Hwaseong, Gyeonggi

Coordinates: 37°11′59″N 126°49′53″E / 37.19972°N 126.83139°E / 37.19972; 126.83139
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Hwaseong
화성시
Korean transcription(s)
 • Hangul화성시
 • Hanja
 • Revised RomanizationHwaseong-si
 • McCune–ReischauerHwasŏng-si
City Hall
City Hall
Flag of Hwaseong
Official logo of Hwaseong
Coordinates: 37°11′59″N 126°49′53″E / 37.19972°N 126.83139°E / 37.19972; 126.83139
Country South Korea
Province Gyeonggi
Administrative divisions4 eup, 9 myeon, 13 dong
Government
 • MayorSeo Cheol-mo (Democratic)
Area
 • Total689.48 km2 (266.21 sq mi)
Population
 (October 2022)
 • Total904,267
 • Density929.53/km2 (2,407.5/sq mi)
 • Dialect
Seoul
FlowerForsythia
TreeGinkgo
BirdPigeon

Hwaseong (Korean pronunciation: [ɸʷa.sʌŋ]) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It has the largest area of farmland of any city or county in Gyeonggi Province.[1] Seoul Subway Line 1 passes through Hwaseong, stopping at Byeongjeom Station. Suin Bundang Line also passes through Hwaseong, stopping at Eocheon Station.

Hwaseong Fortress is located in nearby Suwon.

History[edit]

During the time of the early Three Kingdoms of Korea, parts of modern-day Hwaseong was controlled by the state of Wonyang (원양국; 爰襄國), a small statelet that was part of the Mahan confederacy. In 1949, when Suwon was split from the rest of Suwon County, the remaining area of Suwon County was renamed to Hwaseong County, after Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon. On January 1, 1989, the town of Osan was promoted to a city, splitting from Hwaseong County. On March 21, 2001, Hwaseong County would also be promoted to the status of city.[2]

Universal Studios[edit]

On November 27, 2007 the city was chosen as the site for the future Universal Studios South Korea theme park. Originally set to open in 2016, it would have been the world's largest Universal Studios theme park, being larger than all the other four combined.[3] The US$3.1 billion park is expected to create at least 58,000 new jobs.[4] In 2014, the project was put on hold. The plan was restarted in 2015, and K-Water (Korean Water Resources Corporation) was chosen as a business partner. Universal Studios South Korea is no longer under development as of 2020.

Climate[edit]

Hwaseong has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dwa), but can be considered a borderline humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm. The city is located in the western area of the Korean Peninsula. The temperatures in winter are low along the coast since it is located in the lower plains and close to the Yellow Sea (West Sea), where the water is shallow.[5] Additionally, Siberian air flows directly into the western flatlands of the Korean peninsula, making several areas colder.

Climate data for Hwaseong (1995–2020 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 2.4
(36.3)
5.1
(41.2)
10.8
(51.4)
17.4
(63.3)
23.1
(73.6)
27.0
(80.6)
28.9
(84.0)
30.1
(86.2)
26.3
(79.3)
20.3
(68.5)
12.3
(54.1)
4.5
(40.1)
17.4
(63.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.0
(28.4)
0.3
(32.5)
5.3
(41.5)
11.5
(52.7)
17.0
(62.6)
21.6
(70.9)
24.8
(76.6)
25.8
(78.4)
21.4
(70.5)
14.7
(58.5)
7.4
(45.3)
0.1
(32.2)
12.3
(54.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −6.3
(20.7)
−4.1
(24.6)
0.5
(32.9)
6.4
(43.5)
12.0
(53.6)
17.3
(63.1)
21.7
(71.1)
22.5
(72.5)
17.3
(63.1)
10.0
(50.0)
2.9
(37.2)
−4.2
(24.4)
8.0
(46.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 13.5
(0.53)
22.2
(0.87)
32.5
(1.28)
63.3
(2.49)
72.2
(2.84)
102.0
(4.02)
327.3
(12.89)
232.9
(9.17)
128.2
(5.05)
46.0
(1.81)
43.9
(1.73)
18.2
(0.72)
1,102.2
(43.39)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 3.7 3.6 5.1 6.7 6.3 6.9 12.9 11.4 7.3 4.8 7.3 5.1 81.1
Source: Korea Meteorological Administration[6]

