Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the

Eight Provinces of Korea During most of the Joseon dynasty, Korea was divided into eight provinces ('' do''; ). The eight provinces' boundaries remained unchanged for about 480 years from 1413 to 1895, and formed a geographic paradigm that is still reflected today i ...

during the

Joseon 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 ...

era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was

Haeju Haeju () is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2008, the population of the city is estimated to be 273,300. At the beginning of the 20th centu ...

. The regional name for the province was Haeseo (). It is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

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 ...

that occupies what is now

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

and

South Hwanghae South Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaenamdo; , lit. "south Yellow Sea province") is a Administrative divisions of North Korea, province in western North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North Hwa ...

provinces of North Korea, as well as Baengnyeong Island and Ongjin County of South Korea.

Etymology

The name of the region, ''Haeseo'', means "West of the Sea", in reference to the region being to the west of Gyeonggi Bay, the portion of the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North 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. Names It is one of four ...

offshore of

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

and

Ganghwa Island Ganghwa Island (), also Ganghwado, is an island in Ganghwa County, Incheon, South Korea. It is in the Yellow Sea and in an estuary of the Han River. The island is separated from Gimpo (on the South Korean mainland) by a narrow channel spanned ...

History

In 1395, the province was organized as Punghae (). In 1417, the province was renamed Hwanghae. The name derived from the names of the two principal cities of Hwangju () and Haeju ). In 1895, the province was reorganized into 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 Haeju () in the west and Gaeseong () in the east, but in 1896, a new system of thirteen provinces was established, and Hwanghae Province was reconstituted. In 1910, Korea was annexed into the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

, and its administrative divisions were rearranged. Hwanghae Province was reorganized into Kōkai-dō, with Kaishū (Haeju) serving as its capital. In 1945, Korea was divided into

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and American zones of occupation, north and south respectively of the 38th parallel. The southernmost part of Hwanghae (around the towns of Ongjin and Yeonan) was cut off from the rest of the province by the dividing line and joined

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

in the southern half of the country. In 1948, Hwanghae and Gyeonggi Provinces became parts of the new countries of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

respectively. In 1953, at the end of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, the Northern Limit Line was established, which marked the

maritime boundary A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physiographical or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boun ...

between North and South Korea. The line runs between the mainland portion of Gyeonggi Province that had been part of Hwanghae before 1945, and the adjacent offshore islands (the largest of which is Baengnyeongdo). As a result, the mainland portion reverted to North Korean control, while the islands remained a part of South Korea. (Since 1999, North Korea has claimed a more southerly Maritime Military Demarcation Line, which would make the islands a part of North Korea as well. Disputes between North and South Korean naval vessels often occur in this area.) In 1954, North Korea's Hwanghae Province was divided into

and

South Hwanghae Province 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 i ...

Geography

Hwanghae was bounded by Pyeongan Province (after 1896 South Pyeongan) on the north, Gangwon Province on the east,

on the south, and the

on the west.

Modern administrative divisions

References

External links