The Gangwon dialect is spoken in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
's
Gangwon Province and in
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 ...
's
Kangwŏn Province. Although they are large provinces by area, relatively few people lived in the Gangwon Province. As a result, people living in the western side of Gangwon (
Yeongseo
Yeongseo (, ) is the western, inland region of Gangwon Province, South Korea and Kangwon Province, North Korea. It is divided from the coastal Yeongdong region by the Taebaek Mountains. The name ''yeongseo'' reflects this distinction; it l ...
) did not develop a highly distinctive dialect. However, the part of Gangwon that stretches on the eastern coast of Korea's
Yeongdong region did develop a distinctive dialect. This is because the
Taebaek Mountains
The Taebaek Mountains are a mountain range that stretches across North Korea and South Korea. They form the main ridge of the Korean peninsula.
Geography
The Taebaek mountains are located along the eastern edge of the peninsula and run along ...
bisect the Gangwon Province, and the people on eastern Gangwon are isolated from the high mountains.
References
Korean dialects
Korean language in South Korea
Gangwon Province, South Korea
Kangwon Province (North Korea)
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