Sinan County, South Jeolla

For the county in China, see Sinan County, Guizhou.

Sinan County (sometimes spelled Shinan) is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. The county consists of 111 inhabited islands and 719 uninhabited islands. The number of islands in this county accounts for 25% of all islands in South Korea.

Sinan 신안군 新安郡
County
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul	신안군
• Hanja	新安郡
• Revised Romanization	Sinan-gun
• McCune-Reischauer	Sinan-gun
A town in Heuksando, one of the islands in Sinan county.
Flag Emblem of Sinan
Location in South Korea
Country	South Korea
Province	South Jeolla
Administrative divisions	2 eup, 12 myeon
Area
• Total	655.68 km2 (253.16 sq mi)
Population  (September 2024[1])
• Total	38,133
• Density	81/km2 (210/sq mi)
• Dialect	Jeolla
Area code	+82-61-2xx

Big islands among them are Anjwado (45.2 km²), Aphaedo (44.3 km²), Bigeumdo (43.1 km²), Dochodo (40.3 km²), Imjado (43.2 km²), Amtaedo (38.7 km²), Jeungdo (37.2 km²), Jangsando (24.3 km²), Haui-do (16.1 km²), and Heuksando (19.7 km²). The sea area is a continental shelf with less than 15 meter in depth.^[2] Sinan County is known for its specialities: Skate (fish) and Cheonilyeom (천일염, a Korean type of sea salt).

History

In 1975, the shipwreck of a 14-th century ship between China and Japan was discovered in Sinan, known as Shinan ship.

Crime

Crime flourish in the more remote parts of Sinan islands. The more notable cases included the slavery on salt farms in Sinan County in 2014 and the Sinan County parents raping teacher case [ko] in 2016.^[3][4][5]

Administrative divisions

Sinan County has two eup (읍) and twelve myeon (면).

Name	Hangul	Hanja	Area (km2)	Population (2021)[6]
Jido-eup	지도읍	智島邑	79.85	4,226
Aphae-eup	압해읍	押海邑	67.55	5,795
Jeungdo-myeon	증도면	曾島面	33.68	1,463
Imja-myeon	임자면	荏子面	47.25	3,182
Jaeun-myeon	자은면	慈恩面	52.79	2,265
Bigeum-myeon	비금면	飛禽面	51.72	3,555
Docho-myeon	도초면	都草面	55.45	2,513
Heuksan-myeon	흑산면	黑山面	48.66	2,300
Haui-myeon	하의면	荷衣面	34.64	1,764
Sinui-myeon	신의면	新衣面	33.26	1,551
Jangsan-myeon	장산면	長山面	29.19	1,561
Anjwa-myeon	안좌면	安佐面	59.97	2,700
Palgeum-myeon	팔금면	八禽面	18.44	974
Amtae-myeon	암태면	岩泰面	43.23	2,043

Islands

• Anjwado (안좌도, 安佐島): 45.2 km²
• Aphaedo (압해도, 押海島): 44.3 km²
• Bigeumdo (비금도, 飛禽島): 43.1 km²
• Dochodo (도초도, 都草島): 40.3 km²
• Imjado (임자도, 荏子島): 43.2 km²
• Amtaedo (암태도, 岩泰島): 38.7 km²
• Jeungdo (증도, 曾島): 37.2 km²
• Jangsando (장산도, 長山島): 24.3 km²
• Heuksando (흑산도, 黑山島): 19.7 km²
• Hauido (하의도, 荷衣島): 16.1 km²
• Gageodo (가거도, 可居島): 9.2 km²
• Hongdo (홍도, 紅島): 6.47 km²
• Uido (우이도; 牛耳島): 10.7 km^2[7]

Climate

Climate data for Heuksando, Sinan (1997–2020 normals, extremes 1997–present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	16.5 (61.7)	22.0 (71.6)	23.3 (73.9)	25.7 (78.3)	28.8 (83.8)	30.1 (86.2)	32.8 (91.0)	34.9 (94.8)	31.1 (88.0)	28.0 (82.4)	22.6 (72.7)	18.5 (65.3)	34.9 (94.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	5.5 (41.9)	6.5 (43.7)	9.9 (49.8)	14.5 (58.1)	19.1 (66.4)	22.8 (73.0)	25.9 (78.6)	27.9 (82.2)	24.1 (75.4)	19.4 (66.9)	14.0 (57.2)	8.2 (46.8)	16.5 (61.7)
Daily mean °C (°F)	3.4 (38.1)	3.8 (38.8)	6.5 (43.7)	10.7 (51.3)	15.2 (59.4)	19.2 (66.6)	22.9 (73.2)	24.7 (76.5)	21.3 (70.3)	16.9 (62.4)	11.5 (52.7)	5.9 (42.6)	13.5 (56.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	1.5 (34.7)	1.8 (35.2)	3.9 (39.0)	7.8 (46.0)	12.3 (54.1)	16.6 (61.9)	20.6 (69.1)	22.5 (72.5)	19.4 (66.9)	15.1 (59.2)	9.5 (49.1)	3.9 (39.0)	11.2 (52.2)
Record low °C (°F)	−8.7 (16.3)	−5.9 (21.4)	−3.9 (25.0)	0.6 (33.1)	6.3 (43.3)	11.1 (52.0)	15.6 (60.1)	17.5 (63.5)	14.8 (58.6)	4.6 (40.3)	−0.2 (31.6)	−4.8 (23.4)	−8.7 (16.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	23.0 (0.91)	32.8 (1.29)	50.8 (2.00)	88.8 (3.50)	96.7 (3.81)	157.5 (6.20)	208.1 (8.19)	211.2 (8.31)	120.5 (4.74)	58.7 (2.31)	46.1 (1.81)	33.1 (1.30)	1,127.3 (44.38)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	9.2	7.5	7.8	8.9	8.2	9.5	12.5	11.5	9.4	6.6	8.1	10.7	109.9
Average snowy days	9.0	5.1	1.7	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	7.5	24.2
Average relative humidity (%)	69.3	71.1	73.3	77.3	81.2	88.3	92.9	89.3	84.4	75.2	71.5	68.9	78.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours	103.9	140.6	199.9	205.2	200.3	158.5	118.3	187.1	185.1	204.0	147.1	109.0	1,959
Percentage possible sunshine	30.7	44.9	50.3	51.4	44.1	35.6	26.0	45.2	48.4	58.1	47.7	35.2	42.9
Source: Korea Meteorological Administration (percent sunshine 1981–2010)[8][9][10]

Notable people from Sinan County

• Kim Dae-jung (Hangul: 김대중), Former president of South Korea (born in Hauido)
• Lee Sedol (Hangul: 이세돌), South Korean former professional Go player of 9 dan rank (born in Bigeumdo)
• Whanki Kim (Hangul: 김환기), South Korean pioneering abstract artist (born in Anjwado)
• Jinwoo (Real Name: Kim Jin-woo, Hangul: 김진우), singer, dancer, model, actor and K-pop idol, member of K-pop boygroup WINNER (born in Imjado)
• Cha Ryong (Hangul: 차룡), South Korean actor (born in Bigeumdo)

Twin towns – sister cities

Sinan is twinned with:

• Gangnam-gu, South Korea
• Mapo-gu, South Korea
• Nowon-gu, South Korea
• Ongjin, South Korea
• Gyeongsan, South Korea
• Gunpo, South Korea
• Dawa, China

See also

• Geography of South Korea
• Shinan ship
• Slavery on salt farms in Sinan County