Kaesong - Geography

Geography

Located in the center of Korea, Kaesong is the southernmost city of North Korea. It is bordered by Kaepung, Changpung, Panmun, and Kumchon counties. Kanghwa Island of Incheon Municipality lies just south, beyond a narrow channel. It covers an area of 1,309 km², the urban district is surrounded by Mts. Songak (Songak-san; 송악산; 松嶽山) (489 m) and Pongmyong. The city center surrounds the much smaller Mt. Janam (103 m), on which is located the city's iconic Kim Il Sung statue.

In the northern part of Kaesong, the end of the Ahobiryŏng range creates the northernmost border of Kaesong City. This range consists of Mts. Chŏnma (757 m), Sŏnggŏ, Myoji (764 m), Suryong (716 m), Chesŏk (749 m), Hwajang (558 m), and Ogwan. With the exception of the mountainous northeastern region, however, most areas of Kaesong consist of low hills with the height less than 100 meters.

The Imjin River flows along the northeastern border line of the city and the Ryesong River (禮成江) (Ryeseong-gang; 례성강) (spelled in South Korea as Yeseong-gang; 예성강) runs along the western border to the mouth of the Han River. In addition to the two rivers, small and large rivers and streams such as Samich'ŏn, Wŏlamch'ŏn, Chukbaech'ŏn, Kŭmsŏngch'ŏn and Sach'ŏn rivers drain into the Han. The river basin located in the southwest of Kaesong has spacious alluvial plains such as P'ungdŏkbŏl, Singwangbŏl, and Samsŏngbŏl.

The geology consists of the Proterozoic, Cenozoic, and Paleozoic strata and Mesozoic intrusive granite. The underground resources include gold, zinc, copper, fluorspar, limestone, granite, and kaolin. The soil comprises generally brown forest soil while the areas drained by Yesŏng, Imjin, and Han rivers consist of mostly alluvial and saline soil. The climate is generally warm and moderate, so the average annual temperature is around 10 ℃. The coldest month is January, with an average temperature of ―5.9℃ while the hottest month is August, with the average temperature of 24.7℃. The average annual rainfall is 1,300~1,400 millimeters. The duration of frost-free period is 180 days which is the longest in North Korea. The forest area takes up about 55 percentage of Kaesong, among which forests of pine trees form the 80 percentage. Various types of species inhabit in Kaesong, with 40 different species of mammal, and 250 birds.