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Seoul Teukbyeolsi
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Sŏul T'ŭkpyŏlsi
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서울 특별시
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서울特別市
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京城
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Seoul (Sŏul 서울)
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10,500,000 (2005) <small>(Metro area c 23,000,000</small> Ranked 3rd In The World )
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607 km² <small>(approximate)</small>
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Special City, Capital of Republic of Korea ( South Korea )
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25 wards (Gu)
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Sudogwon
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Seoul
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( and largest city of
South Korea (Republic of Korea). The name derives from the ancient
Korean word ''Seorabeol'' or ''Seobeol'', meaning "capital city." Under the successive names ''Wiryeseong'', ''Hanyang'' and ''Hanseong'', the city served as the capital of Korea's
Baekje ,
Goryeo and
Joseon dynasties for nearly two millenia. Upon the establishment of South Korea in 1948, Seoul became its capital and was designated as its
Special City .
Seoul is located in the northwest of South Korea on the
Han River at , only 20 miles south of the
DMZ with
North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).
Seoul has a population of 10.5 million people living within its city limits, making it the eighth
Most Populous City In The World . However, with an area of only 607 km², it is also one of the smallest and most densely populated major cities. Seoul's population density has allowed it to become one of the world's most digitally-connected cities. It also has more than 3 million registered vehicles which often cause widespread traffic jams.
The larger
Seoul National Capital Area and commuter belt, which includes the major port city of
Incheon , has over 23 million residents. This makes it the third most populous metropolitan area in the world, after Greater
Tokyo in
Japan and
Mexico City in
Mexico . About one-half of South Korea's entire population live in Seoul and its environs. The city is the country's political, cultural, social, and economic center, as well as an international center for many financial and business organizations. Seoul is considered one of the top 20
"global Cities" .
It is also the symbol of the Korean economic ''
Miracle On The Han River ''. In recent years, the metropolitan government has carried out an extensive cleanup of the city's heavy air and water pollution. The revival of
Cheonggyecheon , a stream that used to flow through downtown Seoul, has been lauded as a major success in urban renewal and beautification.
(''See also:
History Of Seoul '')
It is believed that humans were living in the area that is now Seoul along the lower reaches of the Han River during the
Paleolithic Age and archaeological research shows that people began to lead settled lives starting in the
Neolithic Age . Pre-historic remains unearthed in Amsa-dong (village), Gangdong-gu (district) date back to about 3,000 to 7,000 years ago. With the introduction of
Bronze ware from about 700 BC, settlements gradually began to spread from the river basin toward inland areas.
Seoul is first recorded as
Wiryeseong , founded in 18 BC as the capital of
Baekje , which developed from a member state of the
Mahan Confederacy into one of the
Three Kingdoms Of Korea . There are several city wall remains in the area dating from this time. And
Pungnap Toseong , an earthen wall just outside Seoul, is widely believed to be the main Wiryeseong site.
As the Three Kingdoms competed for this strategic region of the
Korean Peninsula , control passed from Baekje to
Goguryeo in 392 (then called "South
Pyongyang "), and from Goguryeo to the
Silla -Baekje alliance in 551.
Silla soon gained full control of the city and then the peninsula, and during the
Unified Silla period, ''Hanyang'' (漢陽) first referred to a district in the city, and later the city itself.
In the 11th century,
Goryeo , which succeeded Unified Silla, built a palace in the city and referred to it as ''Namgyeong'' or "Southern Capital". Seoul grew into a full-scale city with political significance during this time.
During the
Joseon Dynasty era, beginning in 1394, it was renamed ''Hanseong'' (漢城, "Fortress city
the Han [River "). Originally, the city was entirely surrounded by a massive circular
Wall (a 20-foot-high circular stone
Fortress ) to provide its citizens security from wild animals such as
Tigers , bandits, and invasion.
Although the wall no longer stands (except in the mountains in the northern part of the city), the gates remain. They are located in the downtown area of modern-day Seoul, including most notably
Sungnyemun (commonly known as ''Namdaemun'' or "South Gate") and
Honginjimun (commonly known as ''Dongdaemun'' or "East Gate"). During the Joseon Dynasty, the gates were opened and closed each day accompanied by the ringing of large bells.
