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 and the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

The altitude of Pyeongchang is wide-ranging, with 84% of its territory comprising mountains with average elevations of 750 m (2,460 ft)

The area is popular with mountain hikers, especially at the southern part of Mount Seoraksan.

On 6 July 2011, Pyeongchang was announced as the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. The other candidate cities were Annecy, France and Munich, Germany. It will be the third Winter Games in Asia after the 1972 games in Sapporo, Japan and the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. It will also be the first Asian city to host the games outside of Japan. Pyeongchang won their 2018 bid after two previous failed attempts for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, in which it lost to Vancouver, Canada, and Sochi, Russia respectively.

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