Paektu Mountain

Paektu Mountain is an active stratovolcano on the border between China and North Korea, rising to 2,744 meters, the highest peak in both North Korea and northeastern China. Its summit holds a caldera containing Heaven Lake, a crater lake that is the source of three major rivers, the Songhua, Tumen and Yalu. The mountain is revered by both the Korean and Manchu peoples as an ancestral homeland, is named in the national anthems of both North and South Korea, and appears on North Korea's national emblem. Paektu's eruption in 946 CE was among the largest and most powerful eruptions anywhere on Earth in the past 5,000 years; it most recently erupted in March 1903 and is thought to erupt on a roughly century-long cycle, prompting ongoing multinational research into potential future activity.