tourism

Lake Unpha occupies large areas of Unpha County of North Hwanghae Province and Sinwon and Jaeryong counties of South Hwanghae Province.

The lake, located in the upper reaches of the Jaeryong River, nestles in the deep valley of the river basin between the Chailbong Mountains and Mt Jangsu, also known as “Mt Kumgang in Hwanghae Province”.

In the east and south of the lake, there rise hillocks forming the foot of the Myorak and Suyang mountains, and in the north the lake adjoins the branches of the Jongbang Mountains.

One of the large lakes of the DPRK, Lake Unpha is an artificial lake built by damming the upper reaches of the Jaeryong River, a tributary of the Taedong.

It covers an area of 19.23km2 and is 107.9km in circumference.

It lies lengthways northwest and southeast, with its lower part being relatively wide and tapering upward.

It is surrounded by about 1 170 hectares of ornamental forests and such low mountains as Mts Jangsu and Tokjae. Precipitation in the area is around 1 000mm and the main source of water is the atmospheric precipitation in the catchment area and the water from Lake Jangsu. Pine, pine-nut and other coniferous trees plus oak, acacia and other broad-leaved trees grow in harmony in the high and low mountains in the scenic attraction of Lake Unpha to form dense forests.

The mountains abound with wild animals such as wildcat and weasel. The lake teems with carp, kinyom fish (silver carp), mandarin fish and other fishes.

And the scenic attraction is inhabited by such birds as little cuckoo, cuckoo, Uragus sibiricus, yellow wagtail, kingfisher, Arctic warbler, woodpecker and wild duck.

The cliffs on the shore of the lake and the magnificent and beautiful scenery of Mt Jangsu add beauty to the scenic attraction.

Jolsung Valley, the main section of the scenic spot, commands a bird’s-eye view of the celebrated mountain of Jangsu and there is Unpha seaweeds fossil, a natural monument of the country.

This rare fossil of seaweeds from the Mesoproterozoic era vividly shows the shape of seaweeds and is of great value in geological study.