Travel Jeju Island

Introduction

Welcome to the world’s natural heritage Jeju!

Jeju Island is the premier tourist destination in Korea. Scenic beaches, waterfalls, cliffs and caves lie in harmony. It boasts a subtropical climate, much warmer than the rest of the Korean Peninsula, and is the location of many citrus fruit farms. This oval-shaped volcanic island is dominated by Halla Mountain, the South Korea’s highest mountain standing 1,950 meters high. On the mountain, flora and fauna of both temperate and tropical varieties coexist. The island is 73km from west to east and 31km from north to south. Because of its isolation, Jeju Island has developed its own distinct culture and traditions; including the commonly found “stone grandfather” statues and matriarchal family structures. The island offers visitors a wide range of activities: hiking on Halla Mountain, trekking on Olle trails, catching sunrises and sunsets over the ocean, viewing majestic waterfalls, riding horses, or just lying around on the sandy beaches.

First place in the world to obtain UNESCO designations in all 3 natural sciences!

Jeju Island was formed by volcanic activity and the entire island itself is like a volcanic museum. There are 368 oreum on the island (※ oreum : It means ‘small mountain’ in Jeju dialect) and over 160 lava tubes are scattered on the island. It’s very rare to find a small island that has both oreum and caves.
The island was designated as a Biosphere Reserve in 2002, a World Natural Heritage in 2007 and a Global Geopark in 2010, making this sub-tropical island only place on Earth to receive all three UNESCO designations in natural sciences. Jeju has now become a ‘treasure island of environmental assets’ that the world has to preserve and cherish.

General Information

- Formation : created from volcanic eruptions about 2 million years ago
- Area : 1,848㎢ (※ length of coastline: 530.09㎞)
- Annual average temperature : 16℃
- Population : 421,683 (2010)
- Number of small islands off Jeju : 90 (8 manned and 82 unmanned islands)

More information can be found at

http://english.jeju.go.kr
http://www.hijeju.or.kr/english/main.html
http://www.ijto.or.kr/english