Magazine - The World's Largest Stadium Rungrado May Day Stadium

By Rob Jenkins in World Stadiums on 2nd Mar 2010 20:15

Rungrado May Day Stadium in North Korea is home to the biggest stadium in the world. The stadium can seat 150,000, which is the largest non motor racing stadium in the world. Pretty Impressive? Well read more.

The monumental Rungrado May Day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea was built in 1989 and seats a staggering 150,000 people. Resembling a blossom flower, it has sixteen arches arranged in a ring. In 1995 an incredible 190,000 people crammed in for a professional wrestling event. Its total floor space is over 207,000 m² (2.2 million ft²) across eight stories, and the lobes of its roof peak at more than 60 m (197 ft) from the ground. The stadium has 80 exits and ten lifts. It was built in only two and a half years which is an impressive feat in itself!

The stadiums name comes from Rungra Island in the Taedong River, the Taedong River is a large river in North Korea. It rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north. It then flows south west into Korea Bay at Nampo. In between it runs through the capital of North Korea, P'yongyang. The other half of the name 'May Day' is synonymous with International Workers' Day or Labour Day in North Korea.

At the end of the 1990s, a number of North Korean army generals were executed by being burned alive in the stadium!


The stadium's main tenant is the North Korea football team although they often play their home games at Kim Il-Sung Stadium. The stadium is probably most famous for the Arirang gymnastic or "Mass Games" which are an artistic performance similar to an opening ceremony at a Olympics or world cup. The Arirang gymnastics involve some 100,000 participants which can double the number of spectators.

Can you imagine playing for your country in front of that many people, talk about a home advantage! Not a huge amount of information is available in English on this massive feat of human engineering from North Korea. Indeed the National Football team seems to play the majority of its games at the Kim Il-Sung Stadium.

One can only imagine the press this stadium world receive if it was in a country like America.

Quick facts on Rungrado May Day Stadium:
Location: Pyongyang, North Korea
Built: 1989
Capacity: 150,000 all seats
Dimensions: Total floor space Over 207,000 m sq
Main Tenants: The North Korean national football team

Read more articles in World Stadiums, by Rob Jenkins or from March 2010.