North Jeolla (original) (raw)

North Jeolla (Jeollabuk-do; 전라 북도; 全羅北道, also Chonbuk as an obvious contraction) is a province (Do) in the southwest of South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Jeolla Province, remained a province of Korea until the country's division in 1945, then became part of South Korea. The provincial capital is located at Jeonju, which was the capital of Jeolla before 1896.

The province is part of the Honam region, and is bounded on the west by the Yellow Sea, on the north by South Chungcheong Province, on the south by South Jeolla, and on the east by North and South Gyeongsang Provinces.

The Noryong Mountains divide the province. The eastern half is a plateau, the western one a plain. Through the plain in the west flow four rivers: Somjin, Mankyong, Tongjin and Geum. The plain is one of the largest granaries of South Korea. Apart from rice, important products include cotton, barley, hemp and paper mulberry which is used for the paper in traditional sliding doors. Cattle breeding is important in the eastern plateau.

In the 1960s the Honam highway (which has since been upgraded to the Honam Expressway) was built. This created an industrial belt, connecting the cities of Iri (now called Iksan) and Gunsan (a port city) with the provincial capital of Jeonju.

Area: 8,043 square kilometres

Population: 1,887,239 (2000 census).

Administrative divisions:

Famous people

Kim Dae Jung (recent political leader)