Located on the Chaeryŏng River, the county is bordered to the west by Anak and Sinch'ŏn, to the south by Sinwŏn, and to the east by Ŭnp'a, Pongsan and Sariwŏn in North Hwanghae Province.

Chaeryŏng County was first founded by the kingdom of Koguryo, who called it Siksŏng (息城郡), and later Hanseong (KR: 한성, Hanja: 漢城).

The Koryo dynasty, the successor state to Goguryeo, gave it its current name in 1217.

Chaeryŏng county is served by the Ŭllyul Line of the Korean State Railway.

The county is divided into one town (ŭp), one worker's district (rodongjagu) and 24 villages (ri).