Demographics[edit]

Hwaseong is populated by 49% male South Korean citizens, 46% female South Korean citizens, and 5% foreign residents. With 236,241 homes, there are on average 2.8 people per registered place of residence in the city. With the exceptions of Byeongjeom 2-dong, Dongtan 2-dong and Dongtan 3-dong, there is a larger number of males than females in every division of the city.[7]

Administrative divisions

Hwaseong has 4 towns (eup), 9 townships (myeon) and 13 neighborhoods (dong). Each eup and myeon is further divided into villages (ri). In October 2014, Namyang-dong was downgraded to an eup- the first case in South Korea. Hwaseong's name comes from Suwon's Hwaseong Fortress, built by King Jeongjo. The most populous areas of Hwaseong are Namyang (to the west), Hyangnam and Bongdam (central), and Dongtan to the east. Dongtan has had an SRT high speed rail station since December 2017. The Seohae Expressway runs through western Hwaseong, while the Gyeongbu Expressway runs through the east of the city..

Place Population (2016.06.30) Household Area (km2)
Bongdam-eup 69,941 24,887 42.7
Ujeong-eup 18,090 8,101 59.7
Hyangnam-eup 70,374 28,560 50.0
Namyang-eup 26,917 11,615 67.0
Maesong-myeon 8,317 3,675 27.4
Bibong-myeon 5,863 2,810 38.5
Mado-myeon 6,762 3,347 31.7
Songsan-myeon 11,287 5,205 53.9
Seosin-myeon 6,993 3,639 43.2
Paltan-myeon 10,556 5,784 50.9
Jangan-myeon 10,983 5,297 67.7
Yanggam-myeon 4,235 2,237 31.1
Jeongnam-myeon 12,487 5,926 40.6
Saesol-dong
Jinan-dong 36,351 16,266 6.2
Byeongjeom 1(il)-dong 28,520 9,983 1.5
Byeongjeom 2(i)-dong 26,758 8,892 1.0
Banwol-dong 27,024 8,566 3.9
Gibae-dong 14,859 4,843 4.2
Hwasan-dong 23,494 9,137 11.6
Dongtan 1(il)-dong 53,494 18,728 5.3
Dongtan 2(i)-dong 37,246 11,669 2.2
Dongtan 3(sam)-dong 44,354 15,369 1.9
Dongtan 4(sa)-dong
Dongtan 5(o)-dong
Dongtan 6(yuk)-dong
Total 619,766 236,241 689.7

Local products[edit]

Many special products are sold in the Hwaseong area that are different from other regions of Gyeonggi Province. There are many facilities that grow products ranging from honey melons to herbs. Additionally, meat and dairy products are also available. Hangwa is also made by local companies as a specialty.

Sports[edit]

Hwaseong is home to the V-League women's volleyball team Hwaseong IBK Altos and the K3 League football team Hwaseong FC, which is based at Hwaseong Sports Town. This sports complex hosted football and basketball matches in the 2014 Asian Games, while the shooting events were held elsewhere in Hwaseong.

Notable companies[edit]

Notable people[edit]

Sister cities[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "+++ Hwaseong City (Fine City) +++". Archived from the original on 2004-12-04. Retrieved 2004-12-30.
  2. ^ "화성시(華城市)". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Will New Universal Studios Be Viable?". 20 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Universal Studios picks South Korean theme park site". 27 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2010-01-22.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2010-10-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Climate
  6. ^ "Climatological Normals of Korea (1991 ~ 2020)" (PDF) (in Korean). Korea Meteorological Administration. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  7. ^ 2016년 인구현황. Hwaseong City Council. Archived from the original on 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2016-06-30.

External links[edit]