Kangryŏng County is a county in the

South Hwanghae South Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaenamdo; , lit. "south Yellow Sea province") is a province in western North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae. The provincial capital i ...

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

Geography

Kangryŏng is bordered to the north by Pyŏksŏng, to the west by Ongjin, to the east by the

Bay of Haeju A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...

and to the south by the

Korea Bay The Korea Bay, sometimes the West Korea Bay (; ; or ), is a bight and the northern extension of the Yellow Sea, between the southeastern coastline of China's Liaoning province and the western coastline of North Korea's North Pyongan, South P ...

. The county is situated on the western half of the

Ongjin Peninsula Ongjin County is a county in southern South Hwanghae Province, North Korea. It is located on the Ongjin Peninsula, which projects into the Yellow Sea. History The Ongjin Peninsula lies below the 38th parallel, and was therefore in the Southe ...

, and most of the land is rocky and hilly with many coves and little flat land. There are also many islands in the seas surrounding the county, the largest being Sunwi-do, Ŏhwa-do, and the Suap Islands. The highest point is Mt. Ch'amnamu, at 286 meters. Kangryŏng is famous for its seafaring bird populations, including the rare

red-crowned crane The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis''), also called the Manchurian crane or Japanese crane (; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian crane among the rarest cran ...

. The county is the site of the large

Kangryong Crane Habitat Kangryŏng County is a county in the South Hwanghae province of North Korea. Geography Kangryŏng is bordered to the north by Pyŏksŏng, to the west by Ongjin, to the east by the Bay of Haeju and to the south by the Korea Bay. The county is si ...

, one of four designated breeding sites in North Korea, and

Natural Monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, nat ...

#130.

History

Kangryŏng county was created under the

Yi dynasty The House of Yi, also called the Yi dynasty (also transcribed as the Lee dynasty), was the royal family of the Joseon dynasty and later the imperial family of the Korean Empire, descended from the Joseon founder Yi Seong-gye. All of his descendant ...

. It was briefly merged into the newly formed Hwanghae District in 1895 during an experimental redistricting, but was restored to its previous form in 1896. In 1909, it was incorporated into Ongjin. It was again made an independent municipality in the 1952 redistricting changes and received its old name.

Transportation

Kangryŏng county is served by the Ongjin and Pup'o lines of the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History 1945–195 ...

, as well as an extensive network of roads.

Administrative divisions

Kangryŏng is divided into one town (''ŭp''), one Worker's District (''rodongjagu'') and 31 villages (''ri'').

References

{{coord missing, North Korea Counties of South Hwanghae

Geography

History

Transportation

Administrative divisions

See also

References