Gangwon Province is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. It is bound on the east by the East Sea, and borders Gyeonggi Province to its west, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province to its south, and the Military Demarcation Line to the north, separating it from North Korea's Kangwŏn Province. Before the division of Korea in 1945 Gangwon and Kangwŏn Provinces formed a single province. Pyeongchang County in Gangwon hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Paralympics, with Gangwon hosting the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics. History Gangwon-do was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty, formed in 1395, deriving its name from the names of the principal cities of Gangneung () and the provincial capital Wonju (). In 1895 Gangwon-do was replaced by the Districts of Chuncheon (Chuncheon-bu; ) in the west and Gangneung (Gangneung-bu; ) in the east, with Wonju becoming a part of Chungju District. In 1896 Korea was redivided into thirteen provinces, and the two districts were merged to re-form Gangwon-do Province. Although Wonju re-joined Gangwon-do, the provincial capital was moved to Chuncheon, where it remains.During the japanese rule of korea, it was known as Kōgen-dō. In 1945 Gangwon-do, along with the rest of Korea, was divided by the 38th parallel north in 1945, to create American and Soviet zones of occupation in the south and north respectively, leading to Wonsan joining the northern half in 1946 to serve as its administrative center. In 1948, the southern half of the province became part of the new Republic of Korea. As a result of the Korean War Armistice Agreement of 1953, the boundary between the South and North Korean portions of the province was shifted north, to the Military Demarcation Line. Geography Landscape The province's landscape is dominated by the Taebaek Mountains (called Taebaek Sanmaek) which almost reach the sea. As a consequence the coast is very steep. Regions Gangwon-do and its North Korean counterpart Kangwŏn are together referred to as the Gwandong region. The region west of the Taebaek Mountains is called Yeongseo, while the region east of the mountains is called Yeongdong. The term "Yeongdong" is frequently used in reference to transportation services from Seoul, meaning one might catch a bus or train on the Yeongdong Line, or drive to Gangneung on the Yeongdong Expressway. Climate Gangwon-do's Köppen climate classification's climate class is occasionally humid subtropical,