North Chungcheong

North Chungcheong is a province in the centre of South Korea. It was formed in 1896 from the northeastern half of the former Chungcheong province, was a province of Korea until the country's division in 1945, then became part of South Korea. The provincial capital is Cheongju.

Geography

The province is part of the Hoseo region, and is bounded on the west by South Chungcheong province, on the north by Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces, on the south by North Jeolla province, and on the east by North Gyeongsang. North Chungcheong is the only province in South Korea with no access to the sea. The province is mostly mountainous, dominated by the Noryeong Mountains to the north and the Sobaek Mountains to the east.

Resources

Agricultural products includes rice, barley, beans, and sweet potatoes, but the province is specialized on ginseng and tobacco. The tobacco has been introduced from the US in 1912 and has been transplanted from Virginia, US.

There are mineral reserves of gold, iron, coal, steatite, fluorite, and molybdenum, as well as marble and limestone in the northern part of the province. Silk weaving plays an important role.

Attractions

The main attractions of the province are Mount Songni (1,058 metres) in the Sobaek mountains with its national park. Pobju-sa, the site of one of the oldest temples of Korea is located in this national park. There is another national park around Mount Worak.

Administrative divisions

North Chungcheong is divided into 3 cities ("Si" or "Shi") and 9 counties ("Gun"). Each entity is listed below in English, Hangul, and Hanja.

Cities

• Cheongju (청주시, 淸州市}
• Chungju (충주시, 忠州市}
• Jecheon (제천시, 堤川市}

Counties

• Boeun County (보은군, 報恩郡)
• Cheongwon County (청원군, 淸原郡)
• Danyang County (단양군, 丹陽郡)
• Eumseong County (음성군, 陰城郡)
• Goesan County (괴산군, 槐山郡)
• Jincheon County (진천군, 鎭川郡)
• Okcheon County (옥천군, 沃川郡)
• Jeungpyeong County (증평군; 曾坪郡)
• Yeongdong County (영동군, 永同郡)

See also

• List of Korea-related topics

External link

• Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong) provincial government English-language home page