Chongjin
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| Ch'ŏngjin City | ||||||||||
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 NASA World Wind image of Ch'ŏngjin. |
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| *Administered as a Directly Governed City from 1960—1967 and 1977—1985. |
Ch'ŏngjin (Ch'ŏngjin-si), North Korea's third largest city. It is also the capital of the North Hamgyŏng Province in North Korea. From 1960 to 1967 and again from 1977 to 1985, Ch'ŏngjin was administered separately from North Hamgyŏng as a Directly Governed City (Chikhalsi). Prior to 1960, from 1967 to 1977, and since 1985, the city has been part of the North Hamgyŏng Province.
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[edit] Administrative divisions
Ch'ŏngjin is divided into 7 wards ("Kuyŏk").
- Ch'ŏngam-guyŏk (청암구역; 青岩區域)
- P'ohang-guyŏk (포항구역; 浦港區域)
- Puyun-guyŏk (부윤구역; 富潤區域)
- Ranam-guyŏk (라남구역; 羅南區域)
- Sinam-guyŏk (신암구역; 新岩區域)
- Songp'yŏng-guyŏk (송평구역; 松坪區域)
- Sunam-guyŏk (수남구역; 水南區域)
Originally Chongjin was only a small fishing village, located in northeastern Korea. In 1908, the Japanese, in order to facilitate a sea route for the northeast Chinese and Korean resources, opened this small fishing village as a trade port. In 2003, the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Also known as DPRK and North Korea) formed a northeast Korean trade port here. The People's Republic of China and Russia have set up their Consulates in Chongjin. It is unique for a North Korean city to have a foreign consulate. Chongjin is the administrative centre of the North Hamgyong Province.
[edit] Geography
Chongjin is located in the northeast of North Korea, in North Hamgyong Province, near the East Korea Bay in the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). Chongjin divides into 7 districts: the Central Business District expands to the south, and the coast section is near the lively Sosongchon River mouth. The city is 50 miles from the Chinese border, and its proximity is allowing a growing market of Chinese goods sold on the streets. Outside of the capital Pyongyang it has one of the largest markets for goods in the country.
[edit] Economy
Chongjin is one of the DPRK’s important steel and fiber industry centers. It has a shipyard, locomotive plant, machinery, and rubber factory. Near the port area are the Chongjin Steel Co., Chemical Textile Co., May 10 Coal Mine Machinery Factory and Kimchaek Iron & Steel; however industrial activities in the city have been severely handicapped due to a lack of resources. Because of the heavy concentration of industries in the area, Chongjin is also the DPRK's air pollution black spot. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and following shortage of oil to generate electricity, many factories have stopped running. One of the first senior U.N. officials permitted to visit the area, Tun Myat, observed in 1997 when the North Korea economic crisis reached its peak, "Chongjin was like a forest of scrap metal, with huge plants that seem to go on for miles and miles that have been turned into rust buckets. I've been all over the world, and I've never seen anything quite like this." The area has little arable land, so the famine in the 1990s hit the residents of Chongjin particularly hard.
[edit] Transportation
Main Station of Wonson-Rason Railway and Chongjin-Rason Railway, electric railway connect Rason and capital Pyongyang. Chongjin Airport is equipped with a 2km runway, military and civilian dual purpose air station (CHO); Also may take Chaoyangcun International Airport (YNJ), People's Republic of China. Moreover, the DPRK planned to upgrade an old airport near Hamhung in 2003, so that it would have a 4km runway, and would act as the second international airport. However, it is still not yet completed. The first international airport is in Pyongyang and is called Sunan International Airport (FNJ).
[edit] Urban transit
Chongjin is the only city in North Korea other than Pyongyang to operate the trams, which are all second-hand from Pyongyang. Originally, it was planned to become a 32km system, but only phase 1 (6km) and phase 2 (7km) were completed. Phase 3 (8km) was supposed to be completed, but was not due to lack of funds Also, due to electricity shortages, the trams run infrequently. Besides trams, trolley buses also operate, but these are operated at an interval of 2 hours. Private taxis do not exist, personal cars are extremely rare, and owning a bicycle is a luxury.
[edit] Culture
It has Chongjin University of Technology , Chongjin Mine University, Chongjin University of Education no. 1, University of Education no. 2, Chongjin University of Agriculture, Chongjin University of Medicine and Chongjin University of Light Industry: altogether 7 higher education institutes and an aquatic product research centre.
Famous scenic sites include hot springs, and Mt. Chibosan. It also has a zoo, but currently has no animals in it. Chongjin's most famous product is processed squid. The city is also home to the football team, the Chongjin Chandongcha
[edit] See also
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