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expeditionary squadron stopped in Naha en route to Tokyo in 1853; and the American ships visited several more times.

Naha now carries out many of the functions, notably for public health care, normally delegated to the prefectural government.

The most visible part of the local beliefs though is by far the shisa, the Okinawan shiisaa ("lion dogs") that are considered protectors of the island and are found everywhere – walls, roofs, windows, street corners and parks.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Kainan Church) is the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Naha.

The palace, and a series of tunnels underneath it, were used as a major command post by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II, and the castle was subsequently almost destroyed in 1945 by the US Marines, Army and Navy.

Naha-te, (Naha-hand), called Nawate by Gichin Funakoshi, is a type of martial art developed in Naha.

Naha has hot and humid summers with July and August being the city's warmest months, exceeding an average high of 31 degrees Celsius (88 °F).

Notably it connect to the main land via the a daily ferry to Kagoshima, but also many smaller one to get to the Kerama islands (such as Tokashiki, Aka and Zamami) Naha is twinned with the following locations.