Sŏnch'ŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, on the coast of the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

in west-central North P'yŏngan 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 ...

. To the north it borders Ch'ŏnma, to the east Kusŏng and

Kwaksan Kwaksan County is a ''kun'' (, 'county') in coastal southern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. It faces the Yellow Sea to the south. By land, it is bordered by Kusŏng city to the north, Chŏngju to the east, and Sŏnch'ŏn to the west. ...

, and to the west Tongrim; to the south, it borders nothing but the sea. Sŏnch'ŏn was reorganized in 1952, with two '' myŏn'', or townships, being split off to form the new county of Tongrim.

History

Physical features

The terrain varies between hills and plains; numerous islands are also found along the indented coastline. The highest point is Kainbong (가인봉, 535 m), which is the source of the Tongrae River. The year-round average temperature is 8.5 °C, with a January average of -9.2 °C and an August average of 23.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1192 mm. The island of

Sinmido Sinmi Island () is a North Korean island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tecton ...

hosts a peak of 532 m, Unjongsan, and is also home to a variety of plants normally found only in warm areas. Some 45% of the county's area is forestland.

Administrative divisions

Sŏnch'ŏn 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) and 24 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

The local economy relies on agriculture, including livestock-raising and sericulture, as well as fishing and manufacturing. Local crops include rice, maize, tobacco and soybeans. Factories in Sŏnch'ŏn manufacture ironware, ceramics, and tobacco products.

Transportation

200px, Sonchon-up railway station, May 2007 Sŏnch'ŏn county is served by the

P'yŏngŭi Line The P'yŏngŭi Line is an electrified main trunk line of the Korean State Railway of North Korea, running from P'yŏngyang to Sinŭiju on the border with China.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), It is the main cor ...

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 ...

, which runs between

P'yŏngyang Pyongyang () is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 ...

and

Sinŭiju Sinŭiju (; ) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China, across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part of the city is included in the Sinŭiju Special Administrative Re ...

. In addition, a passenger ferry operates between Sinmido and the mainland.

Religion

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the area was a hotbed of

Protestant Christian Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

religious activity, with more than 50 churches. There were also 13 Buddhist temples. These were all converted or destroyed following the establishment of the DPRK.

Protests

In February 2011, the area and other cities in North P'yŏngan had rare protests, of a few score of people, calling for adequate provision of rice and power. At the time, news of the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

was spreading via Chinese TV channels and phone calls with defectors.Can the 'Jasmine Revolution' Spread to N.Korea?
Chosun Ilbo, 23 February 2011

References

External links

Pictures of Pyongan Province
* {{coord, 39, 47, 57, N, 124, 55, 02, E, region:KP_source:kolossus-jawiki, display=title Counties of North Pyongan