Agricultural areas take water from the Tone River, which runs through the border between Imba-numa in the western part of the city and Ibaraki prefecture on the north.

Archaeologists have found stone tools dating to some 30,000 years ago on the site of Narita Airport.

As Narita is located roughly equidistant from the Pacific Ocean and Tokyo Bay, around a number of small rivers, it was a natural political and commercial center for the region, and gained importance as a pilgrimage destination with the foundation of the noted Buddhist temple of Shinsho-ji in 940 AD.

During the Edo period, the area continued to prosper as part of the tenryō within Shimōsa Province under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate.

On March 31, 1954, Narita gained city status through merger with the neighboring villages of Habu, Nakago, Kuzumi, Toyosumi, Toyama, and Kozu.

Growth in the area began in earnest in 1966, when Prime Minister Eisaku Satō laid out the plan for Narita International Airport.

Narita has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 30 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Chiba 10th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

The main road in central Narita is Omotesandō (表参道), which is lined with about 150 small shops and has been extensively renovated in recent years.

The area was designed in 1968 based on the new towns surrounding London in the UK, and now houses most of the city's population.

Although land expropriation and poorer farming conditions due to the airport's construction have caused Narita's farming population to drop two-thirds from pre-airport levels, the area immediately surrounding the airport remains lightly populated by farmers.

Both zones were laid out in the 1960s to take advantage of Narita Airport and the ability to quickly import and export goods by air.