The meaning of
ukyō (右京) is "on the Emperor's right." When residing in the
Kyoto Imperial Palace the
emperor would sit facing south, thus the western direction would be to his right. Similarly, there is a ward to the east called
Sakyō-ku (左京区), meaning "the ward on the Emperor's left." In old times,
ukyō was referring to the western part of the capital. The area of ancient Ukyō slightly overlaps the area of present Ukyō-ku. The ward was established in 1931 when nine villages merged to form it. On April 1, 2005, the ward expanded its territory to the area of former
town of
Keihoku when the town merged into the city of Kyoto. This increased the ward's territory from to , and made it the largest ward in the city by area. As of October 1, 2020, the ward has an estimated population of 202,047, with 97,849
households and a
density of . == Geography ==