The Taebaek Mountains are a mountain range in both 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 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...

. They form the main ridge of the Korean peninsula

Korean Peninsula

The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...

.

Geography

The Taebaek mountains are located along the eastern edge of the peninsula and run along the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

 (East Sea). The Mt. Hwangnyong Mountain in North Korea (1268 meters) forms the northern end of the range. Busan

Busan

Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...

 lies at the southern end of the mountain range. This makes the mountain range a total length of over 500 kilometers, averaging about 1000 meters in height.

Prominent peaks of the range include Kŭmgang Mountain (1,638 m), Seorak Mountain (1,708 m), and Odae Mountain

Odaesan

Odaesan is a mountain in Gangwon, South Korea, standing at the junction of the districts of Gangneung, Pyeongchang, and Hongcheon. A major national landmark, it is the centerpiece of Odaesan National Park...

 (1,563 m). To the east, the mountain range falls steeply into the sea, but to the west, there are more gentle slopes. Many spurs stretch southwest. The most important rivers of South Korea, the Han River

Han River (Korea)

The Han River is a major river in South Korea and the fourth longest river on the Korean peninsula after the Amnok, Duman, and Nakdong rivers. It is formed by the confluence of the Namhan River , which originates in Mount Daedeok, and the Bukhan River , which originates on the slopes of Mount...

 and the Nakdong River

Nakdong River

The Nakdong River is the longest river in South Korea, and passes through major cities such as Daegu and Busan.-Geography:...

, both originate in the Taebaek Mountains.

Industry and tourism

Economically the Taebaek mountains are important for the mining of iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, 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...

, tungsten

Tungsten

Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...

, and limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

.

They will be the location of the 2018 Winter Olympics

2018 Winter Olympics

The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, is a winter multi-sport event scheduled to take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. The elected host city was announced on 6 July 2011 by the International Olympic Committee , after the...

.

See also

• Baekdudaegan
  Baekdudaegan
  The Baekdudaegan is a mountain range and watershed-crest-line which runs through most of the length of the Korean Peninsula, from Baekdu Mountain in the north to Jirisan in the south. It is important in traditional Korean thought, a key aspect of Pungsujiri philosophy and practices...
  
  
• List of mountains in Korea
• Geography of South Korea
  Geography of South Korea
  South Korea is located in East Asia, on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula jutting out from the far east of the Asian land mass. The only country with a land border to South Korea is North Korea, lying to the north with of border running along the DMZ. South Korea is mostly surrounded by...