Seoul (Korean: [sə.ul] [5], "Capital City", from ancient Sillan [6] "Seorabeol"), officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis [7] of South Korea [8]. A megacity [9] with a population of more than 10 million, it is the largest city proper [10] in the OECD [11] developed world [12]. The Seoul Capital Area [13], which includes the surrounding Incheon [14] metropolis and Gyeonggi [15] province, is the world's second largest metropolitan area [16] with over 25.6 million people, home to over half of South Koreans along with 632,000 international residents. [17]
Situated on the Han River [18], Seoul's history stretches back more than 2,000 years when it was founded in 18 BC [19] by Baekje [20], one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea [21]. It continued as the capital of Korea [22] under the Joseon Dynasty [23] and the Korean Empire [24]. The Seoul metropolitan area contains four UNESCO World Heritage Sites [25]: Changdeok Palace [26], Hwaseong Fortress [27], Jongmyo Shrine [28] and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty [29], Seoul is surrounded by mountains, the tallest being Mt. Bukhan [30], the world's most visited national pa [31]rk, Modern landmarks holding Guinness World Records [32] include Lotte World [33], the world's largest indoor theme park, [34] Moonlight Rainbow Fountain [35], the world's longest bridge fountain [36] and Times Square [37]'s CGV Starium [38], the world's largest cinema screen. The birthplace of K-pop [39] and the Korean Wave [40], Seoul was voted the world's most wanted travel destination by Chinese, Japanese and Thai tourists for a third consecutive year in 2011 with over 10 million international visitors in 2012. [41]
Today, Seoul is considered a leading and rapidly rising global city [42], resulting from an economic boom and growth known as the Miracle on the Han River [43] which transformed it from the ashes of the Korean War [44] to the world's fourth largest metropolitan economy [45] with a GDP [46] of US$773.9 billion in 2012 after Tokyo [47], New York City [48] and Los Angeles [49]. A world leading technology hub, it boasts the world's sixth largest number of Fortune Global 500 [50] multinationals such as Samsung [51], the world's largest technology company [52], as well as LG [53] and Hyundai-Kia [54]. Gangnam District [55] forms the commercial center along with Central District [56] and the financial center, Yeoui Island [57] and technology hub Digital Media City [58]. Ranked sixth in the Global Power City Index [42], the metropolis exerts a major influence among global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences [59] [60]. In 2012, Seoul's quality of life [61] was found to be higher than New York City [48], London [62] or Melbourne [63] but slightly lower than Tokyo [47] and Paris [64] according to the United Nations [65]. [66]
Seoul has a very technologically advanced infrastructure [67]. It has the world's highest fibre-optic broadband penetration, resulting in the world's fastest internet connections with speeds up to 1 Gbps [68]. Seoul Station [69] is the main terminal of the KTX [70] high-speed rail [71] and the Seoul Subway [72] is the world's largest subway network by length [73] It is considered the world's best subway and is the world's only subway with all stations having automatic platform gates [74] for safety along with 4G LTE [75], WiFi [76], DMB [77] and WiBro [78]. Seoul is connected via AREX [79] to Incheon International Airport [80], rated the world's best airport for seven years in a row (2005-2012) by Airports Council International [81].
Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games [82], 1988 Summer Olympics [83], 2002 FIFA World Cup [84] and the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit [85]. A UNESCO City of Design [86], Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital [87].