Chongju
Chŏngju (; also Jŏngju) is a "si", or city, in southern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. Prior to 1994, it was designated as a "kun" or county. The terrain is mostly level, but mountainous in the north. To the south lies the Chŏngju Plain, where the hills do not rise above . Chŏngju also includes approximately 10 islands in the Yellow Sea. Geography. Some 40 percent of Chŏngju is covered by coniferous forestland. Administrative divisions. Chŏngju is divided into 14 "tong" (neighbourhoods) and 18 "ri" (villages): Economy. Local agriculture is dominated by orcharding and rice farming; the chestnuts of this region  are especially famous. Transportation. The city is served by both road and rail; it is the junction point of the P'yŏngŭi and P'yŏngbuk lines of the Korean State Railway. Politics. In February 2011, the city and others in North P'yŏngan had rare protests, of a few score of people, calling for adequate provision of rice and power. At the time, news of the Arab Spring was spreading via Chinese TV channels and phone calls with defectors.