Puryŏng County is a ''kun'', or county, in

North Hamgyŏng North Hamgyong Province (Hamgyŏngbukdo, ) is the northernmost province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Hamgyong Province. Geography The province is bordered by China (Jilin) on the north, ...

province,

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

Geography

Most of the county is mountainous, being traversed by the Hamgyŏng Range and its outlying spurs. The highest point is Kosŏngsan ( Chosŏn'gŭl: 고성산,

Hancha Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 姑城山), 1,754 meters above sea level. Many other high peaks are also found in the county. The chief stream is the Susŏngch'ŏn ( Chosŏn'gŭl: 수성천.

: 輸城川). 90% of the county is forested. Rare mammals inhabit the area, including the

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on ...

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...

, and

Amur leopard The Amur leopard (''Panthera pardus orientalis'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and northern China. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as in 2007, only 19–26 wild leo ...

. The climate is affected by both maritime and continental influences.

Administrative divisions

Puryŏng County is divided into 1 ''

ŭp An ''eup'' or ''ŭp'' () is an administrative unit in both North Korea and South Korea similar to the unit of town. In South Korea Along with " myeon", an "eup" is one of the divisions of a county ("gun"), and of some cities ("si") with a pop ...

'' (town), 3 '' rodongjagu'' (workers' districts) and 5 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

The local economy is dominated by metalworking, mining, and electric power. Deposits of gold, copper,

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

, and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

are found in the county. The intermontane valleys are home to grain farms where corn, soybeans, rice, wheat, barley,

proso millet ''Panicum miliaceum'' is a grain crop with many common names, including proso millet, broomcorn millet, common millet, hog millet, Kashfi millet, red millet, and white millet. Archaeobotanical evidence suggests millet was first domesticated abou ...

, and millet are harvested. Rice fields make up 2% of the county's area.

Sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, '' Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively stud ...

is also practiced.

Transportation

Puryŏng lies on the Hambuk and

Musan Musan County is a county in central North Hamgyong province, North Korea. It borders the People's Republic of China to the north, across the Tumen River. It is divided into one ''ŭp'', six labor districts, and fifteen ''ri''. The county seat ...

lines of the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History 1945–195 ...

, and is also served by roads.

History

Puryŏng was one of the six post/garrisons () established under the order of Sejong the Great of Chosŏn (1418–1450) to safeguard his people from the hostile Chinese and Manchurian nomads living in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym "Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East ( Outer ...

Notables personalities

*Ri Chi-si (), the prefect of Puryŏng ()

External links

Location of the four forts and the six posts
* {{coord missing, North Korea Counties of North Hamgyong