Kŭmch'ŏn County is a county in the

North Hwanghae North Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaebuk-to; , lit. "north Yellow Sea province") is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae. The provincial capital is Sari ...

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. It has a population of 68,216.

Geography

Kŭmch'ŏn is bordered to the west by

Kaesŏng Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

, to the south by Kaep'ung, to the northwest by T'osan, and to the north by Mt. Pakbong (562 m) and Sin'gye county. It is bordered to the east by the Ryesŏng River, P'yŏngsan, and Pongch'ŏn county (in

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 ...

). According to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,388.

Climate

Kŭmch'ŏn had a fairly severe climate, with an average temperature of 10.2 degrees. Inland, the average January temperature is -7 degrees, while the average August temperature is 25.6 degrees. The county receives an average of 1,100 mm of rain per year.

Transportation

The county is served by the P'yongbu line 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 Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History ...

, which stops in at Kŭmch'ŏn station. There is also a highway which runs through Kŭmch'ŏn-ŭp.

Industry

Agriculture is the main industry of Kŭmch'ŏn. Mainly rice but also several other products like beans, wheat, ginseng and tobacco are cultivated. Kŭmch'ŏn, like many other parts of northern Korea, is a resource-rich region. Some resources are for example asbestos, molybdenum, mercury, cinnabar, serpentine etc.

Administrative divisions

The county is divided into one town (''ŭp'') and 14 villages (''ri'').

References