The largest city in South Korea with over ten million people, Seoul also numbers among the largest cities in the world.Seoul, one of the world's most densely populated major cities, covers an area of only 605 square kilometers, smaller than New York City or Tokyo. Seoul, one of the world's most digitally-connected cities, has more Internet users than all of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Afri
ca. The Greater Seoul metropolitan area, including the major port city of Incheon, has almost twenty three million inhabitants placing second on the most list of most populous metropolitan areas in the world after Greater Tokyo. Almost one fourth of South Korea's population lives in the Seoul National Capital Area, and nearly one half in the Greater Seoul Area. Seoul serves as the country's political, cultural, and economic center, as well as a center for international business. The city has played a key role in South Korea's economic development and has been referred to as the "Miracle on the Han River." Seoul hosts more than three million registered vehicles, making widespread traffic congestion common. In recent years, the metropolitan government has undertaken extensive clean up of the city's air and water pollution, highlighting the revival of Cheonggyecheon, a stream that flows through Seoul city center, as a recent major urban beautification project. History
The throne hall in GyeongbokgungThe history of Seoul traces to 18 B.C.E. During the Goryeo Dynasty, Seoul had the name Hanseong, picking up the current name during the Joseon Dynasty, designated Seoul. During the colonization period, Japan demolished many historical parts of Seoul. The North Koreans almost entirely destroyed the city during the Korean War, but an aggressive restoration policy in the 1960s and 1970s rebuilt the city rapidly. During the 1990s, the government restored some important historical buildings, including Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. The city has been known in the past by the successive names Wiryeseong (위례성; 慰禮城; Baekje), Hanyang (한양; 漢陽) and Hanseong (한성; 漢城; Goryeo and Joseon). Seoul derives from the ancient Korean word Seorabeol or Seobeol, meaning "capital city," referring to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla. Unlike most place names in Korea, "Seoul" has no corresponding hanja (Chinese characters used in the Korean language), and Chinese-speaking countries have continued to refer to the city by its former name "Hànchéng" (meaning "City on the Han River" Traditional: 漢城; Simplified: 汉城; Korean: "Hanseong"). In January 2005, the Seoul Metropolitan Government requested that the Chinese name of the city change to "Shǒu'ěr" (首爾/首尔; Korean: 수이 Su-i). That represents a close transliteration of Seoul in Mandarin Chinese, where 首 (shǒu) can also mean "first" or "capital." Chinese communities have gradually adopted that new name. That change, intended for speakers of Chinese only, has no effect on the Korean language name; unlike standard hanja, the government chose the Chinese characters that best represent the Korean pronunciation of a native Korean word.
