6.1 Chungcheongbuk-do
Geography of Korea: VI. Chungcheong-do > 1. Chungcheongbuk-do
1. Chungcheongbuk-do
In 1896, Chungcheong-do was split into northern and southern provinces, with the capital of the northern Chungcheongbuk-do province established at Cheongju. If one discounts Jeju-do Self-Governing Province, Chungcheongbuk-do with a population of 1.57 million (3.1 percent of the national total) vies with Gangwon-do (1.54 million) as the country’s most sparsely populated province. But differentiating it from Gangwon-do is its more limited territory (7,407 sq. km., or 7.4 percent of the national total) and a population density (212.3 persons/sq. km.) more than double that of Gangwon-do. This said however, generally speaking the province is mountainous and its population density is not notably high. In terms of the country’s nine provinces, Chungcheongbuk-do is the fourth least populated, after Gangwon-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Jeollanam-do.
The geological structure of Chungcheongbuk-do is formed by the Joseon Supergroup extending from the counties of Samcheok, Jeongseon, and Yeongwol in Gangwon-do province to the area of Chungcheongbukdo’s Danyang county, and the Okcheon Group stretching in a wide belt from Danyang to Wanju in Jeollabuk-do, the basic skeleton of both of which is granite. Cement industries have developed based on the limestone of the Joseon Supergroup (composed of sedimentary rock). At the province’s Gwangsan, a mountain composed entirely of limestone, subterranean mining is not necessary; the limestone can be quarried in an open pit-mine fashion.
In terms of topography, Chungcheongbuk-do is generally mountainous with few plains. Its peaks exceeding 1000m in altitude, such as Mt. Sobaek (1440m), Mt. Songni (1058m), and Mt. Minjuji (1242m), are largely scattered along Sobaeksanmaek Range that straddles Gyeongsangbuk-do province. The Sobaeksanmaek Range is a prominent stem of the Taebaeksanmaek Range and a watershed of the Han, Geum, and Nakdong Rivers. The area extending Danyang, Jecheon, Chungju, Eumseong, Goesan constitute a watershed for the Han River, while the area to the west of this is basin of the Geum River. The Sobaeksanmaek Range has several famous mountain saddles that serve as passes, including Jungnyeong (689m), Ihwaryeong (548m), and Jupungryeong (200m). Due to its inland location Chungcheongbuk-do generally has a continental climate with wide annual temperature fluctuations. The province’s mountainous eastern region can be particularly frigid in winter. Its annual average precipitation is about 1200mm, comparable to the rest of the country.
With nearly 70 percent of the province covered in mountains, the actual ration of cultivatable land does not surpass 20 percent. The province’s paddy fields are found prominently developed on the alluvial plains of the Miho River, a tributary of the Geum River. In this area’s Cheongju, Jincheon, Umseong, and Boeun, paddy fields are more prevalent than dry fields, while in Jecheon and Danyang dry fields far outnumber paddy fields. However, as percentage of the total land area, the two types of fields are nearly equal, with paddy fields accounting for 8.7 percent and dry fields 8.9 percent. Chungcheongbuk-do has long been renowned for some of its agricultural produce, prime among these being chili peppers, sesame, tobacco, and ginseng. Chungju is famed for its apples, and in recent years Yeongdong has been seeing a thriving viticulture and wine industry.
As of 2014 Chungcheongbuk-do has 3 designated cities (Cheongju, Chungju, Jecheon) and 8 counties (Boeun, Okcheon, Yeongdong, Jeungpyeong, Jincheon, Goesan, Eumseong, and Danyang). Of these, the most populous is the provincial capital of Cheongju (830,000), which accounts for about 52.7 percent of the total provincial population. This is followed by Chungju (201,000) and Jecheon (139,000). Among the counties, the most populous is Eumseong with 102,000, with the remainder of the counties varying between 30–70,000 people. During the Joseon period Chungju was the largest city in Chungcheong-do, but this changed during the Japanese colonial period, notably after the opening of the Chungbuk rail line, when Cheongju began a period of continuous growth that saw it rise to the province’s major city. In more recent years the construction in Cheongju’s Osong-eup of the National Bio Industrial Complex as well as the Health and Medicine Administrative Town has meant the emergence of Cheongju as a bio-industrial and administrative center.
Transport to and within Chungcheongbuk-do is made convenient by the network of national highways (the Gyeongbu, Jungbu, and Junang Expressways) and railways (Jungang, Chungbuk, Gyeongbu lines) that keep it well connected. It also boasts many renowned tourist sites, notable among them being the national parks of Mt. Songni, Mt. Worak, and Mt. Sobaek, Danyang’s Dodam sambong (“Three-peak Island”) and Gosu Cave, Guin Temple, Chungju’s Central Pagoda Park and Suanbo Hot Springs, Goesan’s Hwayang Valley, Beopju Temple in Boeun, and Botap Temple in Jincheon.
