Nonsan
Encyclopedia
Nonsan is a city
Administrative divisions of South Korea
||South Korea is divided into 8 provinces , 1 special autonomous province , 6 metropolitan cities , and 1 special city...

 in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. It is located at 36°12′N 127°5′E. Nonsan is also called Nolmoi, meaning dusk(y) or yellow mountain ; "Nonsan" means rice paddies
Paddy field
A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such...

 + mountain(s).

History

During the Samhan
Samhan
The Samhan period of Korean history comprises confederacies of Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan in central and southern Korean peninsula, during the final century BCE and the early centuries CE....

 period, Nonsan is believed to have been part of Mahan
Mahan confederacy
Mahan was a loose confederacy of statelets that existed from around the 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE in the southern Korean peninsula in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces. Arising out of the confluence of Gojoseon migration and the Jin state federation, Mahan was one of the Samhan , along...

 territory. In the Baekje
Baekje
Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

 period, the district belonged to Hwangdeungyasan-gun. The crucial battle in which Silla defeated Baekje is thought to have taken place in the general area of Nonsan. Later, in the Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

 period, Nonsan was divided into two different towns: Deogeun and Hwangsan.

The modern city of Nonsan was established in 1914, by the merger of the four counties of Yeonsan
Yeonsan
Yeonsan is a part of Nonsan, South Korea. It is a small town , located on the rail line between Nonsan proper and Daejeon.It holds an annual jujube festival.Hanmin University is located in Yeonsan.-Reference:...

-gun, Eunjin
Eunjin
Eunjin is a myeon, or rural district, of Nonsan, South Korea. Located in the southwestern portion of Nonsan, it covers 22.3 square kilometers, and has a population of 5,983....

-gun, Noseong-gun and Seoksung-gun.

Transportation

Nonsan is served by the national railroad
Rail transport in South Korea
The rail transportation system in South Korea includes mainline railway lines, and rapid transit system in some major cities.- Korean Empire and Partition :...

 system and city, regional and national bus lines. An expressway
Controlled-access highway
A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...

 connects the city to Daejeon
Daejeon
Daejeon is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis and the provincial capital of Chungnam. Located in the center of the country, Daejeon had a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. It is at the crossroads of Gyeongbu railway, Honam railway, Gyeongbu Expressway, and Honam Expressway. Within the...

 and other cities. Many streets have bike paths, sharing pavement with sidewalks. The stream running through the city proper is not navigable, but downstream it joins the Geum River
Geum River
The Geum-gang River is located in South Korea. It is a major river that originates in Jangsu-eub, North Jeolla Province. It flows northward through North Jeolla and North Chungcheong Provinces and then changes direction in the vicinity of Greater Daejeon and flows southwest through South...

, and an outlying subdivision of the city serves as a significant fishing port.

Economics and industry

Nonsan is an agricultural city, with rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 being the most important crop. Other important crops include strawberries, ginseng
Ginseng
Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....

, napa cabbage
Napa cabbage
Napa cabbage , also known as celery cabbage, is a type of Chinese cabbage originating near the Beijing region of China, and is widely used in East Asian cuisine. In much of the world, this is the vegetable referred to as "Chinese cabbage"...

,
watermelon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...

s, and Korean pears.
According to The Chosun Ilbo
The Chosun Ilbo
The Chosun Ilbo is one of the major newspapers in South Korea. With a daily circulation of over 2,200,000, the Chosun Ilbo has undertaken annual inspections since Audit Bureau of Circulations was established in 1993...

, the farmers are growing new varieties of strawberry produced in Japan without the producer's permission, while the JoongAng Daily says "Strawberries grown in Nonsan are of various types: seolhyang, maehyang, geumhyang, janghi (akihime) and yukbo (red pearl). The first three were developed in Nonsan while the latter two are from Japan. Janghi is the most commonly grown in Korea. However, seolhyang is the sweetest". Sesil [pronounced "say -shill"] company is the world's third leading producer of insects for natural pest control. The prominent yoghurt
Yoghurt
Yoghurt, yogurt or yogourt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yoghurt are known as "yoghurt cultures"...

 company, Yakult
Korea Yakult
Korea Yakult Co., Ltd is a South Korean food company based in Seocho-gu, Seoul; under the ownership of Yakult Corporation, Japan. It is one of the largest food companies in South Korea and produces beverages , ramen noodles, and dairy products .Korea Yakult was founded in 1969...

, has its headquarters in Nonsan. Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. is a regional supplier of food products.

The greater Nonsan area includes the national army training center.

Higher education

  • Konyang University
    Konyang University
    Konyang University , located in Nonsan, South Korea, was founded in 1991.Konyang University has campuses in Nonsan and Daejeon. The Nonsan campus is the main campus with over 10,000 undergraduate students and more than forty majors, mostly in applied fields. The Daejeon campus has programs in...

