TAEGU

also spelled Taiku, or Daegu, city and provincial capital, Kyongsang-puk do (province), southeastern South Korea. Taegu is Korea's third largest city and has the status of a special city, with administrative status equal to that of a province. It lies east of the confluence of the Naktong and the Kumho rivers and 55 miles (90 km) north-northwest of Pusan. The city lies in a valley rimmed by low mountains that reach heights of 3,500 feet (1,100 m). For centuries Taegu was the administrative, economic, and cultural centre of southeastern Korea. During the Yi dynasty (13921910) it was the capital of the province of Kyongsang (until the province was divided into North and South Kyongsang in 1896) and one of the country's three big market cities. Taegu underwent explosive growth from the 1950s and increased tenfold in population in the decades after the Korean War (195053). The city's textile industries are particularly important, and there are also metal and machine-building industries. Taegu is best known, however, for the quality of the apples grown in the surrounding area, which are exported throughout East and Southeast Asia. The local apple-growing industry began to prosper after U.S. missionaries in the early 20th century grafted cuttings from American apple trees onto the local crab apple trees. West of Taegu lies the Haein Temple, a Buddhist temple complex that was begun in AD 802 and contains a number of valuable religious treasures, chiefly the Tipitaka. The latter is a collection of more than 80,000 wooden blocks engraved with Buddhist scriptures. Carved in the 13th century, these blocks contain the most complete set of Buddhist religious texts in Asia. Among Taegu's other attractions are the Talsong Fortress, a fort that protected Taegu for many centuries but is now a popular park, and Apsan Park, from which a cable car takes visitors up to Ap Mountain for views of the city. Taegu is home to five universities and several colleges, chief among them Kyongbuk National University (founded 1946) and Yongnam University. The city is connected with Seoul and Pusan by air, rail, and highway. Other railways and roads intersect at the city. Area 176 square miles (456 square km). Pop. (1990 prelim.) 2,228,834.