Gwangyang

Gwangyang 광양시
Municipal City
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul	광양시
• Hanja	光陽市
• Revised Romanization	Gwangyang-si
• McCune-Reischauer	Kwangyang-si
Emblem of Gwangyang
Location in South Korea
Country	South Korea
Region	Honam
Administrative divisions	1 eup, 6 myeon, 5 dong
Area
• Total	446.08 km2 (172.23 sq mi)
Population (2003)
• Total	138,012
• Density	309.4/km2 (801/sq mi)
• Dialect	Jeolla

Gwangyang (Gwangyang-si) is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Gwangyang city is the home of POSCO's Gwangyang Steel Works, the largest facility of its kind in the world. The city is also home to K League Classic football side Jeonnam Dragons.

Gwangyang is at the centre of development for the Gwangyang Bay Area Free Economic Zone (GFEZ) due for completion in 2011. The Free Economic Zone will focus on port container handling, steel production, shipbuilding as well as leisure facilities.

Famous people from Gwangyang include National Intelligence Service head Kim Seung-kew.

To the north of the city is the county of Gurye, to the east along the Seomjin River is the county of Hadong in Gyeongsangnam-do, and to the south is the Gwangyang Bay.

Mountains in the city include Baegunsan (백운산, 1,217m), to the south is Gayasan (가야산, 497m) and Gubonghwasan (구봉화산, 473m). Baegunsan is the second-highest mountain in Jeollanam-do with the exception of Jirisan (지리산, 1,915 m).

The average yearly temperature is 13.7 °C (56.7 °F), the average in January is 0.1 °C (32.2 °F), and the average in July is 27.8 °C (82.0 °F). The average yearly precipitation is 1,296 mm (51.02 in)

As of October 14, 2007 plans are being set up and a referendum is being planned for a merging of the cities of Yeosu, Suncheon and Gwangyang into a new metropolitan city, taking advantage of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone, Yeosu's Expo 2012 bid and port facilities, Suncheon's educational institutes and Gwangyang's POSCO plant.[1]

Symbols

• Tree : Gorosoe
• Bird : Sea gull
• Flower : Camellia

Gwangyang Steel Works

The Steel Works in Gwangyang is POSCO's second mill in the country after the mill in Pohang. The mill boasts having the largest steel plant in the world, the most modern technology, and the best facilities for steel manufacturing. It presently produces coil used for making bridges, iron structures, cars, refrigerators, and more. Its production capacity averages about 18 million tons per year. This plant is also a tourist trap for many people attracting more than 300,000 people from around the globe.

Location

Gwangyang is a strategically important city placed in the southern center of the Korean peninsula. For these geopolitical reasons, Gwangyang is a city which functions as an axis for the balanced development of country concerning South Jeolla area with western parts of Mokpo and Muan.

Places of interest

Gwangyang is home to many unique natural and cultural sites as well as many different festivals during the four seasons. Points of interest include:

1. The Baegun Mts
2. Maehwa Village
3. Yudang Park
4. The Natural Resort Park.

The festivals include:

1. The Baegun Mt. Medicinal Water Festival
2. The Maehwa Culture Festival
3. The Jeoneo Fish Festival

Festival

Gwangyang is famous for its beautiful apricot trees. In Korean, Ume flower is called maehwa(매화) which has been honored for its early blooming. Because of its characteristic, the Gwangyang Maehwa Festival is the earliest opened festival in the whole Jeollanam-do area.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in South Korea

Twin towns – Sister cities

Gwangyang is twinned with:

Songpa-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea Pohang, Gyeongsangbukdo, Republic of Korea Hadong, Gyeongsangnamdo, Republic of Korea Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

Linz, Austria Dalian, China Shenzhen, China Chengdu, China

See also

• List of cities in South Korea

External links

• Gwangyang City government home page