Sister cities of Incheon

The Incheon Metropolitan City (Korean: 인천, 仁川 Korean pronunciation: [intɕʰʌn]) literally 'wise river', formerly romanized as Inchon, is located in northwestern South Korea. The city was home to just 4,700 people when Jemulpo port was built in 1883. Today 2.76 million people live in the city, making it Korea’s third most populous city after Seoul and Busan Metropolitan City. While people have inhabited the area from the New Stone Age, the city’s growth was assured in modern times with the development of its port due to its natural advantages as a coastal city and its proximity to the South Korean capital at Seoul. It is part of the Seoul National Capital Area, along with Seoul itself and Gyeonggi Province; as such, Incheon is the world's fourth-largest suburb by population (after New Taipei, Yokohama, and Ekurhuleni). A suburb here is defined as: not a central city from a business or infrastructure sense

Incheon has since led the economic development of Korea by opening its port to the outside world, issuing in the modernization of Korea as a center of industrialization. In 2003, the city was designated as Korea’s first free economic zone. Since then, large local companies and global enterprises have increasingly invested in Incheon Free Economic Zone, including Samsung which chose Songdo International City as its new investment destination for its bio industry.

As an international city, Incheon has held numerous large scale international conferences, such as the Incheon Global Fair & Festival in 2009. The 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 will also be held in Incheon from September 19, 2014. Incheon has established itself as a major transportation hub in northeast Asia with the world renowned Incheon International Airport and Incheon Port. The city is also home to the Green Climate Fund, an international organization addressing environmental issues.