Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Yeongnam, South Korea

🇰🇷 Changwon is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the south-east coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million as of 2015, Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city.

A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the cities of Busan and Gimhae to the east. The city of Miryang lies to the north-east, and Jinju to the west.

The region has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, and its urban areas have been renamed and re-organized many times throughout history. In 1974, with the creation of the Changwon National Industrial Complex, the three historically interdependent cities of Masan, Jinhae, and Changwon began to undergo significant economic development, growing into an important industrial centre. On 1 July 2010, the cities of Changwon, Jinhae, and Masan merged to form the current city of Changwon.

As Korea's first planned city, modeled after Canberra, Australia, Changwon uses accessible urban planning including many parks and separate residential and industrial areas. The city has also branded itself an "environmental capital" with the municipal government actively participating in climate change conferences and committing to the development of sustainable policies like the globally recognised bike-sharing program, Nubija.

Economy Changwon city owes its rapid growth since the 1970s primarily to the Changwon industrial Complex, a 25.302 km² (9.769 sq mi) hub of factories dominated by heavy industry which employs 82,000 and leads the chemical, industrial, and heavy machinery sectors of the Korean economy. In September 2010, the Changwon Industrial Complex exceeded 2,000 tenant companies. The tenants are 97.8% (1,957) small-to-medium—sized businesses, while large corporations make up 2.2%(44) including Samsung Techwin, GM Korea, LG Electronics, Hyundai Rotem, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Doosan Infracore, Hyosung, Hyundai Wia and STX Corporation.

The defense industry of Changwon makes up a large part of its industrial output and the majority of South Korea's weapons manufacturing. 70% of South Korea's defense industry is based in Changwon. The city was chosen to host the military defense industry because of the city's natural basin shape and coastal access. Major defense companies like Hanwha Defense and Hyundai Rotem manufacturing the K9 Thunder and K2 Black Panther respectively are based out of Changwon.

As the provincial capital, Changwon is home to several government offices, and the Jinhae-gu district contains a large naval base housing various units of the Republic of Korea Navy.

Changwon's Gross Regional Domestic Product is 21.7 trillion won which is higher than that of Gwangju and Daejeon. It earned 29 billion dollars through exports in 2008, more than Busan, Gwangju, Daejeon or Daegu.