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Andong is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of almost 185,000. The Nakdong River flows through the city. Andong is a market centre for the surrounding area, which is predominantly agricultural.
Since the 1970s Andong has developed rapidly, although the population has fallen by nearly seventy thousand as people have moved away to Seoul and other urban centers. In the late 1990s and early 2000s it became a tourism and cultural centre.
Andong is known as a centre of culture and folk traditions. The surrounding area maintains many ancient traditions, so in mid October the Andong Folk Festival is held every year. One of the most famous aspects of these cultural festivities are the Andong masks.
Andong National University, specialising in education and Korean folklore has grown rapidly since the 1970s.
History
Around 0 AD Andong was founded by the Jinhan people, and it was known as Gochang. During the Three Kingdoms period, the area was controlled by the Silla kingdom. The Battle of Gochang in 930 was fought here between Hubaekje forces and the Goryeo army led by Wanggeon, who won control of the city and renamed it Andong.
After the ascent of the Joseon dynasty to the throne of Korea, Andong became a centre of Confucianism. The area was extremely conservative for a long time and produced many leading confucian scholars. Toe-gye Yi Hwang (1501-70), one of the most prominent of all Korean scholars, came from Andong. During this period Andong and its principal families were influencial within Korean political circles.
After the 16th century Andong became less influential until the early 19th century, when a marriage of the local Kim family resulted in strong influence on the royal family.
Andong was the site of intense fighting during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Although the city was almost destroyed, it was quickly rebuilt. In 1976 the Andong Dam was built, providing the city with a reliable source of electricity.
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