Gangjin County (''Gangjin-gun'') is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

South Jeolla South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korea ...

Province,

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 ...

. Gangjin county proper was established in 1895. The county office is located in

Gangjin-eup Gangjin-eup is an administrative division of Gangjin county, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. As with much of Gangjin county, Gangjin-eup is largely agricultural and known for its rice, tomato, and persimmon harvests. It is the county seat ...

. The

Gangjin Kiln Sites Gangjingun Kiln Sites is a tentative World Heritage site listed by the South Korean government at UNESCO. It is a complex of 188 kilns which produced Goryeo ware. The kiln sites are located in Gangjin-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea near the s ...

are a noted area for the production of traditional

Goryeo celadon Goryeo ware ( ko, 고려도자기, translit=Goryeo dojagi, also known as ''Goryeo cheong-ja'') refers to all types of Korean pottery and porcelain produced during the Goryeo dynasty, from 918 to 1392, but most often refers to celadon (greenware). ...

, and annually a big festival and symposium on celadon porcelain at the

Goryeo Celadon Museum The Goryeo Celadon Museum (고려청자박물관), formerly known also as the Gangjin Celadon Museum, is a museum located in Sadang-ri (Sadang Village), Gangjin County, South Jeolla, South Korea. It was opened in 1997 and features the history of t ...

with participants from all over the world takes place in Gangjin city. Additionally, it is the birthplace of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

poet

Yeongrang Kim Yun-sik Kim Yeong-nang (January 16, 1903 – September 29, 1950) was a Korean writer from Gangjin county, South Jeolla province, in present-day South Korea, where he spent most of his life. He participated in the Korean independence movement and as a tee ...

, famous for his work in the 1930s and 1940s in the

Jeolla Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in today Southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as w ...

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

. The county bird is the

magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is on ...

. The county flower is the

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controve ...

, and the county tree is the

ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus with ...

. There are also two mascots, Gang and Jin, who represent fire and water, respectively, and who appear throughout the county on signs and sidewalks. A small portion of

Wolchulsan Wolchulsan (월출산) is a mountain located in South Jeolla province, South Korea, and spans both Gangjin and Yeongam counties. At its peak, Cheonhwangbong, it rises to 808.7 meters, making it the highest point in Gangjin County. It lies in ...

National Park is located in Gangjin County. There is a monument to 17th-century

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Hendrick Hamel Hendrick Hamel (1630 – 1692) was a Westerner to provide a first hand account of Joseon Korea. After spending thirteen years there, he wrote "Hamel's Journal and a Description of the Kingdom of Korea, 1653-1666," which was subsequently publis ...

, the first westerner to experience and write about

Korea 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 ...

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

era. Hamel and his men were shipwrecked on Jeju island, and they remained captives in Korea for 13 years.

Other places of interest

*Gangjinman Bay, in

Maryang Maryang is located in Gangjin county, South Jeolla province, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with ...

-myeon. *

Geumgok Temple Geumgoksa or Geumgok Temple () is a Buddhist temple in Gangjin county, South Jeolla province, South Korea. Its name means "Golden Valley Temple." Three temples and numerous smaller shrines and burial mounds comprise the site. It is noted for ...

(금곡사), in

. *

Baekryeon Temple Baengnyeon Temple (백련사) is a Buddhist temple located in Doam-myeon, Gangjin county, South Jeolla province, South Korea. Its name means "White Lotus" temple, and its physical form dates to the late Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle K ...

(백련사), in Doam-myeon. *Mt. Su-in (수인산), 561 meters, in Byeongyeong-myeon. *

Boeunsan Boeunsan is the name of a mountain in Gangjin county, Jeollanam-do province, South Korea. Its highest point is at Udubong (우두봉), 439 meters. Boeunsan is north of Gangjin-eup in Gangjin county, and runs parallel to National Route 2. Boeu ...

(보은산), 439 meters, in

Climate

References

External links

County government home page
{{coord, 34.6405555656, N, 126.77000001, E, source:ruwiki_region:KR_type:city(49254), format=dms, display=title Counties of South Jeolla Province