Kanggye is the provincial capital of Chagang, North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

 and has a population of 209,000. Because of its strategic importance, derived from its topography

Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

, it has been of military interest from the time of the Joseon Dynasty

Joseon Dynasty

Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

 (1392-1910).

Geography

Kanggye is located at the merging point of four rivers, including the Changja River

Changja River

The Changja River is a river of North Korea. The Changja River flows through the north of the county and flows through the city of Kanggye....

.

Transportation

Kanggye is a transportation hub, connected to other cities by road, rail and air. It lies at the junction of the Kanggye and Manpo Lines. In addition, highways connect it to Pyongyang

Pyongyang

Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...

 and other locations. The city is located near a military and civilian dual-purpose air station.

Culture

Kanggye University of Education, Kanggye University of Technology, and the Kanggye University of Medicine are located in the city.

Places of tourist interest include Inphung Pavilion and Mount Ryonhwa.

Industry

From 1945, the manufacturing industry developed rapidly.

Kanggye has a mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 industry producing copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

 ore, coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 and graphite

Graphite

The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...

.

Kanggye hosts one of the main timber processing factories of Chagang province and North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

.

Kanggye Timber Processing Factory

Kanggye Timber Processing Factory is a small state-run factory located in Kanggye City. At the start of operations, it produced only two kinds of furniture (dining tables and sterilized chopsticks) through manual labour. Over time it has developed into a comprehensive modernized furniture producer, producing woodwork with a hundred and dozens of modern facilities in production.

Amongst machinery in use are three- and four-faced automatic planes, all-purpose polishers, joining machines, and grooving saws.

Meanwhile the factory has directed an effort into the programme of modernizing the drying job, which is an important part of the woodworking process. By making technical innovations (such as replacing a boiler-induced drying process drying ovens and using fuels other than coal) the factory increased production and lowered manpower.

See also

• Geography of North Korea
  Geography of North Korea
  North Korea is located in east Asia on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea shares a border with three states, including China along the Amnok River, Russia along the Duman River, and South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone...
  
  
• List of cities in North Korea
• List of Korea-related topics