Changnyeong County () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heri ...

Province,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. In the early

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period, Changnyeong was the seat of Bihwa Gaya, a member of the

Gaya confederacy Gaya (; ) was a Korean confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period. The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is AD 42– ...

which was later conquered by

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

. The

Nakdong River The Nakdong River or Nakdonggang (, ) is the longest river in South Korea, which passes through the major cities of Daegu and Busan. It takes its name from its role as the eastern border of the Gaya confederacy during Three Kingdoms of Korea, Kor ...

flows through the county. The Upo wetland, an important

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

resource and

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

attraction, occupies a portion of the river basin. The county government is located in Changnyeong Town (창녕읍), the largest town and center of the county. Changnyeong county hall

Famous people from Changnyeong include North Korean actress

Song Hye-rim Song Hye-rim (; 24 January 1939 18 May 2002) was a North Korean actress, best known for being the one-time favored mistress of Kim Jong Il. Early life and education Song was born in Changnyeong, Keishōnan Province, Korea under Japanese rule, K ...

and the former mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon.

Etymology

Changnyeong means "prosperous peace", from the Sino-Korean roots () and ().

History

Yeongsan territory (영산현) was established in 1631. In 1637, Changnyeong territory joined Yeongsan territory (창녕현·영산현). On May 24, 1895, the first day of fifth lunar month, Changnyeong and Yeongsan were incorporated under Daegu as separate counties (대구부 창녕군·영산군). On August 4, 1896, Changnyeong and Yeongsan county were incorporated into

province (경상남도 창녕군·영산군). On April 1, 1914, Yeongsan County (영산군, ) and Changnyeong county (창녕군) were merged into 15 townships (면) - Eubnae (읍내면), Goam (고암면), Seonsan (성산면), Daehap (대합면), Ibang (이방면), Yueo (유어면), Daeji (대지면), Changnak (창락면), Namgok (남곡면), Jangma (장마면), Bugok (부곡면), Yeongsan (영산면), Gilgok (길곡면), Docheon (도천면), Gyeseong (계성면). In 1918, Eupnae (읍내면) was renamed as Changnyeong (창녕면). On April 1, 1936, Namgok (남곡면) was renamed as Namji (남지면). On July 1, 1955, Changnak township (창락면) is merged with Changnyeong township (창녕면). (14면). On January 1, 1960, Changnyeong township became Changnyeong town. On January 1, 1963, Namji township became Namji town. In 1971, The local town hall of Namji was established.

Administrative divisions

Changnyeong is made up of two towns (읍), 12 townships (면) 139 villages (리) over an area of 532.72 km². Of the 28,466 households and 61,789 people living in Changnyeong county in 2011 27.1% were living in Changnyeong town (창녕읍), 18.4% living in Namji town (남지읍).

Tourism

* Upo wetland (우포 늪) Upo wetland in Changnyeong county is the largest wetlands in all of Korea. These wetlands are estimated to be created about 140 million years ago. It spreads out over Changnyeong county's Yueo, Ibang, Daehap, Daeji and other townships, covering over 2,310,000 m², with a circumference area of 7.5 km. There are over 340 species of endangered plants such as the

Euryale ferox ''Euryale ferox'', commonly known as prickly waterlily, makhana, or Gorgon plant, is a species of water lily found in southern and eastern Asia, and the only extant member of the genus ''Euryale''. The edible seeds, called fox nuts or ''makhana' ...

, as well as 62 wild birds, and 28 fish located within the swamp. Upo wetland was designated as a natural monument during the time of Japanese occupation in 1933. As soon as the Cultural Properties Protection Law was enacted on December 3, 1962, the wetland was designated as Cultural property 15 under the name of Changnyeong Swan habitat. However, on July 19, 1973, it was found that migratory bird numbers had decreased and therefore its status as a natural monument was cancelled. After another evaluation done on January 13, 2001, in order to determine the geographical scenic value of the biology living there, it was determined that the wetlands be considered natural preserve area number 524. Upo Wetland

* Bugok Hot Springs (부곡온천) In 1973 a hot spring resort was developed in Keomun village in the Bugok township (부곡면 거문리). In that year, after the natural hot springs was discovered under scenic Deokam Mountain (덕암산). The 48 geothermal wells that were discovered produce over 3,000 tons of water a day. In 1977년 Bugok was designated as a national tourist attraction with high quality hotels, recreational facilities, parks and forestation. One of the most famous hotel and spa is Bugok Hawaii, a resort style facility with a water and amusement park as well as a large hotel. * Bugok Hawaii (부곡하와이) * Mount Hwawang (화왕산)Hwawang Mountain
Changnyeong royal graves

Educational Institutions

High Schools (고등학교) * Namji High and Middle School 남지고등학교 * Yeongsan High and Middle School 영산고등학교 * Changnyeong High School 창녕고등학교 * Changnyeong Technical High School 창녕공업고등학교 * Changnyeong Daeseong High School 창녕대성고등학교 * Changnyeong Girl's High School 창녕여자고등학교 * Changnyeong Ogya High and Middle School 창녕옥야고등학교 * Changnyeong First High and Middle School 창녕제일고등학교 Middle Schools (중학교) * Namji Girl's Middle School 남지여자중학교 * Namji Middle School 남지중학교
Daeseong Middle School 대성중학교
* Bugok Middle School 부곡중학교 * Seongsan Middle School 성산중학교 * Shinchang Girl's Middle School 신창여자중학교 * Yeongsan Middle School 영산중학교 * Changnyeong Girl's Middle School 창녕여자중학교 * Changnyeong Ogya Middle School 창녕옥야중학교 * Changnyeopng Middle School 창녕중학교

Twin towns – sister cities

Changnyeong is twinned with: *

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

(

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Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

* Sunchang,

Gunpo Gunpo (; ), formerly romanized as Kunp'o, is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is south of Seoul and in the Seoul National Capital Area. It borders Anyang to the north, Uiwang to the east, and Ansan to the south and west, and is connec ...

Shangzhi Shangzhi () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. It is away from central Harbin and has an area of approximately . The city proper has a population of around ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

References

External links

County government website
{{Coord, 35.544414, 128.492181, format=dms, display=title, type:city Counties of South Gyeongsang Province