To Duval Family Home Page Asia조선 and 대한 Chosŏn or North Korea and Daehan or South Korea
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평양 (P'yŏngyang)

평양 (P'yŏngyang, formerly written as 平壤) is centered on the right (north) bank of the lower Taedong River, as a 'directly governed' (provincial-level) city and capital of 조선 (Chosŏn or North Korea). In 2012 it had a metropolitan population of 3.417 million,1 with 3.255 million in the city proper (2008).2 The tallest building is the Ryugyong Hotel (1083 feet, 2013).3

The city came into prominence when Koguryŏ (Goguryeo) moved its capital moved there in 427 CE,4 but its importance receded after Koguryŏ was conquered by Silla in 676. It became the capital of 조선 (Chosŏn or North Korea) in 1945, which was initially a Soviet puppet state, later independent.

UNESCO honors a World Heritage Site called 'Complex of Koguryo Tombs, part of which are in 평양 (P'yŏngyang). Some of the tombs included wall paintings, and they constitute much of what remains of the Koguryŏ (Goguryeo) culture.5

The area is served by the P'yŏngyang Sunan International Airport.

YearPopulationPolitical entity
500 CE60,0006Koguryŏ
622 CE60,0006Koguryŏ
1000 CE50,0006Great Liáo (Liao Empire)
1500 CE7Great Chosŏn State
1700 CE55,0008tributary to Zhongguo/ Dulimbai Gurun (to the Empire of China)
1800 CE68,0006tributary to Zhongguo/ Dulimbai Gurun (to the Empire of China)
2012 CE3,417,0001조선 (Chosŏn or North Korea)

External references

Skyline of central P'yŏngyang (including the Ryugyong Hotel), Chosŏn (North Korea)

Historical maps

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 500 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 622 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 800 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 900 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 1000-1100 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 1200 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 1300 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 1400 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 1500-1600 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 1700-1800 CE

map showing northern Chosŏn (North Korea), 1900 CE

map showing Chosŏn (North Korea) and Daehan (South Korea), 2000 CE

Footnotes

1. Emporis.com, accessed 2/6/2013.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_North_Korea, accessed 10/17/2015.
3. Emporis.com, accessed 10/17/2015.
4. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987) says the city was large in 1000, 900 650 and 430 BCE but is probably conflating the city with places in Jinan, Zhongguo.
5. UNESCO, World Heritage Sites (Firefly Books, 2010).
6. Chandler, op. cit., Table of the Worlds Largest Cities. 평양 (P'yŏngyang) was the largest city in the Korean Peninsula in 500 and 622 CE.
7. The population exceeded 40,000 since it was found in ibid., 'Cities of Asia, 1500, - over 40,000 -', but was less than 45,000, as if was not found in the Table of the Worlds Largest Cities whose smallest city had a population of 45,000.
8. Ibid., Cities of Asia.