Osan

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Osan
Hangul:	오산시
Hanja:	烏山市
Revised Romanization:	Osan-si
McCune-Reischauer:	Osan-si
Area:	42.76 km²
Population:	120,763 2004 registration [1]
Pop. density:	2,824.2 people/km²
Administrative divisions:	6 dong

This article is about the city of Osan, Republic of Korea. See Osan Air Base for the U.S. base.

Osan is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, approximately 35 km south of Seoul. The population of the city is around 120,000. The local economy is supported by a mix of agricultural and industrial enterprises.

It is famous for one of the largest markets in South Korea, Osan Market, which has been in continuous operation since 1792.^{[citation needed]} The city was the scene of brutal battles with communist forces during the Korean War in 1950 (see Battle of Osan), before being liberated by American forces soon afterwards; there is a statue dedicated to UN forces on the outskirts of the city.

The United States Air Force base named after the city, Osan AB, is not actually located in the city, but is instead 8 km (5 mi) south, in the Songtan section (formerly a separate city) of Pyeongtaek.

1 Name
2 Statistics
3 Notes
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Name

Osan came to be called by its current name in 1914, at the time of a general reorganization of local governments under Japanese rule. At that time it became Osan-myeon, part of Suwon. This name in turn was taken from that of a local stream, the Osancheon. However, prior to the Japanese occupation, the name had been rendered in hanja as 鰲山, meaning "soft-shelled turtle mountain." Because of the complexity of the 鰲 ("o") character, and because crows were abundant in the area, the Japanese changed the name to 烏山, meaning "bird mountain."^{[citation needed]} This name has been retained to this day.

[edit] Statistics

Miscellaneous:

Population:	115,160
Daily Deaths:	1.0
Daily Marriage:	3.0
Daily Divorce:	0.9
Fires a Day:	3.9
Students per Teacher:	33.4
Amount of Cars:	33,843