Ch'ŏrwŏn County () is a ''kun'', or county, in Kangwŏn 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. Portions of it were once a single county together with the county of the same name in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

; other portions were added from neighbouring counties in the 1952 reorganization of local governments. After the initial

division of Korea The division of Korea began at the end of World War II on 2 September 1945, with the establishment of a Soviet occupation zone and a US occupation zone. These zones developed into separate governments, named the Democratic People's Republic of ...

, the entire county lay to the Northern side of the dividing line, but in the course of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

part of the county was taken by the South.

Geography

The county's terrain is mountainous in the north, but gradually more level towards the south. The Masingryong Mountains pass through the county; the highest point of which is the Taehwang Peak (대왕덕산). The chief watercourse is the

Rimjin River The Imjin River (; South Korean spelling) or Rimjin (; North Korean spelling) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. ...

. Approximately 54% of the county's area is occupied by forests.

Administrative divisions

Ch'ŏrwŏn county is divided into 1 '' ŭp'' (town) and 36 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

The chief local industry is agriculture. The county is a major producer of rice for North Korea. Additional crops include maize, soybeans, wheat, and barley. Other local industries include mining, sericulture, and orcharding. The county is host to deposits of coal, iron ore,

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula . It is one of the iron oxide, oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetism, ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetization, magnetized to become a ...

, and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

. There is little manufacturing.

Transportation

The county is not connected to the national rail grid, but is served by roads.

Notes

External links