Changwon is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. Changwon has the 8th most populated city in South Korea, with an established population of 1,089,039 people in 2010. It encompasses a land area of 743 square kilometres on the southeastern coast of South Korea. The population of southeastern Korea, including the city of Busan, is more than 6,478,000. Changwon is known as a heavy industrial city. The city only covers 7% of Gyeongsangnam-do province, also known as Gyeongnam, but holds 33.6% of its population; it also accounted for 38.5% of the total 2.1821 trillion won budget of the Gyeongnam province.In 209 AD, during the Three Kingdoms period, Changwon was named Gulja-gun, a province of the Silla kingdom. In 757 Changwon was renamed Uian-gun during the reorganization of all Silla provinces.In 1408 during the Joseon period, King Taejong established Changwon-bu. In 1415, King Taejong renamed Changwon-bu to Changwon-dohobu and it became the capital of the Gyeongnam province. On April 1, 1974 Changwon was designated 'Industrial Base Development Area No. 92.' As a result, the city was developed and significantly expanded.On July 1, 2010, the neighboring cities of Masan and Jinhae merged with the city to form a single larger urban area that makes up the current city of Changwon. These three constituent cities are located in the Masan Bay Area.
