Bucheon () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Bucheon is located away from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, of which it is a

satellite city Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have mun ...

. It is located between

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

and

. Bucheon is the second most densely populated city in South Korea after Seoul, and as a result, administrative districts were abolished in July 2016 in favor of providing greater public service in community centers. Major manufacturing operations are located in the northern areas of the city, while the areas in the south where

Seoul Subway Line 7 Seoul Subway Line 7 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway was built from 1990 to 1996 (Jangam- Konkuk Univ.) and was completed on August 1, 2000 (central section 17 km. Konkuk University to Sinpung); the western section between Sinpung and On ...

and

Seoul Subway Line 1 Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a rapid transit and commuter rail line which links central Seoul, South Korea to Soyosan Station in the northeast, Incheon in the southwest, and Sinchang (Soonchunhyang Univ.) ...

pass are dense commercial and residential areas.

Modern history

In 1914, the outer areas of

City (including Gwangyo-dong, old Incheon's city center) and Bupyeong County were joined under the name ''Bucheon''. In 1931, Gyenam township (''myeon'', 계남면) was renamed Sosa township (''myeon'', 소사면). In 1936, the westernmost part of Bucheon, then part of old Incheon, was incorporated in Incheon City and in 1940 some other part of old Incheon belonging to Bucheon Country was incorporated in Incheon again while part of old Bupyeong was annexed to Incheon at the same time. In 1941, Sosa township promoted to ''eup'' (town) status. On January 1, 1963, when the great expansion of Seoul was implemented, several districts were combined to

Yeongdeungpo-gu Yeongdeungpo District () is an administrative district in southwest Seoul, South Korea. Although the origin of the name is uncertain, the first two syllables are thought to be from "''yeongdeung''" (靈登) or "divine ascent", a shamanic rite. T ...

(영등포구) of

Metropolitan City as below. In 1988, two districts were established. Bucheon was divided into Nam-gu ("south", ) and Jung-gu ("central", ) along the Seoul-Incheon trainline. Present day Sosa-gu was formerly called Nam-gu. In 1993, Bucheon's Jung-gu was separated into two further districts, forming Wonmi () and Ojeong () Districts. The three districts were abolished in July 2016 as Bucheon decided to become a unified city without any administrative districts. Bucheon-map English

Statistics

Arts and education

Bucheon promotes itself as the cultural centre of the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The

Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Bucheon, South Korea. Since its foundation in 1988, it has continuously taken up new challenges, capturing the public's attention. Thanks to its performances and wide-ranging repertoire, the O ...

is located there, an annual international film festival is held in July called the

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Prior to 2015, it was known as the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan. Inaugurated ...

or BiFan, and an annual international

bboy Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

competition called Bucheon Bboy International Championship (BBIC) held by

Jinjo Crew Jinjo Crew (Hangul: 진조 크루,Hanja: 𨳌𤍒), is a South Korean b-boy crew formed in 2001. Jin (오를 진 𨳌) and Jo (불사를 조 𤍒) means 'Rising Fire (불살라 오르다) '. Jinjo Crew is famous for winning the world's top 5 major ...

since 2016. Bucheon's institutions of higher education include:

Bucheon College Bucheon University is a private technical college in Bucheon City, Gyeonggi province, South Korea. Although private, it has strong cooperative relationships with the Bucheon city government. The school employs about 90 instructors, and offers ...

, Yuhan College,

Catholic University of Korea The Catholic University of Korea (hangul : 가톨릭대학교 hanja : ) is a private Roman Catholic institution of higher education in South Korea. It was established in 1855. The Catholic University of Korea operates campuses in Seoul and in the ...

Bucheon campus, and

Seoul Theological University Seoul Theological University is an evangelical bible college founded in 1911 to cultivate Christian workers and leaders on the basis of the traditions and precepts of the Korea Evangelical Holiness Church. The university was established to uphold ...

. The city was designated "City of Literature" and has been a member of

UNESCO Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.Jinjo.

Shopping

There are a number of markets in Bucheon, including the traditional market that runs along the south side of Bucheon Station, and a smaller traditional market that is located between Songnae Station and Jungdong Station. Bucheon Station has an underground shopping center, a small Starbucks, and an E-Mart with a small Kyobo Book store on the top floor. There are many department stores. In the Jung Dong area there is a Lotte Department store (formally GS Square) with a

HomePlus Homeplus () is a Korean discount store retail chain running about 140 branches with 25,000 employees throughout South Korea. Homeplus is the second largest retailer in South Korea, behind Shinsegae Group's e-mart chain. Homeplus operates its ...

located just across the street. On the Jung Dong and Sang Dong cusp there are a number of shopping places including the

Hyundai Department Store Hyundai Department Store (Korean: 현대백화점 주식회사, Hanja: 現代百貨店株式會社), together with Lotte Department Store and Shinsegae, is one of the three major department store chains in South Korea. Its parent company is the H ...

