Yŏnggwang County is a county in South Hamgyŏng 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

Geography

The county is primarily mountainous, and is traversed by the Pujŏllyŏng Mountains (부전령산맥). However, there are areas of rolling and level ground, especially along the Sŏngch'ŏn River (성천강). Other significant streams include the Hŭngrim River (흑림강), Chadongch'ŏn (자동천), Ch'ŏnbulsanch'ŏn (천불산천), and Kigokch'ŏn (기곡천). Roughly 80% of the county is occupied by forestland. The highest point is Mataesan.

Administrative divisions

Yŏnggwang County is divided into 1 '' ŭp'' (town), 1 '' rodongjagu'' (workers' districts) and 24 '' ri'' (villages):

History

It was originally part of

Hamju Hamju County is a county in South Hamgyong province, North Korea. Physical features The county's highest point is Norabong. The chief river is the Sangch'ŏn River (상천강). Aside from the coastal area, Hamju is mountainous throughout. It i ...

County, from which it was separated in a general reorganization of local government in 1952. When it was initially split from Hamju, it was known as Oro(五老) County which was named after the nickname for

Cannabis sativa ''Cannabis sativa'' is an annual Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant indigenous to East Asia, Eastern Asia, but now of cosmopolitan distribution due to widespread cultivation. It has been cultivated throughout recorded history, used as ...

plant which was traditionally used as a textile plant in korea. The county was renamed in 1981 by the North Korean government as Yŏnggwang(korean word meaning glory) , to say the county is "a town of glory where love and compassion of the Glorious Leader exists", or alternatively because "it hoststhe revolutionary sites of Kim Jong Suk

Kim Il sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

and

Kim jong il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

" It is the site of one of the steles erected by Chinhŭng of Silla in the 6th century.

Economy

Despite the rugged terrain, there is agriculture in Yŏnggwang. Local crops include maize, rice, soybeans, wheat, and barley. Small-scale orchards and livestock operations also exist. There are deposits of coal and gold. In addition,

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

is produced in the region.

Transportation

The Sinhŭng and

Changjin Changjin County is a mountainous county in South Hamgyong Province, North Korea. Geography Changjin lies on the Rangrim and Pujŏllyong ranges, and most of the county sits atop the Kaema Plateau. Due to this location, Changjin has a particul ...

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 ...

pass through the county, which is also served by roads.

References

External links

* {{coord missing, North Korea Counties of South Hamgyong