CHOLLA, NORTH

Korean Cholla-pukdo do (province), southwestern South Korea. It is bounded by the provinces of South Ch'ungch'ong and North Ch'ungch'ong (north), North Kyongsang and South Kyongsang (east), South Cholla (south), and by the Yellow Sea (west). The province is divided by the Noryong Mountains, a spur of the T'aebaek Mountains. The eastern part is a plateau, and the western part is a plain through which flow the Somjin, Mankyong, Tongjin, and Kum rivers. The plain, one of the largest granaries in the country, produces rice, barley, cotton, hemp, and paper mulberry, used to make paper for sliding screens. There is cattle breeding on the plateau. Since the late 1960s and the construction of Honam highway, an industrial belt connecting the provincial capital of Chonju, Iri, and the port city of Kunsan has been established. Area 3,106 square miles (8,043 square km). Pop. (1990) 2,069,960; (1995 prelim.) 1,902,205.