Incheon

Incheon (formerly Inchon) is a city on the western coast of the
Korean peninsula, near Seoul. Its population in 1995 was 2,307,618.

Human settlement on the location goes back to the Neolithic. In modern times
Incheon became important because its location on an estuary makes it a good
harbor; when the port was founded in 1883, the city's population was only
4,700. The population in 2000 was approximately 2,500,000. Incheon now has
an international airport, and it was one of the locations of the 2002
Football World Cup.

The city boundaries include an area of 964.53 km2, of which 21 percent is
rice paddies and another 44 percent is forested.

Incheon was the site of a United States troop landing on September 15, 1950,
in order to relieve pressure on the Busan perimeter and to launch a United
Nations drive northward.

Incheon is regarded as a part of greater metropolitan area of Seoul for
their close distance, that they are linked by Seoul Metropolitan Subway, and
also that the main international airport for Seoul, Incheon International
Airport, is at Incheon.