Jeju-do

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Jeju-do
Korean name
Revised Romanization Jeju-do
McCune-Reischauer Cheju-do
Hangul 제주도
Hanja 濟州道
Short name Jeju (Cheju; 제주)
Statistics
Population 560,000 (2004 estimate)
Area 1,845.55 km²
Government Province
Capital Jeju City
Administrative divisions 2 cities (Si), 2 counties (Gun)
Region Jeju
Dialect Jeju
Location map
Image:Map jeju.png

Jeju-do is the smallest province of South Korea, situated on its largest island. Jeju-do is in the Korea Strait, southwest of Jeollanam-do Province, of which it was a part until it became a separate province in 1946. Its capital is Jeju City.

Contents

Names

In Korean, the word do means both "island" and "province," although each has its own Chinese character. Thus, Jejudo or Jeju-do can refer to either the island or the government administrative unit. The table below also includes the name of Jeju City, the provincial capital.

English Name Korean Name Hangul Hanja
Jeju Island Jeju-do 제주도 濟州島
Jeju Province Jeju-do 제주도 濟州道
Jeju City Jeju-si 제주시 濟州市

Historically, the island has been called by many different names including:

  • Doi (도이, 島夷)
  • Dongyeongju (동영주, 東瀛州)
  • Juho (주호, 州胡)
  • Tammora (탐모라, 耽牟羅)
  • Seopra (섭라, 涉羅)
  • Takra (탁라, 竣羅)
  • Tamra (탐라, 耽羅)

Before the year 2000, when the Seoul government changed the official Romanization of Hangul (the Korean alphabet), Jeju-do was spelled "Cheju-do". Almost all written references to the island before 2000 use that spelling. In fact, the correct pronunciation is "che-ju", but Koreans hearing a foreigner say "je-ju" will recognize the name.

Natural history

Jeju Island – formerly known to Europeans as Quelpart – is a volcanic island, dominated by Halla-san, a volcano 1,950 metres high — the highest mountain in South Korea.

The island was created entirely from volcanic eruptions hundreds of millions of years ago, and consists chiefly of basalt and lava. It has a subtropical climate, warmer than the rest of Korea, with four distinct seasons. Half of the summer is rainy, and the winter is fairly dry.

History

Jeju-do was an independent country called Tamna (耽羅) until it became a protectorate of Silla in 662. In 938, after the fall of Silla, Tamna became a protectorate of Goryeo. In 1105 Tamna lost its autonomy and became a province of Goryeo. It was King Euijong of Goryeo who changed the island's name from Tamna to Jeju.

In 1271, Jeju became the base of the Sambyeolcho Rebellion against the Mongols. After Sambyeolcho was defeated in 1273, the Mongols placed Jeju under direct rule, and it became Goryeo territory again in 1367.

When Korea was colonized by Japan in 1910, Jeju became known as Saishu, which is the Japanese reading of the hanja for Jeju. After the defeat of the Japanese, Jeju became an official part of the new Republic of Korea. Jeju was then a part of Jeolla until 1946, when it became a province of its own.

In a series of events over several years, known as the Jeju massacre, tens of thousands of people were killed. The cause is still disputed.

Historically, the people of Jeju Island have been the victim of discrimination due to its location and isolation. The history of Jeju has been largely omitted from South Korean history books and textbooks.

Society and culture

Image:Korea jeju harubang.jpg Because of the relative isolation of the island, the people of Jeju Island have developed a culture that is distinct from that of mainland Korea. Jeju is home to thousands of local legends. Perhaps the most distinct cultural artifact is the ubiquitous harubang ("stone grandfather") carved from a block of lava.

Another distinct aspect in Jeju-do, is the matriarchal family structures, found especially in Udo and Mara, but also present in the rest of the province. The best-known example of this is the haenyo (해녀, literally "sea women"), who are often the heads of family. They earn their living from diving to great depths without scuba gear in order to harvest abalone, conch, and a myriad of other marine products.

Administrative divisions

Jeju Province is divided into two cities ("Si" or "Shi") and two counties ("Gun"). The two cities are further divided into thirty-one neighbourhoods ("Dong"), while the two counties are divided into seven towns ("Eup") and five districts ("Myeon"). The seven towns and five districts are in turn divided into 551 villages ("Ri").

Listed below are the English, Hangul, and Hanja names of the province's two cities and two counties. In 2005, Jeju residents approved a referendum to merge these entities into one, which will be directly administered by the provincial government. This is part of plans to create the Jeju International Free City. [1]

Cities

Counties

Symbols

Sister provinces

Jeju's international sister provinces are also islands: Hainan Province (People's Republic of China), Hawaii (US), Sakhalin (Russia), and Bali (Indonesia).

Image:Halasan.jpg

Power supply

The demand for electric power on Jeju is significantly greater than the supply. Power from mainland plants makes up the difference.[2] The island's power-grid is connected to the mainland by the HVDC Haenam-Cheju. However, the majority of the island's electric power needs are met by generators located on the island. As of 2001, there were four power plants on Jeju, with more under planning and construction. The most notable of these are the gas-fired generators of Jeju Thermal Power Plant, located in Jeju City. The present-day generators of this plant were constructed from 1982 onwards, replacing earlier structures that dated from 1968. [3] As elsewhere in Korea, the power supply is overseen by the Korea Electric Power Corporation, or KEPCO.

See also

Notes

  1. ^  "Cheju Consolidation Vote". Korea Times July 28 2005. URL accessed on July 29, 2005.
  2. ^  "사회간접자본확충". Jeju Free International City Development Center website. URL accessed on August 1, 2005.
  3. ^  "Jeju Thermal P/P". Korea Midland Power website. URL accessed on July 29, 2005.

External links


Administrative divisions of South Korea Image:South korea flag large.png
Special City
Seoul
Metropolitan Cities
Busan | Daegu | Daejeon | Gwangju | Incheon | Ulsan
Provinces
Chungcheongbuk-do | Chungcheongnam-do | Gangwon-do | Gyeonggi-do | Gyeongsangbuk-do | Gyeongsangnam-do | Jeju-do | Jeollabuk-do | Jeollanam-do
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