The Nakdong River or Nakdonggang (Korean: 낙동강, pronounced [nak̚t͈oŋgaŋ]) is the longest river in South Korea, which passes through the major cities of Daegu and Busan. It takes its name from its role as the eastern border of the Gaya confederacy during Korea's Three Kingdoms Era.
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👉 Nakdong River in the context of Geumho River
The Geumho River (Korean: 금호강) flows through North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, and drains into the Nakdong River. It rises in the hilly area of western Pohang, flows west for 116 kilometers before meeting with the Nakdong in western Daegu. It drains an area of more than 2,000 square kilometers. Notable tributaries include the Sincheon, which flows north through Daegu. The name Geumho-gang means "river of the zither-shaped lake," a reference to its oxbow curve in northern Daegu. Much of the riverbank in Daegu has been transformed into parkland.
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Nakdong River in the context of Busan
Busan (Korean: 부산; pronounced [pusan]), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, with its port being South Korea's busiest and the sixth-busiest in the world. The surrounding "Southeastern Maritime Industrial Region" (including Ulsan, South Gyeongsang, Daegu, and part of North Gyeongsang and South Jeolla) is South Korea's largest industrial area. The large volumes of port traffic and urban population in excess of 1 million makes Busan a Large-Port metropolis using the Southampton System of Port-City classification. As of 2025, Busan Port is the primary port in Korea and the world's sixth-largest container port.
Busan is divided into 15 major administrative districts and a single county, together housing a population of approximately 3.6 million. The full metropolitan area, the Southeastern Maritime Industrial Region, has a population of approximately 8 million. The most densely built-up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong and the Suyeong Rivers, with mountains separating most of the districts. The Nakdong River is Korea's longest river and Busan's Haeundae Beach is also the country's largest.
Nakdong River in the context of Daegu
Daegu (Korean: 대구 [tɛ̝.ɡu]), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (대구광역시), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest metropolitan city in the nation with over 2.3 million residents; and the second-largest city after Busan in the Yeongnam region in southeastern South Korea. Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province are often referred to as Daegu-Gyeongbuk, with a total population of over 5 million.
Daegu is located in south-eastern Korea about 80 km (50 mi) from the coast, near the Geumho River and its mainstream, Nakdong River in Gyeongsang Province. The Daegu basin is the central plain of the Yeongnam region. In ancient times, the Daegu area was part of the proto-kingdom Jinhan. Subsequently, Daegu came under the control of the Silla Kingdom, which unified the Korean Peninsula. During the Joseon period, the city was the capital of Gyeongsang Province, one of the traditional eight provinces of the country.
Nakdong River in the context of Han River (Korea)
The Han River (Korean: 한강) is a river in the central region of the Korean peninsula, with some of its tributaries and drainage basin in North Korea. It is classified as a national first-class river in South Korea. The Han River currently has eight river islands: Nanjido, Yeouido, Ttukseom, Nodeulseom, Seoraeseom, Sebitseom, Bamseom, and Seonyudo.
The Han has the highest flow rate of any river on the Korean Peninsula and also has the largest basin area. In terms of length, It is the fourth longest river on the Korean peninsula after the Amnok, Tuman, and Nakdong rivers. The river begins as two smaller rivers in the eastern mountains of the Korean peninsula, which then converge near Seoul.
Nakdong River in the context of Gaya confederacy
The Kaya confederacy (Korean: 가야; Hanja: 加倻; pronounced [ka.ja]), also romanized as Gaya confederacy, was a Korean confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period.
The traditional period used by historians for Kaya chronology is AD 42–532. Geumgwan Kaya, the ruling state of the confederacy, was conquered in 532 and the last holdout, Daegaya fell in 562. According to archaeological evidence in the third and fourth centuries some of the city-states of Byeonhan evolved into the Kaya confederacy, which was later annexed by Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The individual polities that made up the Kaya confederacy have been characterized as small city-states. The material culture remains of Kaya culture mainly consist of burials and their contents of mortuary goods that have been excavated by archaeologists. Archaeologists interpret mounded burial cemeteries of the late third and early fourth centuries such as Daeseong-dong in Gimhae and Bokcheon-dong in Busan as the royal burial grounds of Kaya polities.
Nakdong River in the context of Jinhan
Jinhan (Korean: 진한; pronounced [tɕin.ɦan]) was a loose confederacy of chiefdoms that existed from around the 1st century BCE to the 4th century CE in the southern Korean peninsula, to the east of the Nakdong River valley, Gyeongsang Province. Jinhan was one of the Samhan (or "Three Hans"), along with Byeonhan and Mahan. Apparently descending from the Jin state of southern Korea, Jinhan was absorbed by the later Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.