[citation needed] Naka Ward is located in eastern Kanagawa Prefecture, and east of the geographic center of the city of Yokohama.

In the low-lying Northern district, commonly referred to as Kannai, it hosts the Yokohama city hall and the headquarters of the Kanagawa prefectural government.

Along the shore lies reclaimed land upon which port facilities, part of the Minato Mirai 21 complex, and Yamashita Park were built.

In the Edo period, the area of present-day Naka-ku was part of the tenryō territory in Musashi Province controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate, but administered through various hatamoto.

During this period Naka-ku developed into a largely agricultural area compromised reclaimed paddy fields for rice production.

During World War II, the Yokohama Air Raid of May 29, 1945 left 14,157 people dead, injured, or missing.