Teheran-ro (; named for

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran) is a street in the Gangnam district of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

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 ...

. It runs from Gangnam Station through Yeoksam-dong and into Samseong-dong. It is colloquially known as "Teheran Valley" (after

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

) due to the number of

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

-related companies operating there. The district of

Gangnam-gu Gangnam District (; ) is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. The term ''Gangnam'' translates to "South of the Han River". Gangnam District is the third largest district in Seoul, with an area of . As of the 2024 census, Gangna ...

experienced phenomenal growth and waves of construction, with Teheran-ro becoming one of the busiest streets in South Korea. Its counterpart, Seoul St. in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, runs in the north of that city, close to the Evin district. Teheran-ro is a 3.5 km section of Seoul City Route 90, and runs eastwards from Gangnam Station to Samseong Station and the COEX/ KWTC complex. Yeoksam and Seolleung stations are also on Teheran-ro. All stations are on

Seoul Subway Line 2 Seoul Subway Line 2 (), also known as the Circle Line, is a orbital (metro), circular line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. The line running clockwise is called the "inner circle line" and the counter-clockwise line is called the "outer circle ...

. Some of South Korea's tallest skyscrapers and most expensive real estate are in Teheran-ro, while Seoul Metropolitan Government estimates that more than half of South Korea's

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

, some 200 billion won (approximately $200 million), is invested in Teheran Valley.

Name

On 27 June 1977, during Kingdom of Pahlavi in Iran, the Seoul Metropolitan Government suggested that the cities of Seoul (the capital of South Korea) and

(the capital of

) exchange street names on the occasion of the visit to South Korea of Gholamreza Nikpey, the Mayor of Tehran and

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

, the king of Iran. The following year, Samneungno street was renamed Teheran-ro, which then ran through a relatively underdeveloped area that had been annexed into Seoul in 1963.

Economy

The area hosts major domestic internet portals Daum and

Naver Naver (; stylized as NAVER) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. The company's products include a search engine, email hosting, blogs, maps, and mobile payment. History Naver was the first Korean web provide ...

as well as

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEC; stylized as SΛMSUNG; ) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation founded on 13 January 1969 and headquartered in Yeongtong District, Suwon, South Korea. It is curr ...

and Hynix both operate offices there. Various South Korean and international financial and business institutions including

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel manufacturer headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the List of steel producers, world's sixth-largest steelmaker by thi ...

Standard Chartered Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in th ...

and

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

also maintain offices there. Jungsuck Building, the headquarters of Kakao M (now

Kakao Entertainment Kakao Entertainment Corp. () is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the Internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries KakaoPa ...

), one of the largest music companies in the country, is located in Teheran-ro. The explosive growth of Teheran-ro is discussed by the architect and researcher Sun-Young Rieh in her Korean-language book ''Boom or Bust?: The future of Teheran-ro after the Gangnam Building Boom''. The work analyzes aspects of urban planning related to sustainability, especially as regards energy regulations.

Photo gallery

Image:Tehran Road post, Seoul, Korea.jpg, Road post that says "Tehran Road" both in Korean

hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

(테헤란로) and Persian (خیابان تهران). Image:Posco_intersection.JPG, Posco intersection Image:Posco_sunset.jpg, Posco sunset Image:Posco_walkway.JPG, A small walkway on a rainy day, in front of the Posco building Image:Teherannosign.jpg, Roadsign, COEX- KWTC intersection

References

External links

* Gangnam District High-technology business districts Iran–South Korea relations Streets in Seoul {{Seoul-geo-stub

Name

Economy

Photo gallery

See also

References

External links