Chŏngju (also Jŏngju) is a si, or city, in southern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. Prior to 1994, it was designated as a kun or county. The terrain is mostly level, but mountainous in the north. To the south lies the Chongju Plain, where the hills do not rise above 200 m. Chŏngju also includes approximately 10 islands in the Yellow Sea.

History

Artifacts from the neolithic period and the Bronze age were found in the Taesan-ri area (this was formerly a region of Seoksandong and Taesandong under the administrative division of Teokeon-myeon), showing evidence of human existence at the time in the area. When it was under the control of Goguryeo, it was under the subdivision of Mannyeon County, and it was under control of the Pyongyang Amnok subdivision during the Balhae period. After the fall of balhae and before Goryeo reacquired the area, the region was occupied by the jurchens. During the Goryeo period, it was known as guju, meaning "turtle province". In 1231, King Gojong of Goryeo promoted the region into jeongwondaehobu, and the region later became Jeongjumok. Jeongjumok was divided into Sucheon county and Kusong county, but it was soon again remerged as Jeongjumok. The region was demoted as Jeongwon prefecture in 1812. In 1895, it became Jeongju County which was under control of Uijubu.

Geography

Approximately 40% of Chŏngju is covered by coniferous forestland.

Administrative divisions

Chŏngju is divided into 14 tong (neighbourhoods) and 18 ri (villages):

Economy

Local agriculture is dominated by orcharding and rice farming; the chestnuts of this region are especially famous.

Transportation

The city is served by both road and rail; it is the junction point of the P'yŏngŭi and P'yŏngbuk lines of the Korean State Railway.

Politics

In February 2011, the city and others in North P'yŏngan had rare protests, of a few score of people, calling for adequate provision of rice and power. At the time, news of the Arab Spring was spreading via Chinese TV channels and phone calls with defectors.

Notable people