The modern city of Nanjō was established on January 1, 2006, from the merger of the town of Sashiki, and the villages of Chinen, Ōzato and Tamagusuku (all from Shimajiri District).

Important crops include sugarcane, for sugar and vinegar production, and turmeric, a popular medicinal herb in Okinawa.

Several turmeric processing plants are based in the city, producing semi-processed goods to be used by industries on the mainland or consumer products like tea and dietary supplements.

Other attractions of the theme park are the Habu snake museum, native dances such as Eisa, and a traditional Ryūkyū-style village with traditional red-clay roofed houses and workshops for local crafts such as dying and weaving, pottery, and glass blowing.

Also located in Tamagusuku, the Itokazu-Abuchiragama cave was used in World War II as a bomb shelter by soldiers and civilians alike.

"[5] Nanjō City hosts sixty-two designated or registered cultural properties and monuments, at the national, prefectural or municipal level.