South Chungcheong Province

Updated on Dec 12, 2024

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Country South Korea Subdivisions 8 cities; 7 counties Dialect Chungcheong Area 8,204 km² Capital Daejeon		Region Hoseo Area rank 6th Website chungnam.net Population 2.06 million (Oct 2014) Bird Mandarin duck

Destinations Taean County, Buyeo County, Cheonan, Gongju Points of interest Gyeryongsan, Independence Hall of Korea, Gongju National Museum, Buyeo National Museum, Magoksa Colleges and Universities Hoseo University, Kongju National University, Sun Moon University, Hanseo University, Baekseok University

Republic of korea south chungcheong province chang an beach360rotation

South Chungcheong Province, officially Chungcheongnam-do ([tɕʰuŋ.tɕʰʌŋ.nam.do]; abbreviated Chungnam), is a province in the west of South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the south-western half of the former Chungcheong Province and remained a province of Korea until the country's division in 1945, thereafter becoming part of South Korea. In 2012, the provincial capital moved from Daejeon to Hongseong.

Map of Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea

Taean south chungcheong province republic of korea mageompo beach

Overview

Chungcheongnam-do is South Korea's richest province, with a 2012 GDP per capita of $56,133, a level of living standard higher than that of Norway and higher than the United States. It is by far South Korea's fastest growing region, with an average GDP growth of 9.7% in 2001-2007 that accelerated to 12.4% in 2010. Such rapid growth transformed it from a mostly agricultural to a highly industrialized economy in the 21st century.

Along with Gangwon, Chungnam is the only province outside the Seoul Capital Area to be served by the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, with Seoul Subway Line 1 passing Cheonan and Asan. Multimillion-dollar projects are being developed, such as New Asan City centered on the newly built Cheonan-Asan Station that connects Chungnam's largest city, Cheonan, to Seoul Station in less than 30 minutes via the KTX bullet train.

Geography

The province is part of the Hoseo region, and is bounded to the west by the Yellow Sea, to the north by Gyeonggi-do province, to the south by Jeollabuk-do province, and to the east by Chungcheongbuk-do province. Its area is 8,204 km² as of 2012.

Attractions

At 845 metres, Mount Gyeryong is the most notable elevation. It is located in a national park which is noted for its unique rock features. Apart from the stone formations there are a number of old temples. These include Gwanchok-sa, a temple which is home to the largest stone Buddha in Korea. In 1978 the Taean Marine National Park was opened. It includes some of the country's best bathing beaches.

Sejong City

In early 2007, the Republic of Korea government decided to create a special administrative district out of part of the present Chungcheongnam-do Province, near what is now Daejeon. The new district was named Sejong Special Self-Governing City, and was to replace Seoul as the future capital of the Republic of Korea. However, in 2009, it was determined that replacing Seoul as new national capital would violate the South Korean Constitution by Constitution Court. Now Sejong City may only serve as a National Administrative Capital and Secondary capital alongside Seoul, representing about 36 government ministers and agencies, including the Prime Minister's office, as of 2015.

Administrative divisions

Chungcheongnam-do is divided into 8 cities (si) and 7 counties (gun). The city and county names below are given in English, Hangul, and Hanja.

Religion

According to the census of 2005, of the people of Chungcheongnam-do 20.5% follow Buddhism and 28.7% follow Christianity (19.6% Protestantism and 9.1% Catholicism). 50.8% of the population is mostly not religious or follow Muism and other indigenous religions.