| Pyeongchang 평창 |
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|---|---|---|---|
| — County — | |||
| Korean transcription(s) | |||
| • Hangul | 평창군 | ||
| • Hanja | 平昌郡 | ||
| • Revised Romanization | Pyeongchang-gun | ||
| • McCune-Reischauer | P'yŏngch'ang-gun[1] | ||
| From top left: InterContinental Alpensia Pyeongchang Resort, Ski Jump Tower Stadium, Chairlift towers, Skiing on the Pyeongchang mountains, Elfpension, and a stream flowing in Pyeongchang | |||
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| Country | South Korea | ||
| Region | Gangwon | ||
| Administrative divisions | 1 eup, 7 myeon | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,463.65 km2 (565.1 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| • Total | 43,706 | ||
| • Density | 30/km2 (77.7/sq mi) | ||
| • Dialect | Gangwon | ||
Pyeongchang (Pyeongchang-gun) is a county in Gangwon province, South Korea located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is also home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is located approximately 180 km (110 mi) east of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Pyeongchang will host the 2018 Winter Olympics.[2]
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The altitude of Pyeongchang is wide-ranging with 84% of its territory comprised of mountains with average elevations of 750 m (2,460 ft).[3]
Its best known place, the township of Daegwallyeong-myeon, averages between 700 to 800 m (2,300 to 2,600 ft) above sea level, with some areas over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high.[4] Daegwallyeong-myeon has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb/Dfw) with warm, humid summers and long, cold winters (see climate).
The area is popular with mountain hikers, especially at the southern part of Mount Seoraksan.[5]
Alpensia ski resort is a tourist attraction and has 6 slopes for skiing and snowboarding, with runs up to 1.4 km (0.87 mi) long, for beginners and advanced skiers, and an area reserved for snowboarders. The resort is open year-round.[6]
Alpensia will be the focus of the 2018 Cultural Olympiad, with a new, purpose-built concert hall within the resort.[7]
A 250 km per hour KTX line will be built between Seoul and Wonju via Pyeongchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics and will put Pyeongchang within 50 minutes of travel time from Seoul.[8]
On 6 July 2011, Pyeongchang was announced as the host city for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. The other candidate cities were Annecy, France and Munich, Germany. It will be the first Winter Games in Asia since the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. Pyeongchang's bid for 2018 was accepted after two previous failed attempts for 2010 and 2014, in which it lost to Vancouver, Canada, and Sochi, Russia respectively.[9] (Sochi is also in Asia.)
From a formal standpoint, given the Olympic Charter, which stipulates that the Games are awarded to a city,[10] and the administrative organization of Korea, it is unclear whether the host city for the 2018 Games is the county of Pyeongchang or the county seat Pyeongchang-eup.
The name of the county is Pyeongchang, but the local authorities, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) and the International Olympic Committee are generally using the camelCase PyeongChang.
In preparation for the 2018 Olympics, the region will build facilities including hotels and a world-class ski resort, named Alpensia, which is currently under construction. As of June 2011, a ski jump tower has already been built to its full height, although not fully completed. At the bottom of the hill, an Olympic Stadium is in its early stages of construction. A test event for the IBU World Cup biathlon was staged in Pyeongchang in February 2008.[11]
The region is implementing its so-called 2008 “Dream Program”, a legacy of the 2010 bid. It has mounted its fifth sports and cultural program, involving 123 participants from 31 countries, who were invited because they live where there is no snowfall and have no opportunity to participate in winter sports.[11]
The district includes one small city (eup), Pyeongchang-eup (평창읍) and seven townships (myeon) :
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| Climate data for Daegwallyeong, Pyeongchang (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −2.5 (27.5) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
4.4 (39.9) |
12.9 (55.2) |
17.6 (63.7) |
20.5 (68.9) |
22.8 (73.0) |
22.8 (73.0) |
18.6 (65.5) |
14.0 (57.2) |
7.0 (44.6) |
0.5 (32.9) |
11.5 (52.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −7.7 (18.1) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
7.0 (44.6) |
11.9 (53.4) |
15.7 (60.3) |
19.1 (66.4) |
19.1 (66.4) |
14.1 (57.4) |
8.3 (46.9) |
1.9 (35.4) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
6.6 (43.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −12.6 (9.3) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
1.2 (34.2) |
6.3 (43.3) |
11.2 (52.2) |
16.0 (60.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
3.1 (37.6) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
−9.1 (15.6) |
2.0 (35.6) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 62.6 (2.465) |
53.6 (2.11) |
75.6 (2.976) |
89.5 (3.524) |
122.3 (4.815) |
201.0 (7.913) |
326.7 (12.862) |
420.9 (16.571) |
307.3 (12.098) |
124.9 (4.917) |
76.9 (3.028) |
36.8 (1.449) |
1,898.0 (74.724) |
| % humidity | 67.3 | 67.0 | 67.5 | 61.0 | 68.4 | 79.2 | 85.7 | 87.0 | 84.6 | 75.2 | 69.9 | 67.3 | 73.3 |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 10.5 | 10.5 | 11.3 | 9.5 | 11.1 | 13.2 | 17.6 | 17.8 | 13.0 | 8.7 | 10.1 | 9.4 | 142.7 |
| Sunshine hours | 197.2 | 185.2 | 202.3 | 226.6 | 229.4 | 179.8 | 138.1 | 130.7 | 143.9 | 193.3 | 176.4 | 191.9 | 2,194.8 |
| Source: Korea Meteorological Administration [12] | |||||||||||||
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