[1] Noto bordered on Etchū and Kaga provinces to the south, and was surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the east, north and west.

The Nara period provincial capital and provincial temple were located in what is now the city of Nanao, Ishikawa; however, the Ichinomiya (Keta Shrine) was located in what is now the city of Hakui, Ishikawa.

Under the Engishiki classification system, Noto was ranked as a "middle country" (中国) in both importance and distance from the capital.

The area became part Kaga Domain controlled by the Maeda clan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate, with the exception of some scattered small holdings which retained by the shogunate directly as tenryō territory and administered by hatamoto for strategic purposes.

[2] However, “Noto Province” continued to appear in official documents afterwards for some administrative purposes.