Seoul in History

　　 The Capital city of Seou1, located on the downstream of the Han River that runs across the central part of the Korean peninsula, has grown into a metrornlis with a population of about 11 million or more than 22 percent of the entire inhabitants of the Republic of Korea.
　　 It is hard to determine when a town was first founded at the site of today's Seoul. But archaeological studies and finds indicate that men had begun to live in the Han River basin encompassing Senul and its vicinity lnch'on, Puch'on, P'och'on, Yngju, P'aju, Yongin and Kanghwa around 6000 years ago or 400O B.C. during the prehistoric age.
　　 At that time, people were grouped in small tribal states, engaged chiefly in tillage using stone too1s and earthenware. Relics found in the region include shell mounds, dolmens.
　 These indicate that the dawn of urban civilization had broken along the fertile Han River basin already from the prehistoric age, though the founding of Seoul came late compared with the ancient cities that had developed along the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris-Euphrates in Mesopotamia, zmd Mohenjo-Daro and Harapa of Pakistzn.
　 The area of today's Seoul took the form of town about 2000 years ago when it was chosen as the capital of the Paekche Kngdom(18 B.C.-660 A.D.), one of the three ancient states on the Korean peninsula. The town was then called Yiryesong. But, the name was changed to Hanyang-gun after the Shilla Kngdom integrated the two other states in 668 A.D., a name which was used to refer to the capital city of later Choson Dynasty(1392-1910).
　 After the Koryo Dynasty(918-1392) unified the peninsula again, the name of the area was changed to Yangju. Initially it was a small provincial town, but afterwards developed to a point where it was chosen as one of the "Three Small Capitals" and christened Namkyong or Southern
Capital in 1067.
　

Seoul as Capital City

　　 It was upon the founding of the Choson Dynasty in 1392 that Seoul became the actual capital of Korea. In an extensive search for a seat for his new capital on the prevalent geomantic principles, the founding King, Yi Song-Gye, decided to build his new capital in today's Seoul, finding the area fit for pople's living and geographically ideal for rule by his new dynasty. Following a series of preparatory works, the king moved his court to Hanyzng on October 28, 1394.
　 Palace buildings and royal shrines were built, as were fortified walls surrounding the new capital. The 17 kilometer long walls were erected by a cumulative total of 197,003 workers in 98 days. In the following year 1395, the King founded the Hansong Municipality workers in charge of the administration and public security of the capital zone. The admiinistrative area of the capital consisted of five inner-wall zones of East, West, South, North and the Central with outer zone 4 kilometers of the wall. The function of these zones was comparable to that of today's wards,
　 Historical records show that the population of Senul stood at 103,328 inside the wall and approximately 110,O00 including those outside in 1428, the tenth year of the reign of Kng Sejong, the fourth monarch of Choson. Given the usable area of kmd inside the walls, the population density was quite high.
　 Canals were dug for use as sewers. All the land of the capital was owned exclusively by the State.
　For about 200 years from the 1660's, the poplation of Seoul remained in the neighborhood of 200,000. Toward the end of the 19th century, however, the population began to inch up, influenced by the owning of the nation to foreign powers. Foreign missions started to own offices in Seoul giving the city its first cosmopo1itan touches. Following the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, Seoul was renamed Kyongsong. In 1936, its population stood at 730,000.
　 With national liberation on August 15, 1945, the city was given the official name of Seoul, by which it had long been known, as the wor"Seoul"
means "Capital". In 1946, Seoul was upgraded to the status of a special city placed diredly under the control of the central goverrment. The jurisdictional area of the capital was expanded to 269.73 square kilometers in 1949 when the city had nine Gus(Wards) and a population of about 1,400,000.
　 The burgeoning capital city, however, was reduced to piles of debris during the Korean war that broke out on June 25, 1950 and raged no fewer than three years. The signing of the Armistice Agreement saw Seoul regain the function of national capital. Rehabilitation had begun promptly to rebuild it into a modern metropolis. Under a spcial legislative measure efferted in 1962, the Seoul Metropolitan Govemment was made subject to the direct control of the Prime Minister, enabling Seoul to develop into an auton-omous administration, sepzuated from the supervision of the central govemment. The administrative area of the capital city was again expanded to 593.75 square kilometers in January 1963, and further to 605.30 square kilometers in March 1973.
　 The development of the Southern part of Seoul, South of the Han River, has been extensively made in order to meet the increasing various demands for urban administration in the 1970's. By succesfully hosting the Asian Games in 1986 and Olympiad in 1988, Seoul has made great strides toward the goal to be ranked among the most advanced capital cities in the world. By introducing local self-govemment rule in 1991, Seoul city Govemment has laid the foundation for the self-administration by the citizens of Seoul. The year of 1994 was the 600th year since Seoul was decided to be the capital of Korea.
　 Today's Seoul became a metropolitan city with the population of about 11 millions and the size of about 605.58 square kilometers. And it comprises 25 Gus and 530 Dongs as administrative division. While maintaining and restructuring the city which has bcm greatly expanded in the process of urbanization with the economic development of Korea for the last 30 years, the city of Seoul continues to grow into a more comfortable city to live in with clean environment.
　

