Jinhae

Jinhae (Seomun: 辰海, Jinmun: 진해), formally the Jinhae Metropolitan Municipality (Seomun: 辰海廣域市, Jinmun: 진해광역시), is the second most populous city of Zhenia. As one of the five Metropolitan Municipalities of the nation, it is governed by the Jinhae Metropolitan Government. It faces the Gulf of Zhen, an inland sea of the Gulf of Danguk, to the east and borders the provinces of Balhae, Changbaek and Imhae respectively. Being home to over 15 million residents and its metropolitan area altogether forming the Taimir Delta Megalopolis, Jinhae is a major hub for trade, transportation and finance, as well as the largest city in mainland Zhenia today.

Situated just north of the Taimir River's and facing the Gulf of Danguk, what is now Jinhae was considered an important port functioning as a major shipping port altogether handling the riverine traffic throughout the Taimir River basin. However, it grew into one of the most important cities in mainland Zhenia as it was selected as one of the first ten ports open to Shindan after the Treaty of Sanggyeong was ratified. Becoming a directly-governed city under Shindanese rule in the early days of the Zhenian Civil War, it became one of the centers of trade as well as the influx of goods, Zhenian migrants and Shindanese investment into the mainland; by the end of the 19th century, it had already overtaken Junggyeong as the largest Zhenian city outside the Danguk Peninsula. Although considerable portions of the city was burned to the ground due to allied air strikes during the later stages of the Second Great War, it was rebuilt during the Third Republic as a hub of trade and finance in mainland Zhenia, with major segments being redeveloped over the years.

Although its stance as the "second heart of Zhenia" is being challenged by the growth of Changan and Shinhang to the north, Jinhae remains the largest city in mainland Zhenia both by population and by economic size. The Port of Jinhae, with recent expansions, remains the largest in the nation, handling over 35 million TEUs in 2019, while remaining a major  in modern commerce. It is also home to the annual Zhenia International Trade Exposition, the single largest in the nation. Significant redevelopment upon older neighborhoods throughout the city has raised further concerns regarding and the significant altering of the city's demographics, politics and culture, as well as the city's identity.

Geography


While the old settlement of Jinhae was located around 5 kilometres inland, around what is now Haebang Hill, most of modern-day Jinhae is built near the northern estuaries of the Taimir River, around the rich formed by the deposition from the Taimir River Delta, as well as land reclamation projects along the river and coast. As a result, most of the area administered by Jinhae is low in elevation, with an average elevation of lower than 10 meters (33 feet); its lowest point is located near the Port of Jinhae, while its highest point is Mount Muhak, at 318.9 meters, on its border with Changbaek Province. Since most of the area around Jinhae consists of, most high-rise buildings in the city have deep concrete fundamentals stretching down to bedrock to avoid sinking into the ground.

Most of the geography around Jinhae has been shaped by the existence of the Taimir River, the single longest river in the nation. Even setting aside the existence of the alluvial plain as a result of the river's delta, the city is well-known for its rich water resources and is home to several smaller streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, although some newer reservoirs have been built between causeways and the mainland along the coast. Additional canals have been built within city limits at an effort to control water flow along the river.

Climate
Situated just north of the, Jinhae has a ( Cfa). Due to it being under the influence of local monsoon winds, its monsoon seasons on average start earlier and end later than the much of the Golden Arc region, with monsoons starting in late April and ending by early October. The city experiences four distinct seasons, although its low temperatures rarely fall below freezing even under the influence of dry, cold continental winds in the winter. Its long summers are hot and humid, with most of it overlapping with the monsoon season: some downpoors and freak thunderstorms, as a result of atmospheric instability, are also observed in the summer months. The city is particularly susceptible to from late May to August, although no considerable damage has been observed since the 2010 typhoon Chammae.

Early spring and autumn are regarded as the most pleasant seasons in the city, both directly before and after the monsoon seasons. Temperatures in the summer can be extreme, with an average of 10.1 days exceeding 35 °C (95 °F) annually. The lowest temperature recorded in Jinhae was −4.8 °C (23°F), measured on January 15, 1979, while the highest extreme in Jinhae was 38.9 °C (102.2°F), measured on August 1, 2018, during a series of record-breaking nationwide heat waves in 2018. The effects of and subsequent climate change is expected to bring more extreme climate trends in the region, particularly in the summer seasons with hotter summers with higher concentrations of rain over a few days.

The waters surrounding Jinhae are significantly influenced by in the summer seasons, which in part are aided by the sediment and microorganisms entering the Gulf via the Taimir River. The decomposing algae in the area, releasing significant amounts of gas, has resulted in odor resembling those of rotten eggs in some extreme cases. Changing currents amid climate change, however, have resulted in stronger currents entering the Balhae Inlet all the way to the waters near Jinhae, resulting in less accumulation of algal blooms in the area.

Government


Jinhae is primarily governed by the Jinhae Metropolitan Government, a provincial-level government exercising equal rights as nearby provinces. The government is headed by Metropolitan Administrator Jinsu Choi of the Liberal Party, who remains the first Metropolitan Administrator of Jinhae to have been democratically re-elected, while the city's elected body comprises of the Jinhae Metropolitan Assembly with a total of 87 assemblymen as of 2020. On the national government, Jinhae has been represented by 5 Sangseowon representatives and 16 National Assemblymen.

Public transport
The Jinhae Metro is home to the second-largest urban network in the nation, closely behind that of Daedo and the Greater Capital area. Combined with commuter rail, it serves almost 3 billion annual riders, linking the city with several nearby cities.

Roads and rails
Jinhae was developed as a major node of transportation networks in mainland Zhenia, being a key converging point in the nation's road and rail network as a whole.

Jinhae's intercity passenger rail demand is primarily handled by four hub stations across the city - Jinhae Central Station, Jinhae North Station, Taimir Delta Station and Jinhae West Station - all of which split passenger rail demands relatively evenly compared to other cities. Jinhae Central Station, the largest of the four hub stations, is also the third-busiest railway station by number of passengers. All four hub stations are served by ZNX trains as well as other services that connect Jinhae to several major cities in the nation.

Air and water transport




Jinhae is one of the nation's busiest aviation hubs. It is home to three airports - Jinhae City Airport, Songsan International Airport and Shin Jinhae International Airport. Shin Jinhae International Airport is the city's largest international hub, serving over 78 million passengers in 1609 AC, handling most of the nation's long-haul and short-haul international flights, while the remaining two airports primarily handle short-haul passenger and cargo flights and select short-haul flights respectively. In particular, the flight route between Shin Jinhae International Airport and Daedo's Daedo Capital International Airport is the single busiest route in the nation by number of passengers, hauling around 7.2 million passengers as of 1609 AC. Shin Jinhae International Airport in particular is the nation's second-largest passenger hub, behind Daedo Capital International Airport, while it is one of the two airports in the nation offering direct flights to all six of the world's continents.

The Port of Jinhae, maintained by the Shin Jinhae Ports Corporation, remains the nation's single largest container port as well as one of the world's largest, handling over 35 million TEUs in 2019, despite facing fierce competition from Zhuhae and Gwangseong in recent years. The port has undergone major expansions to the north amid concerns that it is difficult to handle larger container vessels given its location. In addition to being a container hub, Jinhae is the eastern terminus of the river ferries along the Taimir River, as well as a major cruise port as the gateway to the Gulf of Danguk: in 2010, the Port of Jinhae altogether handled 301 cruise ships and 2.03 million passengers via its seaport.