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Jeju Province (Jeju: 제주도; Korean: 제주도; RR: Jejudo; IPA: [t͡sed͡zudo]), officially Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, is the southernmost province of South Korea, comprising of 8 inhabited and 55 uninhabited islands, including Mara Island, U Island, the Chuja Archipelago, and the country's largest island Jeju Island. The province is located in the Korea Strait, with the Korean Peninsula to the northwest, Japan to the east, and China to the west. The province has two cities: the capital Jeju City, located on the northern half of the island and Seogwipo, located on the southern half of the island. The island is home to the shield volcano Hallasan, the highest point in South Korea. Jeju and Korean are the official languages of the province, and the vast majority of residents are bilingual in both languages. Jeju Island was first settled by humans 8,000 to 10,000 years ago and the Tamna Kingdom is the earliest known civilization on the island. Beginning in the 5th century A.D., the Kingdom would become a tributary state of various Korean Kingdoms and briefly invaded by the Mongol Empire, before being annexed into the Goryeo and later the Joseon Dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty ruled the island brutally and islanders would stage multiple uprisings. Jeju Island, with the rest of mainland Korea, would be annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. Following Japan's surrender in World War II in 1945, the islands would become part of South Jeolla Province in the United States Army Military Government in Korea, before becoming a separate province on August 1, 1946. On July 1 2006, the islands were designated a Special Self-Governing Province.