• Population

　 Seoul has a population of 10,798,700 individuals and 3,455,665 households as of the end of 1994. This accounts for about a quarter of the total national population. As for the proportion of male to female, men (5,429,554) slightly outnumber women (5,369,146). Eight out of the 25 "ku" or wards have more than 500,000 residents. Songpa-ku has the biggest population of some 700,000. In contrast, Chung-ku has a population of only 176,000. In the past 600 years since Seoul became the capital of the nation in 1394, the population of Seoul has grown 110 times. It has one of the highest population densities in the world of 17,836 persons/square kilometer.
　 The number of foreign residents in Seoul as of the end of 1994 is 39,246 or 0.36 % of Seoul's total population. They include 15,032Americans,　 11,521 Chinese, and 4,603 Japanese. There are people of more than 90 different nationalities currently residing in Seoul, forming a small global village.
　

• Mountains and Rivers

　Seoul is encircled by four inner mountains and four outer mountains. The four inner mountains, Mt. Pugak in the north, Mt. Nak in the east, Mt. Inwang in the west, and Mt. Nam in the south refer to those which were originally inside the castle walls of Hanyang (now Seoul) at the time when it was chosen as the new seat of government. The four outer mountains situated in the outer boundaries of Seoul are Mt. Puk'an in the north, Mt. Yongma in the east, Mt. Tokyang in the west, and Mt. Kwanak in the south.

　 The central district of Seoul is surrounded by the four inner mountains, the highest among them being Mt. Pugak (342m), a spur extending south from Mt. Puk'an. Mt. Pugak rises high above Kyongbok-kung (palace), the main royal palace of the Chosun Dynasty.
　 Mt. Inwang (338m) is made of granite and has Mt. An (295m) to the southwest. Mt. Nam (262m), originally called "Mokmyok-san", now sits in the center of Seoul as the most beloved and frequented mountain by citizens and foreign tourists. Mt. Nak (111m), the lowest among the four inner mountains, is also called "Nakta-san" (meaning camel mountain) because of its hump-like shape. Located in chongno-ku, downtown Seoul, it has lost its stature as a mountain to the extent that its peak is now covered with houses and buildings.
　 Mt. Puk'an National Park in the north of Seoul is comprised of two major park areas of Mt. Tobong and Mt. Puk'an with Uiryong Ridge as a borderline in between. Mt. Puk'an is also referred to as "Samgak-san" (meaning triangular mountain) because of its three distinctive peaks of Paegun-dae, Insu-bong, and Mangyong-dae. Paegun-dae (837m) is the highest peak in Seoul's vicinity, and the waters of the port city of Inch'on can be seen from its top on clear days. Mt. Puk'an has as many as twenty high peaks including Paekun-dae, and boasts a beautiful lanscape and an excellent view overlooking 10 or so valleys such as Ui Valley. There is also the Mt. Puk'an Fortress Wall with several gatehouses such as Taenammun, which was constructed in the 37th year of King Sukch'ong (1711).
　
　 Mt. Tobongconsists of many peaks such as Chaun-bong (740m ; 'bong' means peak), the highest among them, Manjang-bong and Sonin-bong. It is made of granite and offers a variety of magnificent rock formations. Mt. Puk'an and Mt. Tobong were announced as national parks on April 2, 1983, and have since been frequented by 15 million residents in and around the capital area for relaxation or nature study.
　 Mt. Kwanak (629m) in the south of Seoul is made up of very rugged rocks. Yonju-dae is the highest peak forming a chain of ridges together with Samsong-san and Changgun-bong. Mt. Kwanak is bordered by Anyang City to the south, and Kwach'on City with the Government Office Complex to the southeast. To the east is Namtae-ryong pass, which connects Kwach'on with Mt. Umyon, and Seoul National University is to the north of the mountain.
　(638m) and Mt. Puram (508m) in the northeastern part of Seoul share boundaries with Uijongbu City and Namyangju City. Both mountains are made of granite and have cliffs and precipices which project a picturesque scenery together with deep valleys below. Other mountains such asMt. Yongma (348m) and Mt. Acha (285m) in the east, Mt. Taemo (293m) and Mt. Kuryong (238m) in the southeast, and Mt. Umyon (293m) on the southern boundaries of Seoul also provide good places for people to relax in nature.



　 The City of Seoul is situated on the lower reaches of the Han River which flows through the central part of the Korean peninsula. The Han
River, the fourth longest in Korea only after the Amnok (Yalu), Tuman (Tumen), and Nakdong Rivers, is 497,5 km long. Abundant in water sources, it accounts for about a third of the water supply for both households and industries in the capital area. Rivers in Seoul are comprised mainly of the Han River flowing from east to west and many tributaries flowing into the Han River. Major tributaries include Ch'onggye-ch'on ('ch'on' means stream), Chungnang-ch'on and Moraenae to the north of the Han River; and Songnae-ch'on, Tan-ch'on, and Anyang-ch'on to the south of the Han River.