is a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 96,777 in 42,600 households, and a population density of 180 people per km2. The total area of the city is .
Sakata is located in the coastal plains of the northwest corner of Yamagata Prefecture, bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west, and by Akita Prefecture to the north. The city has Mount Chōkai on its northern border; however, the urban center is in the flatlands of the Shōnai Plains on the right bank of the Mogami River. The inhabited island of Tobishima, approximately off the coast of the mainland, is within the administrative borders of the city. The island, as well as part of the mainland portion of the city, is within the borders of the Chōkai Quasi-National Park
Akita Prefecture
Yurihonjō
Nikaho
Yamagata Prefecture
Tsuruoka
Yuza
Shōnai
Mikawa
Mamurogawa
Sakegawa
Tozawa
Sakata has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heaviest from August to October. The average annual temperature in Sakata is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .
According to Japanese census data, the population of Sakata has declined in recent decades.
The area of present-day Sakata was the location of the provincial capital of ancient Dewa Province, although the precise location has yet to be discovered by archaeologists. A port at the mouth of the Mogami River is known to have existed since the Kamakura period. Although silting rendered it less important in the Muromachi period, the area developed as a major center for the coastal trade during the Edo period. By the early Meiji period, the Honma clan, a local merchant clan, dominated trade and emerged as the largest landholder in Japan.