- published: 17 Mar 2015
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Daegu (Korean: [tɛɡu]), (대구, 大邱, literally 'large hill') formerly spelled Taegu, and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the nation with over 2.5 million residents. Daegu is the capital and principal city of the surrounding Gyeongsangbuk-do province, although it is not legally part of it. The two areas combined are often referred to as Daegu-Gyeongbuk, with a total population of over 5 million.
Daegu is located in south-eastern Korea about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the seacoast, near the Geumho River and its mainstream, Nakdong River in Gyeongsang-do. The Daegu basin, where the city lies, is the central plain of the Yeongnam region. In ancient times, there was a proto-country named Jinhan, to which the current Daegu area belonged. Later Daegu was part of the Silla Kingdom which unified the Korean Peninsula. During the Joseon Dynasty period, the city was the capital of Gyeongsang-do which was one of the traditional eight provinces of the country.