    , founded 1991, has its main campus in Nonsan. It has a university hospital with educational programs for medical technicians, nurses and doctors in Daejeon
  • Hanmin University
    Hanmin University
    -External links:*...

    , in Yeonsan
    Yeonsan
    Yeonsan is a part of Nonsan, South Korea. It is a small town , located on the rail line between Nonsan proper and Daejeon.It holds an annual jujube festival.Hanmin University is located in Yeonsan.-Reference:...

    -myeon
  • Geumgang University
    Geumgang University
    Geumgang University is a South Korean Buddhist university located in the countryside, under the shadow of Gyeryong Mountain, between Nonsan and Daejeon, Republic of Korea. The campus is within the administrative boundaries of Nonsan's Sangwol-myeon district. The university is operated by the...

    , a recently founded Buddhist university, in rural Nonsan, near Gyeryongsan
  • Korea Bio Polytechnic is a two-year college run by the nation's Department of Labor.

Secondary education

Nonsan has a number of high schools, including a girls' high school, a technical high school, and two private schools which attract students from across the province and beyond.

Tourism

Local attractions include the Eunjin Mireuk, a large standing Buddhist sculpture of the Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...

 period and its accompanying temple, Gwanchoksa, as well as the Baekje Military Museum
Baekje Military Museum
Baekje Military Museum is a public museum in Nonsan, South Korea elucidating the military history of the later Baekje kingdom. The museum includes artifacts, reconstructed weapons and armor, dioramas, and a reconstructed defense wall. It opened in 2002....

. The spring Strawberry festival is another popular tourist event.

Other

The city has a concert hall, where various cultural activities such as concerts and lectures are held. Konyang University's auditorium also hosts free cultural activities for the community.

In June 2011, the multipurpose culture hall Sangsang Madang was completed. It is dedicated to "indie art".

Administrative divisions

Nonsan City has jurisdiction over 2 eup
Eup (administrative division)
An eup or ŭp is an administrative unit in both North Korea and South Korea similar to the unit of town.-In South Korea:Along with "myeon", an "eup" is one of the divisions of a county , and of some cities with a population of less than 500,000...

, 11 myeon
Myeon (administrative division)
A myeon, myŏn or myon is an administrative unit in both North Korea and South Korea similar to the unit of town.-In South Korea:...

, and 2 dong
Dong (administrative division)
A dong is the lowest administrative unit of districts and of those cities which are not divided into wards throughout Korea...

.
Name Hangul Hanja
Ganggeyong-eup 강경읍 江景邑
Yeonmu-eup 연무읍 鍊武邑
Seongdong-myeon 성동면 城東面
Gwangseok-myeon 광석면 光石面
Noseong-myeon 노성면 魯城面
Sangwol-myeon 상월면 上月面
Bujeok-myeon 부적면 夫赤面
Yeonsan
Yeonsan
Yeonsan is a part of Nonsan, South Korea. It is a small town , located on the rail line between Nonsan proper and Daejeon.It holds an annual jujube festival.Hanmin University is located in Yeonsan.-Reference:...

-myeon
연산면 連山面
Beolgok-myeon 벌곡면 伐谷面
Yangcheon-myeon 양촌면 陽村面
Gayagok-myeon 가야곡면 可也谷面
Eunjin
Eunjin
Eunjin is a myeon, or rural district, of Nonsan, South Korea. Located in the southwestern portion of Nonsan, it covers 22.3 square kilometers, and has a population of 5,983....

-myeon
은진면 恩津面
Chae-un-myeon 채운면 彩雲面
Chwiam-dong 취암동 鷲岩洞
Buchang-dong 부창동 富倉洞

Notable people

  • Lim Sung-kyu, South Korean Minister of Finance and Economy
  • Noh Sang-Kyoon, contemporary artist
  • Rhee In-je, three-time South Korean presidential candidate, was born in Nonsan.
  • Chun Sung-gwan, Head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office (2009)
  • Yeom Hong-chul, Mayor of Daejeon
    Daejeon
    Daejeon is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis and the provincial capital of Chungnam. Located in the center of the country, Daejeon had a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. It is at the crossroads of Gyeongbu railway, Honam railway, Gyeongbu Expressway, and Honam Expressway. Within the...

  • Go Soo, film and television actor was born in Nonsan.
  • Park Beom-shin
    Park Beom-shin
    -Life:Park Beom-shin was born in Nonsan, Chungcheongnam-do. Park graduated from Jeonju National University of Education, Wonkwang University and Korea University, and then made his literary debut with “Remains of the Summer” , which won him the JoongAng Ilbo's New Year's Literary Contest in 1973...

    , writer, is from Nonsan.

External links

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