Geoje Island
| Geojedo | |
| Hangul | 거제도 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 巨濟島 |
| Revised Romanization | Geojedo |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kŏjedo |
| Native name: 거제도 | |
|---|---|
 Geojedo
|
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| Geography | |
| Location | Korea Strait |
| Coordinates | 34°51′29″N 128°37′06″E / 34.85806°N 128.61833°E |
| Area | 383.44 km2 (148.05 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 580 m (1,900 ft) |
| Highest point | Gara |
| Administration | |
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South Korea
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| Province | Gyeongsangnam-do |
| Largest settlement | Geoje (pop. 242,077) |
| Demographics | |
| Ethnic groups | Korean |
Geojedo or Geoje Island (also often spelled Koje Island) is the principal island of Geoje City, on the southern coast of Gyeongsangnam-do province, South Korea. It is joined to land by two bridges from nearby Tongyeong. Sinhyeon is the largest town on the island. The Busan-Geoje Fixed Link was open in December 2010 and provides a more direct connection to the city of Busan.
Geoje Island covers an area of 383.44 square kilometres (148.05 sq mi), the second largest island in South Korea (second to Jeju Island). The landscape features several peaks: Gara (580 metres (1,900 ft)), Gyerong (554.9 metres (1,821 ft)), the skirmisher mountain (465.5 metres (1,527 ft)), Daegeum (437.5 metres (1,435 ft)) and Googsabong (400 metres (1,300 ft)). Geojedo is known for its rich deposits of granite. The southern belt of Geojedo, together with part of Namhaedo in Namhae County, belongs to Hallyeo Maritime National Park.
Geoje Island features several natural harbors. Shipbuilding is the largest industry on the island. The second and third largest shipyards in South Korea are both located on the island, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) in the city of Okpo, and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in the city of Gohyeon (Geoje City).
Geojedo (from Korean Geoje, meaning 'Great Crossing Island'; from Geo (Korean), (Hanja) , meaning 'great, large', je (jae) (Korean), (Hanja) , meaning 'crossing, ferry', and do (Korean), (Hanja) , meaning 'island')
During the Three Han States period (2300 B.C.), Geoje Island corresponded to one of the twelve states of Byeonhan (변한) state called Dokno 독로국(瀆盧國), and during the Shilla dynasty period (신라시대), King Gyeongdeok in 757 A.D. first started to use the name Geoje province "거제군" to refer to the island.
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Wikipedia