Ŏrang 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) to the north, So ...

province in the far northeast of

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 ...

. It is situated on the coast of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

(East Sea of Korea). Originally part of Kyŏngsŏng county, Ŏrang was created in 1952 following the

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 ...

Physical features

The county is primarily mountainous, with many hills of more than 200 meters in height. However, there is a narrow plain along the coast. Approximately 85% of the county is forested. The highest peak is T'ugubong (

Chosŏn'gŭl The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

: 투구봉). There are various lakes including Changyŏn Lake (

: 장연호,

Hancha Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 長淵湖) and Mugye Lake (

: 무계호,

: 武溪湖).

Administrative divisions

Ŏrang 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), 1 ''

rodongjagu A Workers' District ( in North Korea, in South Korea) is a third-level administrative division of North Korea, meaning it lies below a city or county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. ...

'' (workers' district) and 20 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

The local economy is dominated by agriculture and fishing, and is the chief centre of rice production in North Hamgyŏng. In addition, pine mushrooms are grown there. Orang Airport is located in the county. Orang County is also home to Orangchon Power Station and Phalhyang

Hydroelectric Dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

on Orangchon River that has been under construction since 1981. The Phalhyang dam was completed in December 2019.

Transport

Ŏrang lies on the

P'yŏngra Line The P'yŏngra Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from P'yŏngyang to Rason, where it connects with the Hambuk Line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), I ...

of the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea (), commonly called the State Rail () and has its headquarters at Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun-song. History 19 ...

. The only major road is the highway running between Ch'ŏngjin and Kimch'aek. The dual use military-public Orang Airport has domestic flights to Pyongyang.

References

External links