In the late 19th century, after hundreds of years of isolation, Seoul opened its gates to foreigners and began to modernize. Seoul became the first city in East Asia to have
Electricity ,
Trolley Car s,
Water ,
Telephone , and
Telegraph systems all at the same time. Much of this was due to trade with the U.S. For example, the Seoul Electric Company, Seoul Electric Trolley Company, and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company were all American-owned enterprises. In 1904, an American by the name of Angus Hamilton visited the city and said, "The streets of Seoul are magnificent, spacious, clean, admirably made and well-drained. The narrow, dirty lanes have been widened, gutters have been covered, roadways broadened. Seoul is within measurable distance of becoming the highest, most interesting and cleanest city in the East.”
This modernization came too late as Japan soon overtook Korea, making Seoul its colonial capital. While under ''). After
World War II and Korea's liberation, the city tooks its present name of ''Seoul''. When the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was declared, the new state adopted the city as its capital.
In 1950, the
Korean War broke out and Seoul changed hands between the Chinese-backed
North Korea n forces and the UN-backed South Korean forces several times, leaving the city heavily damaged at the end of the war. One estimate of the extensive damage states that at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, there were a flood of refugees from the North, swelling the city's population to an estimated 2.5 million. More than half of them were homeless.
With the help of U.S. aid, Seoul became the focus of an immense reconstruction and modernization effort. Rapid economic growth achieved during the industrialization of the 1960s and 1970s raised living standards of residents considerably. High-rise office buildings and apartments began sprouting throughout the city during the construction boom of the 1980s. Pollution and traffic jams became major issues as urbanization in the country accelerated and more and more people began moving to Seoul and its surrounding areas. Real estate prices skyrocketed and despite a
Green Belt around the city to prevent urban sprawl, the Seoul metropolitan area soon became the second largest in the world and one of its most crowded.
at night.]]
During the 1990s, the city began to attract many workers from other countries, changing demographics. Previously, nearly all of Seoul's residents were Korean, with the exception of a small Chinese minority. Today, there are an estimated 200,000 foreign nationals living in Seoul. These include laborers from
Bangladesh ,
China ,
India ,
Indonesia ,
Mongolia ,
Nigeria ,
Pakistan , the
Philippines ,
Uzbekistan , and
Vietnam as well as many language instructors from English-speaking countries such as the
U.S. ,
Canada ,
Australia ,
New Zealand ,
South Africa , and the
U.K.
As a major business and financial center, Seoul also has many executives from North America, Europe, and Japan. Seoul ranks seventh in the world in terms of the number of
Fortune 500 transnational companies headquartered there.
{Link without Title}
Seoul was the host city of the
1988 Summer Olympics as well as one of the venues of the
Football World Cup 2002 .
Unlike most place names in Korea, "Seoul" has no corresponding requested that the Chinese name of the city be changed to 首爾/首尔, a close transliteration of Seoul in Mandarin Chinese, where 首 (shǒu) can also mean "first" or "capital". Chinese communities have gradually adopted this new name. This change was intended for Chinese speakers and has no effect on the Korean language name. Simliar cases found in the naming of
Côte D'Ivoire that the country request the mass media should pronounce the country as
Côte D'Ivoire , not translate the country's name based on the meaning, like Ivory Coast.
On ,
2004 , the Constitutional Court ruled that the special law relocating the capital was unconstitutional. The administration later announced plans to move almost all national government functions, except the Executive Branch, to Gongju, but no additional details have been announced.
The traditional heart of Seoul is the old Joseon Dynasty city, which is now the downtown area, where most palaces, government offices, corporate headquarters, hotels, and traditional markets are located. This area occupies the valley of
Cheonggyecheon (청계천), a stream that runs from west to east through the valley before emptying into the Han River. For many years, the stream had been covered by concrete, but was recently restored through an urban revival project. To the north of downtown is
Bukhan Mountain , and to the south is the smaller
Namsan .
Further south are the old suburbs of Yongsan-gu and Mapo-gu, and the
Han River . Across the Han River are the newer and wealthier areas of Gangnam-gu and surrounding neighbourhoods. The World Trade Center of Korea is located in Gangnam-gu and this is where many expositions and conferences are held. Also in Gangnam-gu is the
COEX Mall , a large indoor shopping and entertainment complex.
Yeouido is an island in the middle of the Han River, downstream from Gangnam-gu, and is home to the National Assembly, major broadcasting studios, and a number of large office buildings, as well as the Korea Finance Building and the world's largest Pentecostal church. The Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, and
Lotte World are located in Songpa-gu, on the south side of the Han River, upstream from Gangnam-gu. South of the sprawling Gangnam area are
Namhan Mountain and
Gwanak Mountain .
