Sŏnch'ŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, on the coast of the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour ter ...

in west-central

North P'yŏngan North Pyongan Province (Phyŏnganbukto; , also spelled North P'yŏngan), is a western province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former P'yŏng'an Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, th ...

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

. To the north it borders Ch'ŏnma, to the east Kusŏng and Kwaksan, and to the west Tongrim; to the south, it borders nothing but the sea. Sŏnch'ŏn was reorganized in 1952, with two '' myŏn'', or townships, being split off to form the new county of Tongrim.

History

Physical features

The terrain varies between hills and plains; numerous islands are also found along the indented coastline. The highest point is Kainbong (가인봉, 535 m), which is the source of the Tongrae River. The year-round average temperature is 8.5 °C, with a January average of -9.2 °C and an August average of 23.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1192 mm. The island of Sinmido hosts a peak of 532 m, Unjongsan, and is also home to a variety of plants normally found only in warm areas. Some 45% of the county's area is forestland.

Administrative divisions

Sŏnch'ŏn county is divided into 1 '' ŭp'' (town) and 24 '' ri'' (villages):

Economy

The local economy relies on agriculture, including livestock-raising and sericulture, as well as fishing and manufacturing. Local crops include rice, maize, tobacco and soybeans. Factories in Sŏnch'ŏn manufacture ironware, ceramics, and tobacco products.

Transportation

200px, Sonchon-up railway station, May 2007 Sŏnch'ŏn county is served by the P'yŏngŭi 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 runs between P'yŏngyang and Sinŭiju. In addition, a passenger ferry operates between Sinmido and the mainland.

Religion

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the area was a hotbed of

Protestant Christian Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

religious activity, with more than 50 churches. There were also 13 Buddhist temples. These were all converted or destroyed following the establishment of the DPRK.

Protests

In February 2011, the area and other cities in North P'yŏngan had rare protests, of a few score of people, calling for adequate provision of rice and power. At the time, news of the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

was spreading via Chinese TV channels and phone calls with defectors.Can the 'Jasmine Revolution' Spread to N.Korea?
Chosun Ilbo, 23 February 2011

References

External links

Pictures of Pyongan Province
* {{coord, 39, 47, 57, N, 124, 55, 02, E, region:KP_source:kolossus-jawiki, display=title Counties of North Pyongan