Taebaek Mountains

Taebaek Mountains
Location of the Taebaek Mountains
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Taebaek Sanmaek
McCune–Reischauer	T'aebaek Sanmaek

The Taebaek Mountains are a mountain range that stretches across North Korea and South Korea. They form the main ridge of the Korean peninsula.

The Taebaek mountains are located along the eastern edge of the peninsula and run along the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. The Hwangnyong Mountain in North Korea (1268 meters) forms the northern end of the range. Busan lies at the southern end of this mountain range, thus making the mountain range a total length of over 500 kilometers, averaging about 1000 meters in height.

Prominent peaks of the range include Mount Seoraksan (1,708 m), Mount Kumgangsan (1,638 m), Mount Taebaeksan (1,566.7 m) and Mount Odaesan (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 and the Nakdong River, both originate in the Taebaek Mountains.

Many of the slopes are extensively covered in forests.

Economically the Taebaek mountains are important for the mining of iron, coal, tungsten, and limestone.

Manggyeongsa Temple in Hyeol-dong Taebaek, Gangwon-do Province at an altitude of 1,460 meters on Mount Taebaeksan, is a temple built to enshrine the statue of the Bodhisattva of wisdom. It was built by Jajang, a Silla Dynasty monk. The "Dragon Spring" at the entrance of the temple is known as the highest spring in Korea.

The 2018 Winter Olympics will take place in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do, located in the mountains.