Hongseong County is the capital andCheonan is the largest city of South Chungcheong, with other major cities includingAsan,Seosan, andDangjin. Daejeon was the largest city of South Chungcheong until becoming aMetropolitan City in 1989, and the historic capital until the provincial government was relocated to Hongseong in 2012.
Chungcheongnam-do is South Korea's richest province, with a 2012GDP per capita of $56,133. It is by far South Korea's fastest growing region, with an averageGDP growth of 9.7% in 2001-2007[2] that accelerated to 12.4% in 2010.[3] Such rapid growth transformed it from a mostly agricultural to a highly industrialized economy in the 21st century.
The province is part of theHoseoregion, and is bounded to the west by theYellow Sea, to the north byGyeonggi-do province, to the south byJeollabuk-do province, and to the east byChungcheongbuk-do province. Its area is 8,204 km2 (3,168 sq mi) as of 2012.[6]
One third of the province's area is under cultivation. Aside from agriculture, marine products are of importance. There are 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi) of exposed beach which is used to producesalt by solar evaporation. There iscoal mining, butgold andsilver mines are also found in Chungcheongnam-do, as isMonazite (a rarethorium bearing mineral) andzircon.
In 2018, South Chungcheong province was home to half of South Korea's coal-fired power generation capacity. That year, it became the first Asian member of thePowering Past Coal Alliance, and committed to ending the use of coal power to mitigateglobal warming and reduce air pollution.[7]
At 845 metres,Mount Gyeryong is the most notable elevation. It is located in a national park which is noted for its unique rock features. Apart from the stone formations there are a number of old temples. These include Gwanchok-sa, a temple which is home to the largest stone Buddha in Korea.[8] In 1978 theTaean Marine National Park was opened. It includes some of the country's best bathing beaches, and Cheollipo Arboretum[1] which was created in 1966 by C. Ferris Miller and contains approximately 14,000 different plant species, including some rare and endangered species.
In early 2007, the Republic of Korea government decided to create a special administrative district out of part of the present Chungcheongnam-do Province, near what is nowDaejeon. The new district was namedSejong Special Self-Governing City, and was to replaceSeoul as the future capital of the Republic of Korea. However, in 2009, it was determined that replacing Seoul as new national capital[clarification needed] would violate theSouth Korean Constitution by Constitution Court. Now Sejong City may only serve as a National Administrative Capital and Secondary capital alongside Seoul, representing about 36 government ministers and agencies, including the Prime Minister's office, as of 2015.
According to the 2015 census, 13.8% of the population followsBuddhism and 26.8% followChristianity (20.7%Protestantism and 6.1%Catholicism). 58.6% of the population is not religious and 0.8% of the population follows other religions.[10]
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