Deogyusan, formerly spelled Togyusan, is a mountain 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 ...

. Its highest peak is 1,614 meters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

Geography

Deogyusan stands on the border of

Jeollabuk-do North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwest ...

and

Gyeongsangnam-do South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

, covering portions of Muju and

Jangsu Jangsu County (''Jangsu-gun'') is a county in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is well known for Jangsu-Galbi. Climate Twin towns – sister cities Jangsu is twinned with: * Anyang, South Korea (1996) * Hapcheon, South Korea (1999) ...

Counties in Jeollabuk-do and

Geochang Geochang County (''Geochang-gun,'' ) is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The Geochang International Festival of Theater, which was started in 1989, is renowned as the best play festival in Korea. The District Office is l ...

and

Hamyang Hamyang County (''Hamyang-gun'') is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is home to the Wooden Seated Statue of Buddha in Beopinsa (법인사), the Standing Statue of Buddha in Deokjeonri (덕전리), the Three-Level Stone Pagod ...

Counties in Gyeongsangnam-do.An 2003, p.111. Deogyusan stands on the

Baekdudaegan The Baekdu-daegan is a mountain-system and watershed-crest-line which runs through almost all of the length of the Korean Peninsula, from Paektu Mountain (2,744m) in the north to the Cheonhwang-bong or "Heavenly Monarch Peak" of Jirisan (1,915 ...

, the mountainous spine of the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. It is composed of numerous ridges which rise to various local peaks; the highest (by which the mountain's elevation is measured) is ''Hyangjeokbong''.

Attractions

Deogyusan is the cornerstone of

Deogyusan National Park Deogyusan National Park ( ko, 덕유산국립공원, 德裕山國立公園) is located in the provinces of Jeollabuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. It was designated as the 10th national park in 1975. The park is home to a total of 1,067 pl ...

, established 1975. The attractions of the park include the Chiryeon Waterfall and Cheoksan mountain fortress. It is also famous for the winter ski resort of Muju.

Animal and plant life

Approximately 250 animal species and 600 plant species are found in the Deogyusan area. An

Amur Leopard The Amur leopard (''Panthera pardus orientalis'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and northern China. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as in 2007, only 19–26 wild leopar ...

was shot on Deogyusan in 1960, a few years before the species disappeared from South Korea. A total of 893 species of plants and 33 species of mammals, 122 species of wild birds, 2,206 species of insects, 9 species of amphibians, 13 species of reptiles and 23 species of freshwater fish were found. The distribution of major flora shows that broad-leaved trees and coniferous trees are distributed in the forest.

Notes

References

External links