Tanch'ŏn () is a

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

in northeastern

South Hamgyŏng South Hamgyong Province (, ''Hamgyŏngnamdo''; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Hamgyong Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Kor ...

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 ...

. It has a population of approximately 360,000. Tanch'ŏn borders 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), into which the Namdae River flows.

Administrative divisions

Tanch'ŏn is divided into 39 ''

tong Tong may refer to: Chinese *Tang dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese *Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities *''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...

'' (neighbourhoods) and 39 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

There are extensive mineral resources in the area, including

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula ( magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic r ...

, and

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

. The city is known for its chemical production, textiles, metal ware, machinery and smelting. The

Komdok mine The Komdok mine(검덕광업연합기업소) is one of the largest lead and zinc mines in North Korea and in the world. The mine is located in Kumgol-dong, Tanchon. The mine has estimated reserves of 266 million tonnes of ore 0.88% lead and 4.21% ...

is located in Kumgol-1 dong. The

Taehung mine The Taehung Youth Hero Mine(대흥청년영웅광산) is one of the largest magnesium mines in North Korea and in the world. The mine is located in the center of the country in South Hamgyong Province. The mine has about 2 billion tonnes of Magnes ...

is located in

South Hamgyong Province South Hamgyong Province (, ''Hamgyŏngnamdo''; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Hamgyong Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Kor ...

. The area is also home to the large Tanchon Power Station (under construction as of April 2020), consisting of hundreds of kilometres of waterway tunnels and a planned six power stations, that has been under construction since 2017. ;Technology The City of Tanch'ŏn is featured in the PC game

Tradewinds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

Transport

Tanch'ŏn is situated 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 ...

and the Hŏch'ŏn Line 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 ...

.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), In 2012 the city's port was renovated and upgraded. Tanch'ŏn port was reconstructed, and a ceremony marking the completion was taken place in December 2012. In the ceremony, a joint congratulatory message sent by the Central Committee of the

Workers’ Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

and the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

was read to the officials and members of shock brigades who performed labor feats in the construction of the port. A trolleybus line runs within Tanchon from next to

Kumgol station Kŭmgol station is a railway station in Kŭmgol 1-dong, greater Tanch'ŏn city, South Hamgyŏng province, North Korea, on the Kŭmgol Line of the Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railway ...

in Kumgol 1-dong to Kumgol 3-dong with a length of over 6 km. The line was opened in 1986 to serve the Komdok mining region though there have been no trolleybuses seen on satellite imagery since 2011.

Wildlife

The population of

Chinese goral The Chinese goral (''Naemorhedus griseus''), also known as the grey long-tailed goral or central Chinese goral, is a species of goral, a small goat-like ungulate, native to mountainous regions of Myanmar, China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and pos ...

s in Tanch'ŏn has been designated

North Korean natural monument Natural monuments of North Korea is a natural monuments system that designates natural resources that are designated as significant to the North Korean government. A total of 469 natural monument entries have been designated from no.1 to no. 935 ...

#293.

Climate

Tanchon has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dfa'').

References

External links

*
City profile of Tanchon
Cities in South Hamgyong Port cities and towns in North Korea {{NorthKorea-geo-stub