Gyeongsangbuk-do

Gyeongsangbuk-do demonstrates niche partitioning across a millennium—Korea's largest province (18,420 km²) where ancient heritage, heavy industry, and electronics manufacturing coexist in distinct ecological zones. Gyeongju served as capital of the Silla Kingdom for nearly 1,000 years (57 BC–935 AD), accumulating 20% of Korea's cultural assets and five UNESCO World Heritage sites. This frozen capital preserves a genetic library of Korean civilization that tourism and heritage laws protect from development.

Contrasting sharply, Pohang became Korea's steel capital when POSCO began production in 1973 under Park Chung-hee's industrial policy. Now the world's sixth-largest steel producer, POSCO transformed Pohang into the province's largest city and attracted ₩11.87 trillion in related investment. A 2017 earthquake struck this industrial keystone, prompting special compensation legislation—recognition that the province's economy depends on Pohang's continued operation. Meanwhile, Gumi emerged as the electronics capital, partitioning yet another niche in the provincial ecosystem.

The province embodies path dependence at geological timescales. The same geographic features that made Gyeongju defensible for Silla kings—mountain barriers, fertile valleys—later isolated the province from Seoul's economic gravity. When the provincial capital relocated from Daegu to Andong in 2016, officials acknowledged this tension between heritage preservation and industrial development. The region now experiments with next-generation industries: Gyeongju hosts small modular reactor research, while Pohang develops battery recycling technologies. Whether ancient capital and steel city can evolve together tests the limits of niche partitioning strategy.