Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of North Korea. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 kilometers (68 mi) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is a directly-administered city with equal status to North Korean provinces. Pyongyang is the political, industrial and transport center of North Korea. It is home to North Korea’s major government institutions, as well as the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. Pyongyang is in the west-central part of North Korea; the city lies on a flat plain about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of the Korea Bay, an arm of the Yellow Sea. The Taedong River flows southwestward through the city toward the Korea Bay. The Pyongyang plain, where the city is situated, is one of the two large plains on the Western coast of the Korean peninsula, the other being the Chaeryong plain. Both have an area of approximately 500 square kilometers. read more…
Raine Island is a vegetated coral cay 32 hectares (79 acres) in total area situated on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef off north-eastern Australia. It lies approximately 620 km (390 mi) north-northwest of Cairns in Queensland, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) east-north-east of Cape Grenville on the Cape York Peninsula. Raine Island is the site of the oldest European structure in tropical Australia, a stone beacon built in 1844, and harbours the world’s largest remaining population of green turtles. An important environmental icon, the island is totally protected from public access. It got its name from Captain Thomas Raine (1793–1860), the English mariner who discovered it. Raine Island is a vegetated coral cay dominated by low herbaceous annual vegetation (Batianoff et al. 1993). The cay is composed of a central core of phosphate rock surrounded by sand and extensive fringing reefs. It lies just off the eastern edge of the continental shelf, next to a shipping channel known as the Raine Island Entrance and Pandora entrance. The entrance allows shipping to enter the water of the Great Barrier Reef. read more…
Sinŭiju (known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, China across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P’yŏngan province. Part of the city is included in the Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region, which was established in 2002 to experiment with introducing a market economy. In recent years, the city, despite lagging behind the development in the capital Pyongyang, has seen a small construction boom and increasing tourism from China. read more…
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Okehampton is 21 miles (33 km) west of Exeter, 26 miles (42 km) north of Plymouth and 24 miles (38 km) south of Barnstaple. read more…
Hamhŭng is North Korea‘s second largest city, and the capital of South Hamgyŏng Province. With an estimated population of 768,551, Hamhung is the second largest city by population in the whole country of North Korea. Located in the southern part of the South Hamgyong province, Hamhung is the main and most popular metropolitan area in the whole province, and serves for almost all tourism by foreigners to the province. Hamhung has a thriving local economy compared to other metropolitan areas in North Korea, and it is known by North Koreans as a great area of architectural construction that was centrally planned, and built by the government of North Korea. read more…
Galtür is a village and ski resort in the upper Paznaun valley in Austrian state of Tyrol located in the Central Eastern Alps 35 km southwest of Landeck near the border of Vorarlberg and Switzerland. Galtür was settled by the Engadinern from the south, the Walsern and Vorarlbergern from the west, and Tyroleans from the east. Today the cultivation work of the Engadiner is remembered in the name Galtür, meaning Cultura. During the Thirty Years’ War, Galtür was badly damaged. The church and many houses were burned down. read more…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe by Joseph Karl Stieler in 1828
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist. His works include: four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; and treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. He is considered to be the greatest German literary figure of the modern era. read more…
Wŏnsan, previously known as Wŏnsanjin, Port Lazarev, and Genzan, is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. The port was opened by occupying Japanese forces in 1880. Before the 1950–1953 Korean War, it fell within the jurisdiction of the then South Hamgyŏng province, and during the war it was the location of the Blockade of Wŏnsan. The population of the city was estimated at 329,207 in 2013. Notable people from Wŏnsan include Kim Ki-nam, a diplomat and former Vice Chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. read more…