Major buildings include the
Korea Finance Building ,
Namsan Tower , the
World Trade Center , the six-skyscraper residence
Tower Palace , and
I-Park Apartments . These and various high-rise
Office Building s, like the
Star Tower and
Jongro Tower , dominate city's skyline. Seoul has the highest number of skyscrapers in Asia.
Urban and civil planning was a key concept when Seoul was first designed to serve as a capital in the 14th century. The Royal Palaces of the Joseon Dynasty still remain in Seoul, with the main palace (
Gyeongbokgung ) currently being restored to its original form. Today, there are nine major subway lines stretching for more than 250 kilometres, with a tenth line being planned.
The most historically significant in Seoul is
Jongno , meaning "Bell Street". The bell signaled the different times of the day and therefore controlled the four gates to the city. It is still intact in its original form, and hit ceremonially at 0:00 every New Year's Day. Seoul's most important streetcar line ran along Jongno until it was replaced by Line 1 of the Seoul subway system in the early 1970s. Other notable streets in downtown Seoul include Euljiro (을지로), Sejongno (세종로), Chungmuro (충무로), Yulgongno (율곡로), and Toegyero (퇴계로).
Seoul is divided into 25 ''gu'' (구 "wards"), which are sub-divided into 522 ''dong'', which are sub-divided into 13,787 ''tong'', which are further divided into 102,796 ''ban'' in total.
]]
Seoul's transportation boom dates back to the era of the
Korean Empire , when the first streetcar lines were laid and a railroad linking Seoul and Shinuiju was completed. Ever since then, Seoul's transportation has greatly diversified, allowing it to become one of the greatest transportation hubs in Asia. Seoul has nine
Subway Lines , nearly 200 bus routes and six major highways that interlink every district of the city with one another and with the neighbouring metropolitan area, which is the world's second most populous (after Greater Tokyo, Japan).
The majority of the population now uses the public transportation system due to its convenience. Seoul is also linked to several other major South Korean cities by the
KTX bullet train, one of Asia's fastest high-speed train, making commuting between cities extremely convenient for commuters and domestic tourists. In addition, in order to cope with all of these transportation modes, Seoul's metropolitan government employs several mathematicians to coordinate the subway, bus, and traffic schedules into one timetable.
There are two
Airport s that serve Seoul.
Gimpo International Airport , formerly in
Gimpo but now annexed to Seoul, was the only airport for Seoul from its original construction during the
Korean War . Multiple airports were built in and around Seoul immediately before, during, and after the war. The most famous was on Yoido; that airport is long gone, but it once served as the country’s gateway to the world.
Upon opening in March, 2001,
Incheon International Airport on
Yeongjong island near
Incheon has changed the role of Gimpo Airport significantly. Incheon is now responsible for almost all international flights, while Gimpo serves only domestic flights (with the exception of flights to
Haneda Airport in
Tokyo ). This has led to a significant drop in flights from Gimpo Airport. Meanwhile, Incheon International Airport has become, along with Hong Kong and Singapore, a major transportation centre for East Asia. It was recently voted by
IATA as the best airport in the world. The two airports are linked to Seoul by a highway.
Due to the efforts of the government in regard with the environment, Seoul's air pollution levels are now on par with those of Tokyo and far lower than those of Beijing. Seoul's metropolitan area accommodates six major parks, including , Seoul Land, and
Everland , located in the nearby suburb of
Yongin . Of these, Lotte World is the most frequently visited. Other recreation centres include the former Olympic and
World Cup stadium the Korea Finance Building, and the City Hall public lawn.
Seoul hosted the
1988 Olympic Games and was one of the host cities of the
2002 Football World Cup .
Seoul is the home of 2 and the
LG Twins
The
Joseon Dynasty built the "Five Grand Palaces" in Seoul, namely:
There is also a minor palace:
Temples and shrines:
Museums and galleries:
Outside the metropolitan area:
There are a large number of
Universities in Seoul. Most of the country's most prestigious universities are located in Seoul, including the so-called
"SKY" Schools Seoul National University ,
Korea University , and
Yonsei University .
Other universities in the city include:
Seoul has twenty
Sister Cities . Washington, D.C. is the latest to become a sister city of Seoul.Seoul Metropolitan Government website''International Cooperation''.
{Link without Title} The year each relationship was formed is shown in parentheses below.