E-mart e-mart () is the largest retailer in South Korea. There were 160 stores across the country as of December 2016. It was founded on 12 November 1993 by Shinsegae as the first discount retailer in South Korea. E-Mart is the oldest and largest dis ...

, and UPLEX (formally known as "The Mall"). UPLEX has a CGV movie cinema. The main Bucheon intercity bus terminal is attached to a shopping center called Newcore and it has a grocery store called Kim's Club located on the ground floor. There is also a movie cinema called Primus (프리머스) located in Newcore which is change into CGV nowadays. There is also a large HomePlus located beside Newcore with a Save Zone shopping center opposite it. Songnae Station has a Toona Shopping Mall, which mostly sells clothing. Yeokgok Station has a Homeplus. There is also a Homeplus in Northern Bucheon, nearer to Bucheon Stadium.

Bars and restaurants

The busiest areas for bars and restaurants are located by Bucheon Station, Lotte Department Store (formally GS Square), and Hyundai Department Store.

Climate

Bucheon has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Dwa''), but can be considered a borderline

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

: ''Cwa'') using the isotherm.

Transportation

Bucheon has an extensive bus network of local and area buses that connect the city to Seoul, Incheon and other surrounding cities. Bucheon Bus Terminal has buses connecting to different cities and provinces throughout the country. The Seoul Subway System Line 1 and Line 7 runs through Bucheon. There are currently five stations in Seoul Subway Line Line 1 within Bucheon City, including Bucheon Station and Songnae Station, and seven stations in the Line 7, including Kkachiul,

Bucheon Stadium Bucheon Stadium ( ko, 부천종합운동장) is a multi-purpose stadium in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. It is currently used mostly for football matches and has been the home stadium of Bucheon FC 1995 Bucheon FC 1995 (Hangul: 부천 FC 1 ...

, Chunui, Sinjung-dong, Bucheon City Hall, and Sang-dong, which continues through Incheon ending at

Bupyeong Station Bupyeong station is a subway station located in Bupyeong District, a district in Incheon, South Korea. This station is on the Seoul Subway Line 1 and Incheon Subway Line 1. It is one of the most crowded stations on the Incheon line because of its ...

. Bucheon has currently two subway lines under construction. The Sosa-Wonsi Line will open in 2018, connecting Bucheon's

Sosa Station Sosa Station is a station on Seoul Subway Line 1 Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a rapid transit and commuter rail line which links central Seoul, South Korea to Soyosan Station in the northeast, Inch ...

of the Line 1 with

Ansan Ansan (Hangeul: , ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies southwest of Seoul and is part of the Seoul National Capital Area. It is connected to Seoul by rail via Seoul Subway Line 4. It is situated on the Yellow Sea coast and so ...

's Choji Station of

Seoul Subway Line 4 Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 4 (dubbed ''The Blue Line'') of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a long line crossing from the southwest to the northeast across the Seoul National Capital Area. The central section in Seoul City is operated by Se ...

. The Daegok-Sosa Line will open in 2022, connecting with the Sosa-Wonsi Line as a single line. It will provide subway service in the northern area of Bucheon and connect the city to

Gimpo International Airport Station Gimpo International Airport Station is a subway, railway and light rail station on the Seoul Subway Line 5 and Line 9 and AREX and Gimpo Goldline. True to its name, it serves the nearby Gimpo Airport, the hub of domestic flights in the Seoul met ...

where transfers to

Seoul Subway Line 5 Seoul Subway Line 5 of the Seoul Metro, dubbed ''the purple line'', is a long line crossing from west to the east across the Seoul National Capital Area, South Korea. It is one of two subway lines in Seoul to cross ''under'' the Han River (the o ...

Seoul Subway Line 9 Seoul Subway Line 9, operated by Seoul Metro Line9 Corporation, is a subway line in Seoul. The line runs east from Gaehwa Station (local train terminal) or Gimpo Airport Station (express train terminal, connecting to Line 5 and Airport Railroad ...

AREX AREX (Airport Railroad Express) is a South Korean commuter rail line that links Incheon International Airport with Seoul Station via Gimpo International Airport. The section between the two airports opened on March 23, 2007, and line was exten ...

and

Gimpo Goldline The Gimpo Goldline ( or ) is a light metro line opened on 28 September 2019. Background Under the third mayor of Gimpo City, Kim Dongsik (김동식), the line was going to be an extension of Line 5. This idea was rejected by Seoul Metropolitan ...

will be available. The line terminates at Daegok station in

Goyang Goyang (''Goyang-si''; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Capital Area, with a populatio ...

, which offers a transfer to

Seoul Subway Line 3 Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 3 (dubbed ''The Orange Line'') of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a rapid transit service that connects Eunpyeong District to Gangnam and southeastern Seoul. Most trains head further northwest to serve Goyang via ...

and Gyeongui-Jungang Line. In addition, the city is getting a completely new subway line in the future which will connect Bucheon's northern Wonjeong area to Hongik University Station.

