• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.297-320
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• 2004

Household Register of South Kyongsang Province compiled by the Korean government in 1904 keeps complete details on local houses of eleven out of a total of thirty-one counties in the district. This study examines, band on e analysis of the primary source materials, e specifics of traditional housing of South Kyongsang Province with special reference to the magnitude of housing lots, size of dwellings, land and house ownership, and distribution of thatch and tile roof houses by dong, myon and county. Findings from the survey of the household register suggest that approximately 20 percent of households were established on the private or rented public lands, that 90 percent resided in undersized housing with just one or two rooms besides a kitchen, and that the regional average of dwelling size was no bigger than 2.75 rooms. The fact clarifies that the three-room thatch houses prevailed in South Kyongsang Province about a century ago. The miserable living conditions were tranalated into a constricted personal space of 2 to 4 square meters and a small-size household of less than 4 family members.