Muan County (''Muan-gun'') is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in South Jeolla

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

(''Jeollanam-do''),

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. In 2005, Muan County became the capital of ''Jeollanam-do'' following the transfer of the provincial office from its previous location,

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial offic ...

to the village of Namak in Muan. Muan International Airport was opened here, and will eventually replace the airports in

and Mokpo.

Modern history

On January 1 of 1963, several villages (ri in Korean) were incorporated into Mokpo city and huge reorganization was made by Korean government. In 1979, Muan township was promoted to a township (eup of South Korea). In 1980, Illo was also promoted into a township.

Symbols

* Flower : The Chrysanthemum * Tree : The Zelkova tree * Bird : The white Heron

Location

Muan County is located on the western tip of the South Western part of the Korean peninsula. It acts as the primary link between Sinan county with the rest of the Korean mainland. Numerous beaches are also found on Muan's coast. Muan borders Yeongsan river with Naju and Hampyeong to the north, Yeongam to the east, Mokpo to the south. These surroundings have influenced the industrial and cultural structure of Muan County.

Enterprise city

Muan was designated an enterprise city by the South Korean government for the Honam region (Southwest). The South Korean government and China have agreed to develop an industrial complex in a joint venture. It was reported that the Chinese government officially promised to invest in and help establish the complex area, which includes the construction of a college and distribution warehouses among other things such as a Chinatown for expatriates.

Mud

Muan includes a large area of mudlands. The western area of the Korean peninsula has a large amount of mud thanks to the Rias coast. However, many mudlands have been destroyed or reclaimed for expanding city areas or industrial complexes. The mudlands of Muan were designated one of the wetlands of the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

. In the Muan mudflats, tourists can not enter the sea without permission to protect the mudflats. But, tourists can see the road that opens like the " Miracle of Moses " to reveal its face when the tide falls twice a day.

Festival

Muan is widely known for its White Lotus Festival () located in Illo-eup. The festival occurs in mid August when the white lotus flowers bloom fully onsite at the Hoesan White Lotus Pond (). Tourists can walk into the huge lotuslands via the many bridges that crisscross the water. Visitors may also ride the 'duck boats.' File:White Lotus Blossom.JPG, White Lotus Blossom File:Muan Lake.jpg, Lake in Muan with a Lotus-shaped building.

Products

Muan is known for several famous products characteristic of the area. They are largely farming goods from onions to lotus products. Muan puts out 16% of the national onion production making its production volume the largest in Korea. Muan county officially reported to host farming cluster of sweet potato, onion and lotus plants. The powder of lotus plants is used for making noodles.

Education

Muan County is the site of

Mokpo National University Mokpo National University is located in Muan and Mokpo, South Korea. Mokpo, located in the most southwestern region of Korea, is a key coastal city of the Korean Peninsula. The main campus is located in the valley of Seungdal Mountain, which h ...

, situated in Cheonggye township.

Climate

Transportation

Expressway

Seohaean Expressway The Seohaean Expressway ( Korean: 서해안 고속도로; Seohaean Gosok Doro), meaning "West Coast Expressway", is a freeway in South Korea, connecting Mokpo to Gunsan, Dangjin, and Seoul. It is numbered 15. The entire length from Seoul ...

* Namhae Expressway * Muan–Gwangju Expressway

National Route

* National Route 1 *

National Route 2 The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads. International * AH2, As ...

* National Route 24 * National Route 77

Railway

* Honam Line

Airport

* Muan International Airport

Sister cities

* Uiryeong,

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a 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 H ...

* Gunpo,

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

* Dobong-gu,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

* Taizhou,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

, China * Kitanagoya, Aichi, Japan *

Denizli Denizli is an industrial city in the southwestern part of Turkey and the eastern end of the alluvial valley formed by the river Büyük Menderes, where the plain reaches an elevation of about . Denizli is located in the country's Aegean Region. ...

, Turkey

References

External links

County government home page (in Korean)
{{Coord, 34, 59, 23, N, 126, 28, 17, E, source:dewiki_region:KR-46_type:adm2nd, format=dms, display=title Counties of South Jeolla Province