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 shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. 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, 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 ...

; 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 with the defeat of Empire of Japan, Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allies of World War II, Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached ...

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

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

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 ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) 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. The river i ...

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

Administrative divisions

Ch'ŏrwŏn 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 (administrative division), myeon", an "eup" is one of the divisions of a county ("County#Kore ...

'' (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 Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With the ...

, and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

. There is little manufacturing.

Transportation

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

Notes

External links