Editing Gyeongju (section)

==Demographics==
When the Silla kingdom reached the peak of its development, Gyeongju was estimated to have a million residents, four times the city's population in 2008.<ref name="EncyKorea Gyeongju 1" /><ref name="Breen 82" /> In recent years, Gyeongju has followed the same trends that have affected the rest of South Korea. Like the country as a whole, Gyeongju has seen its population age and the size of families shrink. For instance, the mean household size is 2.8 people. Because this has fallen in recent years, there are more households in the city as of 2008 (105,009) than there were in 2003, even though the population has fallen.<ref name="gyeongju2">{{cite web|url=http://www.gyeongju.go.kr//upload/board/2118/2013/1//20130124100421_1.pdf|title=2013 Statistical Report Gyeongju|publisher=Gyeongju City}}</ref>

Like most of South Korea's smaller cities, Gyeongju has seen a steady drop in population in recent years. From 2002 to 2008, the city lost 16,557 people.<ref name="status quo">{{cite web|url=http://gyeongju.go.kr/inFrame.asp?how_chk=&hdnPage=&Kwa01Code=&s_sy=&s_sm=&s_ey=&s_em=&SearchType=&SearchString=&reqNum=&vDiscrNo=&name=&result=&discrHash=&PCODE=A0106&main=1&sub=6 |script-title=ko:인구현황|trans-title=Status-quo of the population|publisher=Gyeongju City|access-date=2009-08-02}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This is primarily due to the migration of workers seeking employment in the major South Korean cities. In 2007, about 1,975 more people moved away from the city each year than moved in.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gyeongju.go.kr/administrative/administrative/tonggye2008/3.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5ikHjRyuP?url=http://gyeongju.go.kr/administrative/administrative/tonggye2008/3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-08-03 |title=11. Internal Migration |publisher=Gyeongju City |access-date=2009-08-02 |work=Statistical yearbook of Gyeongju 2008 |page=105 }}</ref> During the same period, births exceeded deaths by roughly 450 per year, a significant number but not enough to offset the losses due to migration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gyeongju.go.kr/administrative/administrative/tonggye2008/3.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5ikHjRyuP?url=http://gyeongju.go.kr/administrative/administrative/tonggye2008/3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-08-03 |title=10. Vital Statistics |publisher=Gyeongju City |access-date=2009-08-02 |work=Statistical yearbook of Gyeongju 2008 |page=104 }}</ref>

Gyeongju has a small but growing population of non-Koreans. In 2007, there were 4,671 foreigners living in Gyeongju. This number corresponds to 1.73% of the total population, more than double the figure from 2003. The growth was largely in immigrants from other Asian countries, many of whom are employed in the automotive parts industry. Countries of origin whose numbers have risen include the [[Philippines]], China, [[Taiwan]], [[Indonesia]], and [[Vietnam]]. The number of residents from Japan, the United States, and Canada fell significantly in the 2003–2007 period.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gyeongju.go.kr/administrative/administrative/tonggye2008/3.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5ikHjRyuP?url=http://gyeongju.go.kr/administrative/administrative/tonggye2008/3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-08-03 |title=Registered Foreigners by Major Nationality |publisher=Gyeongju City |access-date=2009-08-02 |work=Statistical yearbook of Gyeongju 2008 |page=109 }}</ref>

===Dialect===
The city has a distinctive [[dialect]] which it shares with northern portions of [[Ulsan]]. This dialect is similar to the general [[Gyeongsang dialect]], but retains distinctive features of its own. Some linguists have treated the distinctive characteristics of the Gyeongju dialect as vestiges of the [[Silla language]]. For instance, the contrast between the local dialect form "{{lang|ko|소내기}}" (''sonaegi'') and the standard "{{lang|ko|[[wikt:소나기|소나기]]}}" (''sonagi,'' meaning "rainshower") has been seen as reflecting the ancient [[phoneme|phonemic]] character of the Silla language.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Yi, Seong-gyu|year=2003 |script-title=ko:문학 작품에 나타난 방언 |trans-title=Dialect appearing in literary works (''Munhak jakpum-e natanan bang-eon.'') |journal=SAE Gugeo Saenghwal (New Living Korean Language) |issue=4 |url=http://www.korean.go.kr/nkview/nklife/2003_4/13_3.html |access-date=2009-09-15 |language=ko |volume=13}}</ref>