Inje County is a county

Administrative divisions of South Korea

||South Korea is divided into 8 provinces , 1 special autonomous province , 6 metropolitan cities , and 1 special city...

 in Gangwon

Gangwon-do (South Korea)

Gangwon-do is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. Before the division of Korea in 1945, Gangwon and its North Korean neighbour Kangwŏn formed a single province.-History:...

 Province, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. It has the lowest population density of any South Korean county.

History

Since the first inhabitants came to the Korean peninsula, there have been people living in Inje county. Surrounded by clear and clean rivers and streams and magnificent Soraksan. Inje is located in the mid-east of Gangwon-do, it was at first called Jeojokhyeon in the Goguryeo Kingdom, Heejaehyeon in the Silla Kingdom, Inje in the Goryeo Dynasty, Youngsohyeon and again later Inje in the Joseon Dynasty and finally raised to the status of Inje county on August, 1896.

Environment

Inje is located in the Taebaek Mountains and has a landscape dominated by Flora. Many species inhabit several areas of the county, not only mountains but rivers also.

Fauna

• Asiatic Black Bear : It populates a wide area from Siberia
  Siberia
  Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
  
   to Afghanistan
  Afghanistan
  Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
  
   and Thailand
  Thailand
  Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
  
   as well as certain Asian islands such as Taiwan
  Taiwan
  Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
  
   and Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  . In Korea, the Asiatic Black Bear can be found in the areas of Paekdusan, Seoraksan, Jirisan. The Asiatic Black Bear is becoming rare in South Korea. It usually lives in broadleaf forest on peaks higher than 1,500m, finding lots of fruits like wild grapes, wild berries, fruits of Acfinidia arguta, especially with acorns. The Asiatic Black Bear has developed a good sense of smell and hearing however cannot see very well.

• Musk deer : Among the Musk deers in the northern hemisphere, this species in the North-East is divided into 7 subspecies. This subspecies found in the mountains around Mokpo and Jeonranamdo is also reported to be distributed Manchuria, Amur, Ussuri and Eastern Siberia as well as South Korea.

Flora

• Senecio koreanus : The Senecio Koreanus is a Korean Endemic Species.

• Carex chordorhiza : The Carex Chordorhiza is a perennial plant growing with sphagnum in a swamp, at first grows straight and then crawls laterally to take root. From its joint it grows a flower stem of up to 20 cm. Its leaves are flat and 1~1.5 cm wide with colors of gray and green. The heads are egg-like and numbered 2~4 which are 5~7 cm long. Male flowers come out upward but female ones downward without any bracts.

• Megaleranthis saniculifolia : Megaleranthis Saniculifolia is also a Korean Endemic Species and clings to Ranunculaceae. It inhibits the Jeombongsan, Sobaeksan, Jirisan and Taebaeksan areas. Living in the swamps or ridges in deep mountains, the perennial plant sprouts in stubbles. It's between 30 and 40 cm tall. Leaves come from the root of the plant and are divided into three parts at the end, a long leafstalk may be split into 2 to 3 parts again.

Climate

Daecheong peak

Daecheong Peak is the highest peak in the Mt. Seorak ranges and is located near at the boundary of Inje county and Yangyang county with an altitude of 1,708m.

The beautiful snow scenes around Daecheong peak are widely known. Inje county is quite cold from early November, with snow falling around its higher peaks. In 2007, the first heavy snow of the year was recorded as early as 16 November.

Ice fishing festival

Because of its cold climate, lots of ice fishing festivals often occur in Inje and also the wider Gangwon-do area. However, the ice fishing in Inje is one of the main attractions in winter with 6,000 tourists per weekday and over 10,000 on weekends.

External links

• Inje County government home page