Calculated from the population and area above; their reference dates may differ.
On a familiar scale
≈ 72% of Changhua County (reference rung)
The closest rung on the Taiwan reference ladder; see the sources below.
Land per resident
238 m² of land per resident
The inverse of population density, from the same area and population figures.
The outline is fitted to this frame, not a map for measuring distances. Outlying islands may make the main landmass appear smaller.
Change the yardstick
Busan is “how many times” what?
The multiples on this site default to Taiwan. Pick a place you know and the area, population and density are recalculated against it; your choice is remembered in this browser and carries to other pages.
Busan Metropolitan City's full administrative territory, South Korea's second-largest city and its largest port. Population is resident registration population (주민등록인구) as at 2025-12-31, from the same Ministry of the Interior and Safety annual report used for Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan and Sejong — a different series from the Statistics Korea register-based census (등록센서스) that the South Korea and Seoul pages use, though the two series are usually close. Area is this same report's official administrative-area figure at 2025-12-31, not a figure computed from the map outline. 🔴 Both wired geometry sources fail this site's land-outline bar for Busan, previously documented in docs/island-data-sources.md: OpenStreetMap's administrative relation encloses about 2,018 km² (+161%, a maritime jurisdiction boundary, not a coastline) and Natural Earth's feature measures about 282 km² (−63%, omitting large parts of the city's outer districts). The outline instead uses GADM 4.1's Busan polygon, which measures about 783 km² against the 771.67 km² official figure (+1.5%) — within the tolerance already accepted for Macao and Singapore on this site. GADM is licensed for non-commercial use only; Atlas is not commercialised. See docs/island-data-sources.md.
Average administrative density does not describe population distribution in every neighborhood. Compare population definitions and reference dates alongside the numbers.
Place guide
How should this Busan profile be read?
Busan Metropolitan City covers 771.67 km² and had 3,241,600 registered residents at year-end 2025, about 4,200 people per km². It is South Korea’s second-largest city and its busiest port, built into the hills around a natural harbour on the country’s southeastern coast.
The numbers were never the problem
Busan’s population and area have been documented on this site since the B6 batch: resident registration population (주민등록인구) and official administrative area, both at 2025-12-31, from the same Ministry of the Interior and Safety report used for Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan and Sejong. What was missing was an outline that measured land rather than territorial water — this page exists because that piece was finally solved.
OpenStreetMap’s administrative relation for Busan encloses about 2,018 km² against the official 771.67 km², +161%, because it follows a maritime administrative boundary far out to sea — the same failure mode already rejected for Jeju and Bali provinces on this site. Natural Earth’s Busan feature undercounts instead, at about 282 km², −63%, omitting large parts of the city’s outer districts.
What GADM 4.1 gets right
GADM 4.1’s Busan polygon measures about 783 km², +1.5% against the official land area — well inside the tolerance this site already accepted for Macao and Singapore. Its 18 rings include the harbour islands (Yeongdo, Gadeokdo and others) that give Busan its port geography, not just the mainland districts.
GADM is licensed for academic and other non-commercial use only, not for redistribution or commercial use without permission. Atlas is not commercialised, so this is disclosed on the page rather than treated as a blocker — the same way OpenStreetMap’s Open Database License is disclosed for every OSM-backed outline on this site.
Questions people ask
About Busan’s area and population
How big is Busan?
Busan covers 771.7 km² (reference date 2025-12-31). On the Taiwan reference ladder: ≈ 72% of Changhua County.
What is the population of Busan?
3.2 million — 3,241,600 as of 2025-12-31. The scope of that count is set out under “Scope and definitions” on this page.
What is the population density of Busan?
About 4,200.8 people per km², derived from the area and population above, whose reference dates may differ. An administrative average does not describe how crowded any particular neighbourhood is.
What do these Busan figures include?
Busan Metropolitan City's full administrative territory, South Korea's second-largest city and its largest port. Population is resident registration population (주민등록인구) as at 2025-12-31, from the same Ministry of the Interior and Safety annual report used for Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan and Sejong — a different series from the Statistics Korea register-based census (등록센서스) that the South Korea and Seoul pages use, though the two series are usually close. Area is this same report's official administrative-area figure at 2025-12-31, not a figure computed from the map outline. 🔴 Both wired geometry sources fail this site's land-outline bar for Busan, previously documented in docs/island-data-sources.md: OpenStreetMap's administrative relation encloses about 2,018 km² (+161%, a maritime jurisdiction boundary, not a coastline) and Natural Earth's feature measures about 282 km² (−63%, omitting large parts of the city's outer districts). The outline instead uses GADM 4.1's Busan polygon, which measures about 783 km² against the 771.67 km² official figure (+1.5%) — within the tolerance already accepted for Macao and Singapore on this site. GADM is licensed for non-commercial use only; Atlas is not commercialised. See docs/island-data-sources.md.