Last Year, National Land Area Increased to Four Times Yeouido... Forests and Farmlands Account for 82% of Total

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Announces '2021 Cadastral Statistics'

(Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 2nd the publication of the "2021 Cadastral Statistics," which serve as the basis for establishing national land policies and administrative work.

According to the cadastral statistics, as of December 31 last year, 39,192,000 land parcels were registered nationwide, with a total area surveyed at 100,413 km².

This represents an increase of 11.3 km² compared to the previous year, which is about four times the area of Yeouido (2.9 km²). The increase in registered area in the cadastral records is due to various development projects such as reclamation and shared water surface landfills.

Also, examining the area changes of major facilities over the past 10 years, compared to the "2011 Cadastral Statistics," forest and agricultural lands such as woodland, rice paddies, and fields decreased by 1,847 km² (-2%), while living infrastructure facilities such as rice paddies, factory sites, and school sites increased by 885 km² (23%).

Transportation infrastructure facilities such as parking lots, roads, and railway sites increased by 573 km² (19%), and other lands increased by 768 km² (9%).

Among the 17 metropolitan local governments nationwide, Gyeongbuk (19,034 km², 19.0%) had the largest area, followed by Gangwon (16,830 km², 16.8%) and Jeonnam (12,348 km², 12.3%). Sejong (464.9 km², 0.5%), Gwangju (501.1 km², 0.5%), and Daejeon (539.7 km², 0.5%) were identified as the smallest metropolitan local governments.

Over the past 10 years, areas that increased in size were Gangwon by 137 km², Jeonnam by 101 km², and Incheon by 36 km². Chungnam and Chungbuk decreased by 384 km² and 26 km² respectively due to the establishment of Sejong City.

Among the land categories (land use) registered in the cadastral records, woodland (63.3%) accounted for the largest proportion, followed by rice paddies (11.1%) and fields (7.5%). Forest and agricultural lands make up about 81.9% of the total area of South Korea.

Additionally, by ownership classification, over the past 10 years, the area of state and public land and corporate-owned land increased, while privately owned land decreased by 4.9%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.