Busan


Busan, officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, with its port being South Korea's busiest and the sixth-busiest in the world. The surrounding "Southeastern Maritime Industrial Region" is South Korea's largest industrial area. The large volumes of port traffic and urban population in excess of 1 million makes Busan a Large-Port metropolis using the Southampton System of Port-City classification. As of 2025, Busan Port is the primary port in Korea and the world's sixth-largest container port.
Busan is divided into 15 major administrative districts and a single county, together housing a population of approximately 3.6 million. The full metropolitan area, the Southeastern Maritime Industrial Region, has a population of approximately 8 million. The most densely built-up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong and the Suyeong Rivers, with mountains separating most of the districts. The Nakdong River is Korea's longest river and Busan's Haeundae Beach is also the country's largest.
Busan is a center for international conventions, hosting an APEC summit in 2005. It is also a center for sports tournaments in Korea, having hosted the 2002 Asian Games and FIFA World Cup. It is home to the world's largest department store, the Shinsegae Centum City. Busan was added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a "City of Film" in December 2014.

Names

The name "Busan" is the Revised Romanization of the city's Korean name since the late 15th century. It officially replaced the earlier McCune–Reischauer romanization Pusan in 2000, but locals never called it Pusan. During the Japanese colonial period, the Japanese reading of the city's name was "Fuzan" which may have remained in the maps that Americans used during the Korean war.
The name 釜山 is Sino-Korean for "Cauldron Mountain", believed to be a former name of MtHwangnyeong west of the city center. The area's ancient state MtGeochil is similarly thought to refer to the same mountain, which towers over the town's harbor on the Suyeong.

History

The area that Busan now occupies was inhabited during the Neolithic period. Artifacts dating to this period discovered near the coast include stone tools, pottery, sea shells, and animal bones. Fishing was a primary food source for people of this period. Bronze Age artifacts have been uncovered further inland. By this period, agriculture was being practiced.
Around the first century, a chiefdom called Koch'ilsan-guk existed around what is now Dongnae District. At some point, it was absorbed by Silla and made an administrative division called Koch'ilsan-gun. In 757, it was renamed Dongnae-gun. In 835, the Buddhist temple Beomeosa was founded in the area.
In the Goryeo period, the local became a prominent presence in Korean politics. By this point, Dongnae's hot springs became famous, and have been attested to in writings of this period. By the end of the period, raids from wokou intensified. One such invasion occurred in 1396. To defend against this, the fortress Dongnaeeupseong was established in the area.
In 1423, the port of Busan and a waegwan were established. During the reign of King Sejong the Great, the population in Dongnae-hyeon was reportedly 2,416 people in 290 households. In Dongpyeong-hyeon, it was 627 people in 108 households. The waegwan was closed in 1510, but reopened in 1512.
During the 1592–1598 Japanese invasions of Korea, various fortresses in the area defended Busan against the invasion. Fortresses included Busanjinseong,, and Dongnaeeupseong. Civilians formed righteous armies and joined in the fight. After the siege and capture of Busanjin in 1592, most of Busanjin's Korean prisoners and civilians were massacred. After the war, diplomatic relations with the new shogunate in Japan were established in 1607, and Busan was permitted to be reconstructed.
In 1605, the shrine Songgongsa was built to honor those who died defending Korea during the invasions. The shrine was dubbed Chungnyeolsa in 1624. In 1607, a waegwan was reestablished in Dumopo ; in 1678 it was moved to Choryang. In 1763, Busan became the first place in Korea to have sweet potatoes, which arrived from Tsushima Island in Japan. In 1759, the population was reportedly 25,753 people in 6,657 households.
In 1876, Busan became the first international port in Korea under the terms of the Treaty of Ganghwa. In 1877, a concession was established in Busan, and consulates of Japan, Qing, and the United Kingdom were established. In 1883, the port was opened, and a Busan Customs Office was established. In 1895, Dongnae-bu was made part of South Gyeongsang Province. It was demoted to a gun in 1903, and made a bu again in 1906. After the beginning of the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period, in 1914 it was made a gun again. In 1908, Busan was connected to the Gyeongbu Line via Busan station. In 1909, a ferry service was opened between Busan and Shimonoseki in Japan. In 1914, Dongnae-bu was reorganized into Busan-bu. In 1915, a tram was opened between Busanjin and the. The following year, the city tram opened.
During the Japanese rule, Busan developed into a hub trading port with Japan. Busan was the only city in Korea to adopt the steam tramway before electrification was introduced in 1924.
During the Korean War, Busan was one of only two cities in South Korea not captured by the North Korean army within the first three months of the war, the other being Daegu. As a result, the cities became refugee camp sites for Koreans during the war. According to The Korea Times, around 500,000 refugees were located in Busan in early 1951.
As Busan was one of the few areas in Korea that remained under the control of South Korea throughout the Korean War, for some time it served as a de facto capital of South Korea. UN troops established a defensive perimeter around the city known as the Pusan Perimeter in the summer and fall of 1950. Since then, the city has been a self-governing metropolis and has built a strong urban character.
In 1963, Busan separated from South Gyeongsang Province to become the first of South Korea. In 1983, the provincial capital of Gyeongsangnam-do was moved from Busan to Changwon.

