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Residents of Yeosu are elated at the prospect of hosting the 2012 World Expo after the 142nd General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions in Paris on Monday plumbed for the Korean port city. So what is it about the event that has so many people excited and where did it all begin?
It all started as the Great Exhibition of 1851. Twenty-eight countries took part in the first-ever world fair, in London, which drew around one third of the British population. Over a century later, World Expos are still going strong and today are one of the largest international events alongside the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. The 19th century world fairs mostly exhibited industrial goods for trade, bringing together the latest advances in technology from all corners of the globe.
As the years went by, expositions changed, adapting to new trends and ideas. The 1939 New York World's Fair was the first to carry a theme of cultural significance: the ''World of Tomorrow.¡± Today's World Expos seek to address vital issues for humanity, and the 2012 Yeosu Expo's theme ''The Living Ocean and Coast'' aims to send a wake-up call on global warming.
Since the first London event, world expos have been held 93 times, mostly in Europe and the United States. In Asia only Korea and Japan have hosted this global event. Yeosu will become the second city in Korea to host a world expo after the heartland city of Daejeon held the event in 1993.
Arirang News
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Yeosu residents celebrate the port city¡¯s selection to host the 2012 World Expo, at Yeosu City Hall on Tuesday morning. /Newsis
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