Hamgyong Province (; ) was one of the Eight Provinces of

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

during the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

. Hamgyong was located in the northeast of Korea. The provincial capital was

Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's List of cities in North Korea, second-most populous city, the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province and the 16th largest city in the Korea, Korean Peninsula. Located in the southern part ...

Names

The province was first established as Yŏnggil () in 1413. It was renamed Hamgil () three years later. In 1470, it was renamed Yŏngan (). In 1509, it was renamed Hamgyŏng after its two principal cities,

and Kyongsong. In the 18th century, this was transcribed via Chinese as Kyen-king and glossed as meaning "the Happy". In the 19th century, it was transcribed as Ham-kieng. Within Korea, the province was also referred to as "Dongbuk" ("Northeast"). The southern half of the province was also referred as "

Kwannam Kwannam, or Gwannam (), is a subregion of Kwanbuk, a region of Korea, in the northeast of the peninsula. Kwannam traditionally encompasses South Hamgyŏng Province and Wŏnsan and Munch'ŏn Cities and Ch'ŏnnae, Pŏptong, Kosan, and Anby ...

", and the northern half of the province was also referred as "

Kwanbuk Kwanbuk, or Gwanbuk (), is a region of Korea now comprising the northeast provinces of Ryanggang, North Hamgyong, South Hamgyong, and the Rajin-Sonbong Special Economic Zone. It borders the Kwansŏ region to the west and the Kwandong region ...

History

Korea's northeastern frontier was first organized into the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Yonggil in 1413. In 1895, the province was replaced by the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

() of Kyongsong in the northeast, Kapsan in the northwest, and Hamhŭng in the south. In 1896, Kyŏngsŏng District was reorganized into

North Hamgyŏng North Hamgyong Province (Hamgyŏngbukdo, ) is the northernmost province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Hamgyong Province. Geography The province is bordered by China (Jilin) to the north, So ...

Province, and Kapsan and Hamhŭng Districts were reorganized into

South Hamgyŏng South Hamgyong Province (, ''Hamgyŏngnamdo''; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Hamgyong Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Kor ...

Province. These divisions continue in present-day

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Geography

Hamgyŏng was bounded on the west by

P'yŏngan Pyongan Province (; ) was one of Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon dynasty. Pyongan was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Pyongyang. History Pyongan Province was formed in 1413. Its name derived from the name ...

, on the south by

Hwanghae Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo (). It is a reg ...

and Kangwŏn, on the east by the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

, and on the north by

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Seoul City history article on Hanseong and 22 other late 19th-century districts (in Korean)
{{Authority control Provinces of Joseon