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Iksan
Iksan; 익산
	— Municipal City —
Korean transcription(s)
- Hangul	익산시
- Hanja	益山市
- Revised Romanization	Iksan-si
- McCune-Reischauer	Iksan-si
	The local power plant was built by the failed Enron corporation of Houston, Texas.
	; Emblem of Iksan
	; Emblem of Iksan
	; Iksan Location in South Korea
	Coordinates: 35°56′38″N 126°57′16″E / 35.94389°N 126.95444°E
Country	South Korea
Region	Honam
Administrative divisions	1 eup, 14 myeon, 12 dong
	Area
- Total	507.07 km2 (195.8 sq mi)
	Population (2006)
- Total	317,920
- Density	659/km2 (1,706.8/sq mi)
- Dialect	Jeolla

"Iri" redirects here. For acronyms, see IRI.

Iksan is a city and major railway junction in North Jeolla Province, (commonly transliterated as Jeollabuk-do or Chollabuk-do) South Korea.

The city center and railway junction was formerly called "Iri" (Hangul: 이리시; Hanja: 裡里市; RR: Iri-si), but merged with Iksan County (Iksan-gun) in 1995.

The railway junction is located at the point where Jeolla, Janghang Line and Gunsan Lines meet the Honam Line, and is served by frequent train service to/from Seoul, Daejeon, Gwangju, Mokpo, Jeonju, Suncheon, and Yeosu.

Iksan National College, Won Buddhism Graduate School, Wonkwang Health Science College, and Wonkwang University are all located in Iksan.

In late November 2006, Korean authorities quarantined a farm in Iksan and began culling poultry and livestock within 3 kilometers radius, to contain an outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus.^[1]

[edit] History

Iksan is situated in the northwestern part of Jeollabuk-do. In the east of Iksan are the rugged mountains of Mt. Cheonho and Mt. Mireuk at the edge of the Noryeong Mountains, and in the northwest the range of Mt. Hamra leading to a series of hills and a great stream, which have formed a fertile plain, towards the west. Iksan borders Nonsan-gun and Buyeo-gun, Chuncheongnam-do, divided by Keum-gang[river] in the north. It faces the Okgu Plains in the west and the Kimje Plains divided by Mankyeong-gang in the south.

[edit] Geography

The geography of Iksan appears to embrace Okgu and Keumman Plains leading to the West Sea [Yellow Sea] just as a mother holds a baby. As it is located very near the sea where ships can transport a wide variety of products, Iksan has played a role as a central area of logistics as well as traffic for a long time.^[2]

[edit] Transportation

Iksan city has a great number of itinerant people because of its locale as the junction where the Jeolla Line, Honam Line and Janghang Line connect. Tourists have increasingly visited the Iksan Jewelry Industrial Complex, the largest jewelry complex in Korea, year by year.

KTX and Saemaul trains as well as frequent buses service Iksan. Iksan is one of the most important transportation centers in the south-west of South Korea.