second largest city by area
in the province after
Andong,
covering 1,324 km
(511 sq mi)
with a population of 269,343 people according to the 2008 census.
Gyeongju is 370 km (230 mi)
southeast of
Seoul,
and 55 km (34 mi) east of
the provincial capital,
Daegu.
The city borders
Cheongdo
and
Yeongcheon
to the west,
Ulsan
to the south and
Pohang
to the north, while to the east lies
the coast of the
Sea of Japan
(East Sea).
Numerous low mountains—outliers of the
Taebaek range—are scattered around the
city.
Gyeongju was the
capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla (57 BC – 935 AD) which ruled about
two-thirds of the Korean
Peninsula
