Basic Data

Population and Area

As of March 31, 2024, Namwon City has a population of 76,350 (37,465 males and 38,885 females), representing 4.50% of the total population of the North Jeolla Special Autonomous Province. Among its 23 districts, Dotong-dong has the largest population with 16,373 people, while Deokgwa-myeon has the least with 900. The area of Namwon City is 752.21 km², which is 9.4% of the North Jeolla Special Autonomous Province (8,062.98 km²). San-nae-myeon has the largest area, largely encompassing Jirisan National Park, with a total area comprising 171.50 km² of cultivated land (40.20 km² of fields and 131.30 km² of rice paddies), 483.90 km² of forests, 11.30 km² of residential land, 0.99 km² of industrial sites, and 85.09 km² of other areas.

Administrative Divisions

Namwon City is divided into 1 town, 15 townships, and 7 districts, with a lower structure comprising 180 legal districts, 505 administrative neighborhoods, and 1,450 precincts.
※ On January 1, 1995, Namwon City and Namwon County were merged into Namwon City.

Regional Characteristics

Location

Namwon City is situated in a wide basin on the western slope of the Sobaek Mountains in the southeastern part of the North Jeolla Special Autonomous Province, in the southwestern inland of the Korean Peninsula. The southeast of the city borders Hadong County of South Gyeongsang Province and Gurye County of South Jeolla Province along the main ridge of Jirisan, while the northeast borders Hamyang County of South Gyeongsang Province. To the west, it borders Imsil County and Sunchang County, to the north Jangsu County, and to the south, it touches Gokseong County of South Jeolla Province along the Seomjin River.

Geographically, Namwon City, which borders both South Jeolla Province and South Gyeongsang Province, is traversed by the 88 Expressway, the Suncheon-Wanju Expressway, and the Jeolla Line railway, as well as three national highways (routes 17, 19, and 24), making it a cultural and economic gateway connecting the Honam and Yeongnam regions.

Namwon city location

Location	Longitude, Latitude, and Extremes			Extension Distance
	Section	Place Name	Extreme Point
60 City Hall Road, Namwon-si, Jeollabuk-do	Easternmost Point	Jungwang-ri, Sannae-myeon	Longitude: 127° 40′ 30″ Latitude: 35° 26′ 25″	Distance East → West 44.7km
	Westernmost Point	Saengam-ri, Daegang-myeon	Longitude: 127° 11′ 05″ Latitude: 35° 19′ 40″
	Southernmost Point	Hadori, Geumji-myeon	Longitude: 127° 18′ 35″ Latitude: 35° 18′ 40″	Distance North → South 28.6km
	Northernmost Point	Seongsiri, Bojeol-myeon	Longitude: 127° 24′ 45″ Latitude: 35° 33′ 25″

Natural Environment

Topography and Terrain

The terrain of Namwon City, situated between the Noryeong and Sobaek mountain ranges, is broadly categorized into mountains, highlands, hills, and plains. The mountainous areas are divided into the Jirisan area in the southeast centered around Cheonwangsan (909m), the Bojeolsan area in the north centered around Gyoryongsan (518m), and the Daegangsan area. The highlands are distributed around the western slope of Bojeolsan, the eastern slope of Daegangsan, and Unbong-eup; the plains include the narrow and long Namwon Plain along the Yochon River, a tributary of the Seomjin River, the Unbong Plain distributed in Unbong, Ayang, and Inwol, and the Bojeol Plain around Yulcheon, known for its alluvial lands; the hilly areas are distributed around the mountains and the plains of Namwon and Unbong, mainly utilized for fields and orchards but have low land usage rates.

Weather and Climate

Namwon City, located in a mountainous basin in the southeast, experiences a temperate inland climate. In winter, influenced by continental high pressure, it sees many cold days, while in summer, due to subtropical low pressure and the influence of Jirisan, it falls into a highland area, showing tendencies of a subarctic climate, especially in the Inwol (Ayang) area situated in the highlands.

Over the last ten years (2003-2012), the average temperature was 12.3°C, average high 19.0°C, and average low 6.7°C. The highest recorded temperature was 37.0°C on July 23, 2005, and the lowest was –19.3°C on December 18, 2005. Annual precipitation was 1,432.6 mm with 117.7 precipitation days.