Religion

There are a number of churches in Bucheon, including a Full Gospel Church near Lotte Department Store and the English-language "Bucheon Onnuri English Ministry" (BOEM) in Sang Dong. There is also a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located a short ways north of Bucheon Station. Evangelism and mission is a key expression of Christianity in the Bucheon churches. There is also Seogwangsa Temple, beside Weonmisan Mountain.

Notable people

* Choi Sang-hyun, illustrator and character designer *

Chu Ye-jin Chu Ye-jin (born October 11, 2001) is a South Korean actress. She was a contestant on Mnet's girl group survival program '' Produce 101''. Filmography Television drama Film Television series References {{DEFAULTSORT:Chu, Ye-jin 2001 ...

, actress *

Baekhyun Byun Baek-hyun (; born May 6, 1992), better known mononymously as Baekhyun, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and actor. Baekhyun began training under SM Entertainment in 2011. A few months later, he made his debut in 2012 as a member of the ...

, singer and actor, member of boy band

Exo Exo ( ko, 엑소; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai ...

Kim Seol-hyun Kim Seol-hyun (born January 3, 1995), better known by her mononym Seolhyun, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group AOA and she has starred in television dramas ''Orange Marmalade'' (2015), ' ...

, singer and actress *

Lee Hi Lee Ha-yi (; born September 23, 1996), known by her stage name Lee Hi, is a South Korean singer and songwriter. She first garnered attention as the runner-up of ''K-pop Star 1''. She debuted with single "1, 2, 3, 4" on October 28, 2012 and reac ...

, singer-songwriter * Kim Hee-jung, actress *

Ryu Soo-young Ryu Su-young (born Eo Nam-seon on September 5, 1979) is a South Korean actor. He made his first appearance on television as a college student on a cooking show in 1998, then starred in the controversial film '' Summertime'' (2001). This was follo ...

, actor * Moonbyul, singer-songwriter, rapper and dancer, member of girl group

Mamamoo Mamamoo (, stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote ...

Yuna Kim Yuna Kim (; born September 5, 1990), also credited in eastern name order as Kim Yuna or Kim Yeon-a, is a retired South Korean competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic champion and 2014 Olympic silver medalist in ladies' singles, ...

, retired figure skater and Olympic gold medallist *

Sora Choi Sora Choi (Korean: 최소라; born September 5, 1992) is a South Korean fashion model. She won the third cycle of the reality television show '' Korea's Next Top Model''. She currently ranks on models.com's "Industry Icons" list. Early li ...

, fashion model * Katie Kim, singer *

Bada Bada (stylized as bada; Korean: ) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Samsung Electronics for devices such as mid- to high-end smartphones and tablet computers. The name is derived from " (bada)", meaning "ocean" or "sea" in ...

, singer, composer, musical actress and television presenter *

Jinho Jo Jin-ho (; born April 17, 1992), commonly known by the mononym Jinho, is a South Korean singer, lyricist, dancer, composer, vocal coach and member of South Korean boy group Pentagon under Cube Entertainment. He is a former SM Entertainment tra ...

, singer-songwriter, member of boy band

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

Song I-han Song Byeong-hwa (; born August 11, 1994), known professionally as Song I-han (), is a South Korean singer-songwriter. He competed in the blind audition program ''Blind Musician'' in 2018 and won the competition, immediately releasing his debut ...

, singer-songwriter

Sports

Bucheon is home to the

K League 2 The K League 2 (Hangul: K리그2) is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the K League 1. Hi ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team

Bucheon FC 1995 Bucheon FC 1995 (Hangul: 부천 FC 1995) is a South Korean professional football club based in Bucheon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. The club was founded in 2007 by a group of former Bucheon SK suppo ...

and the

Women's Korean Basketball League The Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) (Hangul: 한국여자프로농구) is the premier professional women's basketball league in South Korea. The league was established in 1998. Current clubs See also * Korean Basketball League Th ...

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

team Bucheon Hana 1Q.

Twin towns – sister cities

Bucheon is twinned with: *

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, United States (2006) *

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

, China (1995) *

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

, Russia (2002) *

Valenzuela Valenzuela may refer to: Places * Valenzuela, Paraguay * Valenzuela, Metro Manila, Philippines * Valenzuela, Spain * Valenzuela de Calatrava, Spain * Valenzuela, Louisiana Other uses * Valenzuela (surname), including a list of people with the n ...

, Philippines (2008)

Friendship cities

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

, Japan (2002) * Kawasaki, Japan (1996) *

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

, China (2000)

References

External links

City government website (in Korean)

City government website (in English)

Bucheon
at ''Encyclopedia of Korean Local Culture'' {{coord, 37, 30, N, 126, 47, E, region:KR_type:city, display=title Cities in Gyeonggi Province