Geography

Busan is located on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula. It is located on the coast, which determined the development of the whole city itself. The distance from Busan to Seoul is about. Busan borders low mountains to the north and west, and the Korea Strait to the south and east. The Nakdong River Delta is located on the west side of the city, and Geumjeongsan, the highest mountain in the city, is on the north. The Nakdong River, South Korea's longest river, flows through the west and empties into the Korea Strait. The southeastern region, called Yeongnam in Korea, encompasses both Gyeongsang Provinces and 3 metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu and Ulsan. Ulsan lies northeast of Busan. The combined population exceeds 13 million.
The closest overseas area to Busan is Tsushima, Japan, with a distance of about. The closest Japanese mainland area to Busan is Fukuoka, roughly 180 km away. Busan and Fukuoka are also sister cities.

Climate

Located on the southeasternmost tip of the Korean Peninsula, Busan has a cooler version of a humid subtropical climate, bordering on a subtropical monsoon climate influenced by East Asian monsoon. Extremely high or low temperatures are rare. The highest temperature ever recorded is on 14 August 2016, while the lowest temperature ever recorded is on 13 January 1915. May to July, late spring and early summer, are usually cooler than inland regions because of the ocean effect. Late summer, and early fall, August, and September, are generally hot and humid and the city may experience typhoons at that time and be generally rainy. On September 15, 1959, Super Typhoon Sarah passed by the coast of the city and caused catastrophic damage. An unusually severe storm on September 12, 2003, Typhoon Maemi, also caused damage to ships and buildings and resulted in over 48 fatalities. Typhoon Hinnamnor on September 6, 2022, caused destruction in Busan as a category 2, producing high waves, destructive winds, and flooding. Busan is the most prone city in South Korea to typhoons and other natural disasters.
October and November are generally the most comfortable, with clear skies and pleasant temperatures. Winters are cool and comparatively dry with high winds, but much milder than other parts of Korea, except Jeju Province and several islands off the southern coast. Busan and the nearby area have the least snow compared to other regions of Korea due to its location. Snow falls on an average of only about 4 days per year.

Administrative divisions

In 1957, Busan adopted a division system with the creation of six gu : Busanjin District, Dong District, Dongnae District, Jung District, Seo District, and Yeongdo District. Today, Busan has divided into fifteen gu and one gun.
SubdivisionKoreanArea
Population
Map of Busan
Buk District39.36303,955
Busanjin District29.70372,922
Dong District9.7390,668
Dongnae District16.63271,350
Gangseo District181.50123,636
Geumjeong District65.27249,054
Haeundae District51.47417,174
Jung District2.8345,821
Nam District26.81278,681
Saha District41.75337,423
Sasang District36.09233,443
Seo District13.93111,906
Suyeong District10.21181,526
Yeongdo District14.15124,918
Yeonje District12.08207,396
Gijang County218.32164,546